Struggling to Serve an Aging Community

By Reagan ConnellyOn Tuesday, July 26, 2022, Director Carla Frase met with the Jefferson County Commissioners regarding Blue Rivers Area Agency on Aging (BRAAA).BRAAA is an agency that helps elderly people with housekeeping, serving meals and other day to day tasks and serves southeastern Nebraska in Jefferson, Gage, Thayer, Johnson, Otoe, Nemaha, Pawnee and Richardson counties.Frase joked that BRAAA does not get a lot of publicity, “We are the best kept secret,” she said. She added the agency has been trying to get their name out there more.“We are all advocating our services and how we work together,” she said. “We have a lot of connections in our community, we have a lot of partnerships, my staff goes above and beyond.”Frase also said one focus of the agency is to get people out of their homes more, noting that too many of the elderly community are virtually bound to their homes.“We do offer take and go (meals), which is one way to get people out of the house and interacting with others,” she said.She added that the food offered by the agency is all nutritious and flavorful food.Unfortunately, while numbers of elderly being served have gone up, the number of volunteers has drastically declined. Frase said she has had to send out paid staff to distribute home delivered meals, which is a cost the agency cannot afford.Frase stressed how appreciative she is for the volunteers she does have and encouraged the commissioners to spread the word in Fairbury that the agency is looking for more volunteers in the community.Additionally, Frase said she is trying to increase the transportation from Fairbury which has dropped off a lot during the pandemic.The agency has been struggling to recover from the pandemic, but Frase said her staff has been an incredible force throughout. “My staff is always working, they’re so dedicated,” she said. “They have been really working hard and I’m so proud of them.”Blue Rivers Area Agency also contracts with legal services which has logged 451 hours of legal services, “Which is awesome,” Frase said.Frase said they are currently trying maintain their services but with understaffing issues it has been difficult for the agency to serve everyone in the area.Commissioner Mark Schoenrock expressed his gratitude toward Frase and her employees for all the work they do for the elderly in the area.

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