The Porter County Triad held its annual senior fair expo at St. Paul Catholic Church on Tuesday, October 3.
Porter County Triad is a partnership that’s dedicated to building a sense of belonging for seniors. The event was loaded with dozens of vendors from places such as the Life Care Center of Valparaiso, Community Healthcare System, and NorthShore Health Centers.
“This is one of the biggest fundraisers for the Porter County Triad,” said Cathy Ellis, president of the Porter County Triad. “We’re raising funds to assist the sheriff’s department in purchasing the Project Lifesaver.”
Project Lifesaver has been the most emphasized issue to work with between the Porter County Triad and the sheriff’s department recently. Lieutenant Brian Dziedzinski explained how the device works and who can benefit most from it.
“Our target population for Project Lifesaver is people who may have Alzheimer’s, dementia, or severe autism,” Dziedzinski said. “It’s a transmitter that’s about as big as a watch and can be worn around the wrist or ankle. From there, it’ll transmit a specific frequency to us so that we can track someone that may be prone to wandering.”
Barb Kubiszak, director of St. Agnes Center, has experience specializing in Alzheimer's and dementia care. She sees the value in bringing seniors together from the community for an event that highlights what they might need.
“St. Agnes Center has been in the community for 25 years,” Kubiszak said. “I’m always looking forward to this event because it’s great for networking with different vendors all in one place so that seniors don’t have to travel around so much.”
While the main focus of the event was to spotlight Project Lifesaver, each vendor focused on different areas. Judy Kukelka, community education representative at Heart to Heart Hospice, discussed how their organization tries to manage programs that seniors can count on for reliable treatment.
“Our goal is to fill the gap between palliative care and hospice care,” Kukelka said. “We are still a bit new to Northwest Indiana. We have some specialized care bridge programs where patients can seek treatment for comfort measures while being on hospice.”
Some of the different services being provided at the event served as multipurpose, including Project Lifesaver.
“We have several vendors here along with the sheriff’s department that are all equally as concerned about seniors,” said Mickey Koehler, secretary of the Porter County Triad. “While Project Lifesaver is mostly geared toward seniors, it can also be effective for children. Many of the people currently in the program are actually children.”
The event concluded with an interactive activity to showcase how Project Lifesaver works with a game called Find the Sheriff. Both Porter County Sheriff Jeff Balon and Father Roque Meraz had five minutes to hide outdoors on opposite sides of the church. It only took the police dog three minutes to find both of them.
“We have about 30 Project Lifesaver clients each in both Lake and Porter County,” Dziedzinski said. “It’s a work in progress, but we’ve started to get things moving. It’s just about finding ways to support the people that need the benefits at an affordable or, in some cases, no cost.”
For more information on the Porter County Triad or the Porter County Sheriff’s Office, you can visit their websites.