CASSOPOLIS — For the past two years, the Cass County Council on Aging has received a Respite Chore Service Grant, which allows the organization to provide elderly Cass County residents with housekeeping services that they can no longer do themselves. This year, respite care was in such a high demand that the grant is already used up.

It was initially advertised in the July edition of the COA’s monthly newspaper, the Messenger.

“We got $20,000 and we’ve helped out around 50 people in Cass County with chores from the grant money,” said Bobbie Krynicki, the human resources team leader at the COA. “I’ve got a waiting list of about five people. By the time we actually do their chores we should be out of funds completely.”

The grant comes from Region IV Area Agency on Aging. Last year, the COA received $10,000 and was initially given $15,000 this year. The organization was then awarded an additional $5,000 to serve additional Cass County residents.

With the grant, the COA was able to provide a variety of housekeeping services: carpet cleaning, window washing, deep cleaning bathrooms and kitchen, plumbing repairs, gutter cleaning and more.

The COA removed fire hazards from people’s homes such as old furniture, newspaper and trash. Outside work was also provided such as trimming bushes, clearing branches and more.

“We kind of run the gambit,” Krynicki said. “There is a list of chores that have to fall into certain categories for us to be able to utilize the grant.”

The COA also prioritized residents who did not have the financial means to pay for these tasks to be done themselves.

“I can’t speak for every older person that we serve,” Krynicki said. “But probably the most common response that we see was in regards to the carpet cleaning is that it was difficult for them to find somebody and costly and they couldn’t do it themselves.”

In order to provide these services, the COA hired seven workers to do housekeeping work on a projected by project basis. They were 10-99 contract workers, which consisted of college students home for the summer and a local teacher.

To do services such as plumbing and carpet cleaning, the COA hired local companies.

There was a lot of community involvement and we tried to utilize local, community businesses to come help,” Krynicki said.

At this time, she does not know if the COA will receive the respite care grant next year. The organization does not expect to find that out until early next year.

“I have been telling people who have been calling me now that I’m putting them on the waiting list in case we run into more funds, but I don’t anticipate that happening,” she said. “We put them on the waiting list and I encourage them all to call us in late April or early May [of next year] to see if we’ve gotten the grant so they can be put on the list as early as possible.”