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  • Protect yourself from being a victim of fraud or scams

    Protect yourself from being a victim of fraud or scams

    By: Susan Monnin, Community Outreach, Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser

    It’s unfortunate, but ANYONE can be scammed and older adults are often targeted.

    No matter how educated you are, it can happen to you. Fraudsters prey on emotions, not intellect. Even if you are extremely vigilant and protective, scams can happen easily.

    According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers lost more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024 – this is a 25% increase from 2023. People age 60+ reported losses totaling $1.18 billion. As a comparison: people in their 30s reported total losses of $810 million (AARP).

    Why are older adults more susceptible to being scammed? They are trusting, financially stable and often socially isolated and lonely. From the reports I’ve received through the years, I see this as a main reason why older adults become victims.

    Be aware when using social media

    Scammers view social media as a “target-rich environment” – meaning they can access many potential victims. Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are among the top social media platforms on which scammers find their victims. Scammers spend hours grooming their victims by invoking affection or by scaring or threatening to embarrass them.

    Scammers also know that older adults spend a lot of time on social media. Many tell me that social media is their connection to family and friends and a critical way they remain in touch.

    We want to protect

    How do we protect our aging loved ones from financial exploitation? Sadly, it’s almost always after an older adult is completely out of money that loved ones learn about the scam. And by then, it’s very difficult to address. Many times, law enforcement’s hands are tied and there may not be anything they can do. Many fraudsters are out of the country – making it difficult to find and arrest them, much less get any money back.

    This is where we come in – the Crimes Against the Elderly Task Force (CAETF). Formed in 2011 by Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser, the CAETF initiated the collaboration of the prosecutor’s office with members from law enforcement, senior service agencies and businesses.

    Through referrals from these organizations along with those from family members and older adults themselves, our office receives reports of financial exploitation mostly through romance or investment scams. (See links below for information on these scams.)

    Protect yourself

    Here are some specific ways to avoid being a scam victim:

    • Be very careful when using social media and avoid less-monitored apps like WhatsApp, Signal and Google Chat. According to the Federal Trade Commission, more money is lost to fraud originating on social media than any other method of contact.
    • Educate yourself on the latest scams. Explore the links below to learn more.
    • Absolutely, positively DO NOT click on any link or attachment sent to you before verifying its legitimacy.
    • Above all – communication is key. It’s important to stay in touch with aging loved ones. Check in on an older adult and encourage them to touch base with their friends.

    If you or someone you know becomes the victim of a scam, please call me at 1-888-662-3673.

    Related:

    About the author

    Susan Monnin serves as Community Outreach Director for Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser. Throughout her 11-year tenure, one of her favorite responsibilities is leading the Crimes Against the Elderly Task Force.

  • Laundry delivery service now available for Clinton County ESP clients

    Laundry delivery service now available for Clinton County ESP clients

    There’s a new option available for Clinton County ESP clients who need help with a common need – laundry. Council on Aging (COA) recently began partnering with Anytime Laundry, based in Wilmington, to provide laundry delivery service for eligible clients.

    “As we age, our health and our home can conspire to make a routine task like laundry more difficult,” said Ken Wilson, chief operating and programs officer at COA. “A disability or chronic health issue, location of laundry appliances within the home, or the inability to drive to a local laundromat can make it difficult to manage laundry independently.”

    COA first began offering laundry delivery service in its FastTrack Home and ESP programs in 2022 in counties impacted by the national home health aide shortage. The service has received high satisfaction ratings from clients and is also saving money in programs funded by local tax dollars. 

    “We’ve been fortunate in Clinton County that the home health aide shortage has not had a significant impact on our ability to meet clients’ needs,” Wilson said. “But the laundry service has been popular in other parts of our service area, and it helps us serve more people at a lower cost. Our biggest barrier to offering the service in Clinton County was finding a local provider.”

    In 2024, enrollment in the laundry delivery service across COA’s region grew 51% while costing more than $100 less per client than the same service provided by a home health aide. Feedback from clients was also positive, with more than 97% of participants reporting total satisfaction with the service, citing convenience, improved independence and positive impacts on their daily life.

    “I had a stroke and was able to go home [from the hospital], but I was unable to do laundry due to loss of function,” one participant shared. “This service allowed me to be home.”

