Our region is aging. We can’t leave its care to chance.

By a Program Advocate

When you work in a mission-focused industry, you learn to hold onto the good news.

Wesley Family Services last week announced the impending closure of our Open Your Heart to a Senior (OYHS) and In Service of Seniors (ISOS) programs in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties, respectively. Earlier this week, one donor came forward to fund the OYHS program after seeing news reports.

This donor wishes to remain anonymous and receive no fanfare; they just wanted to help the older adults in Westmoreland not lose this important program. For the people that OYHS serves, and for the families who love them, this changes everything. We are grateful in a way that is hard to put into words.

We wish the same could be said for the ISOS program, which has assisted hundreds of adults across Allegheny County. But a lack of sustainable funding regrettably forces the program’s closure, effective July 17, a decision that we did not come to lightly.

A neighbor’s quiet generosity has given one program a second chance, while a broken funding landscape is closing another. The whiplash of the last week or so should be of concern to our region. Allegheny County is home to one of the nation’s oldest populations, with Age-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh estimating that more than 20% of the county’s population is age 65 or more. That is the second highest concentration of older adults in the country, behind only Palm Beach County, Florida.

Behind these numbers are real people who are navigating isolation, cognitive changes, medical maladies, physical limitations, or the weight of being a caretaker for a loved one. For many of them, the OYHS and ISOS programs are the difference between thriving at home and basic survival; it’s not a luxury add-on that comes with aging.

Organizations like ours are seeing the ground beneath us continually shifting. Public dollars and philanthropic giving are being stretched across more needs than ever, while requests for assistance continue to rise. This leaves programs like OYHS and ISOS vulnerable, even when the need for them is unmistakable.

At Wesley Family Services, our mission has not changed and neither has the math involved. We are here to help children, adults and families across our region live healthier lives, and we intend to show up for the neighbors that need us. But, with funding limitations being what they are, we cannot do it all.

What we saw this week reminded us that one person can impact change. A donor, acting quietly, provided a lifeline to keep the OYHS program going through July 2027. That act of generosity should inspire all of us to look more closely at the aging programs in our own communities and ask how we can help — through a gift, a volunteer hour, a connection, or simply by paying attention — before a program reaches the brink.

Our region is aging, and caring for older adults should not fall to a handful of organizations or one generous donor at a time. It falls on all of us to share responsibility for the people who helped build our communities and now deserve to age within them with dignity, connection and care. One neighbor reminded us of what compassion in action looks like. The rest of the story is ours to write together.

Click here to make a donation to the Open Your Heart to a Senior Program

Humbling, overwhelming: Wesley Family Services to continue 1 of 2 senior programs slated for closure

Article by Quincey Catullo

Click here to read the entire article on the Tribune Review

Both programs serve nearly 700 senior citizens in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties

Less than a week after Wesley Family Services said it would end two of its programs for senior citizens, the nonprofit received a $100,000 anonymous donation Tuesday to maintain one of the initiatives through June 2028.

The nonprofit confirmed to TribLive last week it would end its In Service of Seniors program for Allegheny County residents on July 17 and conclude Open Your Heart to a Senior — the version of the program for Westmoreland County residents — on July 31.

But with the help of a $100,000 gift and fundraising plan pitched by an anonymous donor, the Open Your Heart to a Senior program will continue for the next two years, said Wesley Family Services CEO Doug Muetzel.

“When you look at the philanthropy in Western Pennsylvania, it’s always been incredibly strong,” he said. “But it’s always humbling when a donor comes forward with no expectation of anything in return, other than the focus on the recipient.”

About 100 volunteers and a handful of paid Wesley staff members operate the programs, helping nearly 700 senior citizens across Allegheny and Westmoreland counties with in-home nonmedical services. The majority of recipients, nearly 450, live in Westmoreland County.

“That one encounter with a senior where the senior feels valued, where the senior had access to food when they didn’t two hours before the volunteer got there — the ripple effect of that is almost immeasurable,” Muetzel said.

In the absence of a similar donation to the Allegheny County program, In Service of Seniors will close July 17, Muetzel said. The program would need at least $130,000 to operate for another year.

“Because the shortfall in Allegheny County is so significant, it would have to be — once again — significant dollars,” he said.

Despite a rising senior population, funding has been more difficult to come by, Muetzel said.

“It continues to be evident that needs continue to grow and are significant and real,” he said. “These are people that really benefit from a volunteer coming into their home and helping them.

“And yet funding, there just never is enough funding to meet all the needs.”

Wesley: Senior programs have existed for years

Volunteers drive seniors to medical appointments, help with grocery shopping and check in on their well-being over the phone, said Rebecca Maletto-Cornell, Wesley’s director of volunteer services.

“(The programs) really just allow them to be independent, living in their own home and to function in a productive way that they feel their voice is heard,” she said, “they’re still capable of doing other things on their own independently.”

In Service of Seniors began about two decades ago. Wesley has operated it since April 2017, when then-Wesley Spectrum merged with Family Services of Western Pennsylvania.

Wesley inherited Open Your Heart to a Senior from the Westmoreland County branch of United Way in 2020.

It costs Wesley between $150,000 and $200,000 each year to run the programs, Muetzel said. They are funded by United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania and Westmoreland and Allegheny counties.

United Way has decreased its funding to the programs in recent years, Muetzel said, and both Westmoreland and Allegheny counties increased their financial support for the programs to fill the gap.

United Way has given $905,000 to Wesley’s senior programs since 2017 — $735,000 between 2017 and 2020; $150,000 between 2020 and 2023; and $20,000 between 2023 and 2024, according to Chief Marketing Officer Kitty Julian.

United Way has seen a 30% increase in requests for financial support since 2023, according to a statement the nonprofit issued to TribLive.

Click here to read the entire article on the Tribune Review