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Who Do You Call When You Don’t Know Who to Call?

Most of us know an older person or someone who lives with a disability who needs extra help from time to time. Sometimes needs grow and we find ourselves facing situations we’ve never encountered before. Sometimes—whether our own circumstances have changed or those of a loved one—we feel at wits’ end because we don’t know how to get help.

Good news—professional, confidential consultations and referrals are available for older people, adults with disabilities, and caregivers, free of charge!

Community Living Connections is a network of service providers that provides easy access to a caring, highly trained advocate who has hundreds of resources at their fingertips. Adults of any age can call, including young people who care for an older family member or friend. Calls and consultations are confidential and free of charge.

Think of Community Living Connections as the “front door” to aging and disability services throughout King County. A few services to remember—whether for yourself, a family member, or friend—include:

• Caregiver support—services for unpaid primary caregivers (typically spouses, adult children, or close friends) of adults aged 18+ help reduce stress so that caregivers maintain their own quality of life. In turn, they provide better care, which enables care receivers to remain at home and as independent as possible.
• In-home support—case management for lower-income people who depend on Medicaid and have two or more “activities of daily living” that they cannot perform independently (e.g., personal hygiene, continence management, dressing, feeding, mobility) help clients to live as self-sufficiently as possible and avoid unnecessary relocation to costlier long-term care environments.
• Food access—community meals, home-delivered meals (“Meals on Wheels”), and emergency meals are options when shopping and meal preparation isn’t possible.

During normal business hours, call (toll-free) 844-348-5464. Anytime, e-mail info@communitylivingconnections.org or visit www.communitylivingconnections.org.

Remember this: Help is available—at no cost to you—and sometimes even a little bit of help makes a world of difference. You don’t even need to define the problem—just make the call. Community Living Connections can help.

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Community Living Connections is a program of the Area Agency on Aging for Seattle and King County, which is hosted by the Seattle Human Services Department’s Aging and Disability Services division.

This article appeared in the September 2024 issue of AgeWise King County.