KSHB 41 reporter Marlon Martinez covers Platte and Clay counties in Missouri. Share your story idea with Marlon.
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For families who spend each day caring for a loved one, even a few hours of relief can mean everything. That’s exactly what the Breaktime Club at the Northland Shepherd’s Center provided, until now.
The program, which offers social connection and supervised care for older adults, recently lost its main source of funding. A grant from the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), which covered much of the program’s expenses, is no longer available due to federal funding cuts.
“It's really hard. It means we work harder try to find new ways. The fears are that we're all going to be rushing to the same sources for grants and income," said Crissy Jaurez, Respite Program coordinator.
For Warren Hewitt and dozens of other families in the Northland, the Breaktime Club has become a lifeline.
"We're together basically 24/7, and she's been easy enough to care for right now," Hewitt said. "I can still run an errand or two every once in a while, but this gives me a good chance. It's a good three hours or so."
Juarez has seen the need for respite care grow significantly, but the timing of the funding cut couldn’t be worse.
“It’s really hard to understand,” she said. “That was in June. So as we continue to navigate the waters of uncertainty with finances, it’s important to understand — this is going to be us.”
Kristi Bohling-DaMetz, director of aging and adult services at MARC, sent KSHB 41 a statement about the importance of the program.
“Breaktime Club is a phenomenal and much-loved program, and we will jump at any opportunity to support Aging Forward’s efforts to explore alternate funding and transition planning. We respect and admire the team at Aging Forward and all our service delivery partners – the work they do is vital to our communities. This was a difficult financial decision as we return to pre-pandemic levels of funding, further impacted by increasing demand and inflation. Unfortunately, the MARC Area Agency on Aging (AAA) is not alone in this. Across the state and nation, AAAs are experiencing the same thing as Older Americans Act funding remains flat while costs rise and the aging population grows. In the Kansas City region, there is an infrastructure of community-based organizations in place and ready to scale services. However, additional funding is needed to reach more older adults and families through this established community care hub and network approach. We are working with a broad range of partner organizations and community leaders to find new and alternate ways to fund this and other key services for the growing older adult population.”
Currently, the program operates with a full room and a waitlist of at least five people.
“There are people that call every single day who need support,” Jaurez said.
Despite the challenges, the staff and volunteers at the Breaktime Club continue to show up, offering friendship, connection, and a brief moment of rest for those who rarely get one.
“If me and you are lucky, we will live long enough to attend something like Breaktime Club, and our children or our family members will need that," Jaurez said.
You can read more about the program and ways to help here.
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