Mr. Ron Blereau, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Governor’s Office of Elderly Affairs addressed the Louisiana Senior Corps Directors at a meeting held in Baton Rouge, LA. last week. He spoke about the proposed state budget cuts to the Senior Corps programs, which includes RSVP, in next year’s budget and the proposal to amend the current budget to make the elimination retroactive to this current fiscal year.

This action would impact hundreds of programs in the state providing services to the elderly. The state has provided matching dollars for Senior Corps programs for the past thirty years. Louisiana receives $4,481,941 in federal grants for these programs and the state provides only $366,612 in matching funds, an amount well below the majority of the other twenty nine states’ matching dollars. I will keep you informed as we receive more information from the state.

We welcome our new volunteers: Gerald Chaffin at Sieper Senior Center, Louise Gantt at the American Red Cross and Teeter Pate at Rapides Regional Medical Center.

Happy Easter to all our volunteers and their families!