    Council on Aging began searching for a laundry partner in Clinton County in 2024 and found a willing partner in Robin Britain, owner of Anytime Laundry and Carwash.

    Britain and her husband, Larry, had owned Anytime Laundry for seven years, but it was only within the last year that they started advertising laundry delivery service. Besides ESP clients, the service is available to people within a 20-miles radius of Anytime’s two Wilmington locations. According to Britain, that pretty much covers the entire county.

    Via a contract with COA, Britain and her team will pick-up, wash, dry, fold and return ESP clients’ weekly laundry. Dirty laundry is collected on a designated day in a receptacle provided by Anytime Laundry – usually from the client’s porch or stoop – and returned cleaned and folded within 48 hours.

    Britain said people can be apprehensive about using a laundry delivery service – they worry about how their clothes will be separated and washed and what detergent will be used. But, Britain said her team works with clients to meet their needs – including washing towels and linens, hanging or line-drying items, and using requested detergents or products.

    And, working with older adults is nothing new for Anytime Laundry. The team already provides delivery service at area nursing homes, where residents appreciate the flexible pick up and delivery dates.

    A lifelong resident of Clinton County, Britain and her family now live on the farm she grew up on in New Vienna. Her dad lives with the family part-time.

    “I’m excited to get started [offering this service],” Britain said. “It’s a way for us to give back to the community.”

    Clinton County ESP clients who are interested in laundry delivery service can speak to their care manager to determine if the service is right for them. To learn more about Clinton County ESP, click here or call (937) 584-7200. Click here for more information about Anytime Laundry.

  • Help us bring joy to older adults this holiday season

    Help us bring joy to older adults this holiday season

    Council on Aging will once again partner with Home Instead to brighten the holidays for older adults through Be a Santa to a Senior.

    We are collecting, wrapping and delivering gifts to fulfill the wish lists of older adults in two apartment communities in our area.

    You can help us make the holidays brighter for these older adults by purchasing gifts through one of two options:

    1. Purchase individual gift(s) through our Amazon.com wish list by clicking here. Amazon will deliver the gifts to the Council on Aging office.
    2. Purchase three gifts for a specific person. Shop on your own and deliver the gifts (unwrapped) to Council on Aging’s office at 4601 Malsbary Road, Blue Ash, OH 45242. Click here to select gifts from this list.

    Please purchase on Amazon or deliver your gifts to COA by December 12.

    Thank you for helping us to make the holidays bright for local older adults!

    If you have any questions, please email us.

  • COA President’s Award presented to tireless advocate for older adults

    COA President’s Award presented to tireless advocate for older adults

    At its annual meeting in March, Council on Aging (COA) presented its President’s Award to Bill Thornton from Warren County.

    The award is given to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the field of aging, and Thornton fills the bill in many ways. He joined the COA Board of Trustees in 2006, serving on the board for 11 years, including three years as Chairman of the Board and turns as vice chair and treasurer. When he left the Board in 2017, Thornton was immediately appointed to COA’s Advisory Council, where he continues to serve.

    Throughout his almost two decades serving COA, Thornton has taken a special interest in community and government relations. He has always ensured he’s informed about the current issues facing COA and older adults, those with disabilities and caregivers. While many COA Board members participate in meetings with legislators from their respective districts, Thornton regularly attends meetings with state representatives and senators from across COA’s five-county region.

    Before his many years serving COA and advocating for older adults, Thornton successfully grew and merged four business into Thornton Gardens, which he sold in 1999. He was bestowed several awards from nursery and landscaping industry organizations. He served in leadership roles with associations for small and independent businesses. He helped guide Warren County’s tremendous growth, serving in various community leadership roles. In 2000, Thornton established Leadership Warren County, and continues to lead annual classes through a rigorous curriculum designed to empower new leaders and encourage their personal investment in the success of the county they live and work in.

    Thornton delights in defying the stereotypes of aging. An avid downhill skier, he has long since surpassed his goal of skiing for free at resorts that offer that bargain to skiers over age 70.

  • Innovative service prevents simple need from becoming a big barrier to independence

    Innovative service prevents simple need from becoming a big barrier to independence

    As we age, it can become harder to do daily tasks on our own. Chronic health conditions or disabilities can hinder our ability to cook a meal, drive a car, take a shower or do our own laundry. However, our inability to do any of these tasks without assistance shouldn’t automatically lead to a loss of independence.

