PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — The community is working hard to take care of our growing senior population. And right now, the only known solutions are educating the public and raising money.
A collection of business leaders gathered at Pasco Aging Network (PAN), because it takes a village to solve a problem as big as this one.
“There are over 160,000 seniors in Pasco County right now, that makes up 30 percent of the population,” said Ryan Abremski, with PAN. “There are more and more seniors moving up here with their families as well, there’s more of a need to support these organizations, obviously there’s a power in numbers.”
Ryan has been working in senior health care for 10 years.
“I watched my own grandfather go in and out of nursing homes, knowing there is support there, my grandmother go through hospice care,” Ryan explained.
He knows there’s a need to help these individuals, they are all family to someone.
PAN is preparing for their fundraising event called “Boots and Bling.”
Ryan is pushing hard to see that tens of thousands of dollars gets raised and get distributed out to PAN’s network of organizations.
“The goal of our organization is to help anyone with any disability to live as safely and independently as possible,” said Jody Armstrong, with Disability Achievement Center. “Last year we helped 1,242 stay independent.”
Jody’s group was the recipient of a grant last year, and she’s hopeful for another.
“Inflation has hit this population very hard. People just need things, they don’t want to go into an institution, and people want to age in place,” explained Jody.
“Boots and Bling” is a casino themed event. It will be held April 27 with proceeds going to PAN.
You can click here for ticket information.
