Some people call them the invisible poor. They are all around us, but they often go unnoticed in the hurly-burly pace of today’s busy and prosperous society. They are the elderly poor.

For many of us, the term "senior citizen" calls up an image of successful retirees living comfortable, even luxurious, lives basking in sunny Florida, or being pampered in lavish retirement communities. For many that is indeed an accurate picture, but for millions of others, it is a world away from reality. According to FamiliesUSA, a health watchdog organization, more than eight million elderly Americans are living at or near the poverty level today. Nearly 200,000 in Pennsylvania alone.

But what does it mean to be among the elderly poor? What is life like for those whose working lives have come to a close and left them without a fair slice of the economic pie?

Citing cold statistics is a woefully inadequate way to illustrate the plight of our neighbors in need. Behind closed doors — where many of our elderly poor remain because they are unaware of how or where to look for help, or because of pride that doesn’t permit them to ask for help — there are seniors living in constant hunger because they have no money to spare for a decent meal. Others live with unrelenting pain because they have no money to buy the medicine they desperately need. To put it in simpler terms, some seniors face the incomprehensible choice of either eating a decent meal or buying the drug that keeps their blood pressure from exploding — one or the other, but not both.

In winter’s bitter cold, many of our elderly neighbors shiver in unheated or poorly heated rooms because they cannot afford to pay their utility bills. Even as this is being written, I have learned from a local elected official about a senior citizen trying to heat her apartment by burning newspapers because she has no money to pay her utility bill.

In summer, without air conditioning, many of our local seniors, unable to buy an electric fan to give them even a little relief from the blistering heat, spend sleepless nights and listless days. Some, whose frail bodies can no longer stand conditions that you and I may not even notice, eventually succumb to the relentless punishment that only the poor can understand.

Are these people far removed from us, off somewhere in a distant place where they are someone else’s responsibility? Some are, of course. But you may be surprised to learn that nearly 6,000 of the invisible poor live right here in Montgomery County, hidden among their more prosperous neighbors.

But don’t we have government agencies that exist for the sole purpose of helping the elderly poor? Of course. Unfortunately, the invisible poor are often invisible even to the agencies created for the purpose of helping them. Bureaucracy and red tape can pose insurmountable barriers even for the most dedicated persons trying to help. Many of our elderly citizens live neglected lives, cut off from family and friends and unaware of the many programs that could help them.

Astonishing increases in the premiums for HMO coverage have devastated some seniors. Many of our senior citizens are now unable to buy their prescription needs even with the help of Pennsylvania’s prescription drug program.

What can you do to help your unfortunate neighbors? It may be easier than you think. Many of the invisible poor are cut off from family and friends, unaware of how to help themselves.
There are many programs and volunteers dedicated to helping the elderly poor. If you know of a senior in need of help, call on that person. Take a look in the back of your phone book where you’ll learn about many agencies that can offer valuable help and advice.

Sometimes, a need is so desperate, so immediate, that working through a formal agency cannot provide the immediate help that is needed: things like a few bags of groceries to provide lifesaving nourishment right now, help with paying a utility bill to restore livable conditions in the home, money to pay for a prescription needed right away. That’s the kind of help that the Helping Hand Foundation was created to provide.

Working through local agencies such as churches, police departments, and the offices of local elected officials only in the townships of Abington, Lower Moreland, and Upper Dublin, the Helping Hand Foundation provides financial help and counsel without the delay and red tape often associated with larger organizations. By confining our work to a small geographic area, we are able to make effective use of our resources in providing much needed help to our own neighbors.

If you know of a senior in urgent need of help, contact one of your local agencies. If they are not aware of us, ask them to drop us a line at the address below. We’ll contact them right away to see how we can help.

Bear in mind, we are not the Red Cross or the Salvation Army. We are a small volunteer organization dedicated to helping local senior citizens who need help in such things as paying for a utility bill, prescriptions, groceries, etc. Our grants are relatively small, but they come with the advantage of no red tape and a quick response that larger organizations often cannot provide.

The Helping Hand Foundation is a Pennsylvania registered nonprofit corporation that depends on public contributions for our funding. We are a completely volunteer organization whose officers work entirely without compensation. Except for minimal and necessary operating expenses, all of our funds are spent on direct aid to needy seniors in our own area.

Your help in our work to whatever extent you are able to provide is much needed and very much appreciated.