    Such was the case for Pamela, 76, of Mt. Washington. A bad fall and a set of dangerous stairs conspired to keep Pamela from doing laundry on her own. An innovative new service from Council on Aging is meeting that need for Pamela – and others like her – while also saving taxpayer money.

    Pamela shows off a sketch of the entrance to Coney Island – a favorite hangout spot for her friends.

    A self-described “old hippie,” Pamela grew up as an army brat. She was born in Lexington, Ky and attended eight schools before attending McNicholas High School as a freshman.

    As a young adult, Pamela worked as a model for department stores such as McAlpin’s, Shillito’s and Pogue’s. She also appeared on Bob Braun’s Bandstand on WLWT and spent time touring the country with a boyfriend who was a member of the folk-rock band, Pure Prairie League. In her home, she proudly displays photos from her time living with friends in Vermont and hanging out at Coney Island.

    At home in Cincinnati, Pamela worked for 25 years as a server at two iconic Jeff Ruby’s restaurants – The Waterfront and The Precinct. She also channeled her love of cats into the development of an animal rescue program that today is known as Ohio Alley Cat Rescue (OAR).

    Fast-forward to the 2020s and Pamela says she often spends days at home alone in her 1869 Mt. Washington home – with her two cats, Alice and Archie. “I had all that fun and look at me now: I’m an old lady in an old house!”

    Pamela’s home, and her independence, are important to her. That’s why – after a serious fall that resulted in multiple injuries and surgeries – she was grateful to receive a referral from The Christ Hospital to Council on Aging’s FastTrack Home Program. FastTrack provides temporary support for people like Pamela who need some time to regain their independence after a hospital or nursing home stay.

    When Pamela first came home from the hospital, FastTrack Home installed grab bars in her bathroom to offer security and help prevent another fall. She also received home-delivered meals but preferred to go back to cooking her own meals as soon as she was able.

    Pamela’s biggest challenge, however was navigating the steep, dark and uneven staircase that led to her basement laundry room. This single issue had become a barrier to independent living and she did not mince words when she shared her determination to stay in the place she has called home for more than 30 years: “I’d just as soon go out of this place feet first.”

    Fortunately, Council on Aging had a solution. In April 2022, COA began offering clients enrolled in FastTrack Home and the Elderly Services Program (ESP) the option to use a laundry delivery service. At the time, COA was dealing with the impact of the national home health aide shortage: 55% of clients in Butler, Hamilton and Warren counties were waiting to be matched with an aide for help with household tasks, like laundry.

    COA analyzed the waiting lists to identify service needs that could be met in non-traditional ways (without a home health aide). Some clients received adaptive cleaning products so they could safely manage basic household cleaning tasks on their own. Others were offered the opportunity to use the laundry delivery service.

    “The laundry delivery service is a win-win for everyone,” said Stephanie Seyfried, vice president in training of managed care and aging services at COA and the architect of the service. “With this service, we are able to fill an important need for many older adults who’d been waiting months for services while also saving money and serving more people. Most importantly, clients are very happy with the service.”

    COA has contracts with three laundry providers who manage the pick-up, cleaning, folding and delivery of clients’ weekly laundry. Each client uses the service approximately four times per month. Dirty laundry is collected on a designated day in a receptacle provided by the laundry provider – usually from the client’s porch or stoop – and returned cleaned and folded within 48 hours. Clients can provide input on the type of detergent used.

    The laundry delivery service is saving money in FastTrack Home and the Elderly Services Program – both of which are funded by local tax levies – enabling COA to serve more people at a time when demand is high. Enrollment in the service grew 51% over four quarters with 240 clients using the service by Dec. 2024. The service costs $49-$65 per client per month, compared to $204 for the same service provided by a home health aide, resulting in $265,851 in savings to ESP over four quarters.

    “Laundry is one of the primary activities of daily living many older adults need help with,” Seyfried said. “Disability, chronic health issues, location of laundry facilities in the home and transportation are all barriers that make it difficult for older adults to manage laundry on their own. It is a seemingly simple service that is having a big impact on older adults’ lives.”

    Feedback from clients using the service is positive, with 97% of clients reporting total satisfaction, including Pamela: “This means so much because of the steps [to the basement]. It’s peace of mind. I’m not looking at my dirty laundry and thinking, ‘Oh, no!’”