A Message to Our Donors & Supporters
The Board of Directors of Senior Connections and I would like to welcome you to the 2016 Senior Prom and to
express our sincere thanks for your dedicated support in helping seniors in need. I recently heard again that the
single most important question a donor wants answered is “What difference will my gift make?” I am pleased to
tell you that your gift to Senior Connections makes an incredible difference to local seniors every day.
I can tell you that over the past few years, with your help we’ve increased the number of seniors receiving meals,
in-home care or home repair by 30%. I can tell you that our volunteer corps of committed volunteers – also up
by 30% - assists us in ensuring seniors remain living independently in their homes, instead of having to move to
institutional living (on average a savings cost of $50,000 per year on taxpayers).
But I’d rather tell you about a long married couple who was able to stay in their home, even as she became bed-
ridden and he confined to a wheelchair. They received meals and visits from volunteers. They had their things
and their memories around them. Then, one day, she passed peacefully at home. Today, her husband still looks
forward to his meals and his visitors, the volunteers he all knows by name.
Or I can tell you about a Decaturite, a neighbor of mine, who had lived without hot water for more than a de-
cade and survived with dangerous space heaters to stay warm. Now this gentleman has a new furnace, hot water,
nutritious meals and a new wheelchair ramp. He needed the ramp because he is active in his community, still
giving back to others.
Statistics tell you what your gift does but the stories behind the numbers let you know the humanity of your gift.
Your donation starts a chain of events – money for meals or in-home care; a volunteer checking on a senior even
when it’s not their day to deliver a meal; an aide worrying about whether a senior needs meals, too; or a relation-
ship with a caregiver to make sure the senior is always safe.
Because we serve the elderly, it is not uncommon to have to say a final good-bye. With your help, that good-bye
is given in a dignified, caring way. Know that a valued member of our community can remain active and in-
volved until the end. Those are gifts beyond compare.
Best regards.
Debra Furtado Board of Directors
Chief Executive Officer Senior Connections
A Special Note of Thanks: Senior Connections is proud to be associated with these
fine organizations:
DeKalb County Office of Senior Affairs, Cobb County Senior Services, Fulton County
Housing and Human Services, Meals on Wheels of Atlanta, Meals on Wheels of
Middle Georgia, Rockdale County Senior Services, Decatur First United Methodist
Church, Visiting Nurse Health Systems and City of Atlanta Parks and Recreation.
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