TARCOG appreciates the South Alabama Regional Planning Commission (SARPC) team who came from Mobile today to share an outreach training program for Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) to better serve residents in DeKalb, Jackson, Limestone, Madison and Marshall counties.

The overall goals of the training were to assist TARCOG staff:

• Increase participation of older adults in SNAP through community-based outreach and enrollment initiatives.
• Identify, analyze, and disseminate replicable, cost effective, and scalable strategies for senior SNAP enrollment.
• Increase public awareness of senior hunger as an issue of national and local importance, and of SNAP as an effective strategy for reducing food insecurity among older adults.

Julie McGee, director of the SARPC-AAA provided a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Outreach Project Overview with a focus on economic security and senior hunger initiatives.

Nancy Bledsoe, outreach coordinator of the SARPC-SNAP Outreach discussed SNAP Program goals, updates, reporting and community outreach activities, while James Roberson, the regional coordinator for SARPC’s State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), Senior Medicare Patrol and Senior Rx programs presented training on the importance and benefits of having a strong working relationship between the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) and SHIP program.

Barbara Estes, public relations specialist with SARPC also delivered marketing guidance for the programs.

Participating in the training from TARCOG included: LeQuitta Gaskin, outreach manager, Amanda Randall, coordinator of the ADRC, Pamela Cratic, specialist with the ADRC, Jalyn Powell, specialist with the ADRC, Teresa Hazzard, resource specialist with SHIP program, and Lina Barnett, coordinator with the Senior RX program.