Written by Rob Stroud from JG-TC
May 29, 2025

CHARLESTON — Staff at the Coles County Council on Aging's LifeSpan Center provided Medicare enrollment counseling, state and local benefit application assistance, and other senior information services to 1,858 clients last year. Those services, which totaled 4,140 individual appointments with local clients in need, were made possible with the assistance of annual funding from the U.S. Older Americans Act. Consequently, the Illinois Association of Area Agencies on Aging selected the LifeSpan Center as one of several locations statewide for the "Day of Advocacy" rallies it held Wednesday in the region in support of Congress fully funding this Act amid federal budget cutting and restructuring.

"I made a point of saying the LifeSpan Center is a beacon," said East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging Executive Director Susan Real after the rally. "They are a hub for providing Older Americans Act services."

East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging Executive Director Susan Real, in the foreground, leads a rally for full funding of the Older Americans Act on Wednesday afternoon at the LifeSpan Center in Charleston with the help of her executive assistant, Nyah Creer.

The Illinois Association reported that while the Act is currently funded through September, its reauthorization is due, and proposed changes could threaten both the scope and stability of the law that serves as the "backbone of America’s aging network." Without continued federal investment, the Illinois Association contends that critical services will be reduced or eliminated, and this will lead to severe consequences for older adults and for
caregivers. Real said more than 478,000 Illinois residents used Older Americans Act-funded services last year. She said these services average approximately 183,000 home-delivered meals, 154,000 congregant dining center meals, 30,000 senior information service appointments, 15,000 rides, and 5,000 health screening and education appointments per year.

Enacted in 1965, the Act is designed to help senior citizens stay in their homes longer and out of nursing homes. Real said the loss of funding would cause other costs to rise as seniors' health declines and their need for nursing homes increases, she said. "The Older Americans Act has always enjoyed bipartisan support and we are certain we can continue with this bipartisan support," Real said of the ongoing advocacy effort during the Act's 60th anniversary.

More than 20 service provider and recipients attended a rally for full funding of the Older Americans Act on Wednesday afternoon at the LifeSpan Center in Charleston. the rally was led by East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging Executive Director Susan Real, standing at center, with the help of her executive assistant, Nyah Creer.

Wednesday's rally at the LifeSpan Center took place in the facility's banquet room. Coles County Council on Aging Executive Director Kim Edwards said afterward that an average of 20 diners per weekday partake in hot meals there provided by the Peace Meal Senior Nutrition
Program, administered locally by Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center. Edwards said demand for meals at the LifeSpan Center, senior support services, caregiver advisory services and other Council on Aging programs has steadily increased in recent years as the Baby Boomer generation has grown older.

"A reduction in federal funding would significantly impact our ability to provide those services to the community," Edwards said. Real said Peal Meal has remained funded but its recent shift to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families following the dissolution of the Administration for Community Living has created some uncertainty. Barbra Wylie, director of SBL Peace Meal, said after the rally that this program served approximately 226,000 delivery and congregant dining center meals last year in Coles and the surrounding six counties.
"Sarah Bush Lincoln and Peace Meal are committed to serving senior nutrition needs in our seven-county region," Wylie said, adding that she supports community members advocating for services for senior citizens.