Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
A new office opened in Pullman and another office relocated in Colfax due to a change in the contracts for services regarding aging and disabled citizens of Whitman County.
After a protracted bidding process earlier this year, five contracts in a $300,000 bundle were awarded to Rural Resources Community Action (RRCA), headquartered in Colville.
For the five services on the contract, the RRCA takes over for the Whitman County Council on Aging.
Subsequently, the RRCA has opened an office in Pullman to provide senior information and assistance, case management, family caregiver support program and kinship navigator to serve for relatives raising child relatives to age 18.
The Whitman County Council on Aging, which previously provided these services, continues to provide transportation services and food bank/nutrition.
The change, which took effect July 10, comes after a concerted effort by Council on Aging Executive Director Karl Johanson and local officials to keep the Whitman County Council on Aging as the provider for all the services.
“It’s chaos moving in and out, that kind of thing, but we’re adjusting,” said Johanson.
He said the main impact for clients around the county will probably be the greater travel distances for residents of county towns such as LaCrosse, St. John and Tekoa because services now come from the new office in Pullman instead of Colfax.
“It will be a change. Hopefully clients won’t bear the brunt of it,” Johanson said.
RRCA, a non-profit organization, has been providing long-term care and related services since 1974.
“It is exciting to have the opportunity to serve the people of the Palouse,” said Rural Resources Division Director Dale Wilson. “While we have been providing employment and training programs in Whitman County for 18 years, we are eager to begin our new work with the county’s senior citizens, disabled adults, caregivers and others.”
The RRCA office set up in Pullman is deemed the new Aging and Disability Resource Connection. Much of the ADRC staff is the same as who served local residents before the change.
“We hired existing staff, so in that regard there hasn’t been a lot of change in faces,” said Wilson. “Our four Whitman County ADRC staff have worked with the elderly and disabled for a combined 49 years. Their dedication to helping people understand and access care services reduces illness, accidents and hospitalizaton. Having one place where people can find accurate information about care resources helps them make informed personal care decisions.”
In addition to the ADRC office opening in Pullman, Whitman County Community Action Center has moved its Colfax office down the street into the same building as the Council on Aging.
The Community Action Center has been located in the Pacific Northwest Farmers Cooperative building at the intersection of Wall Street and N. Main. Remodeling plans by PWC led to relocation of the CAC office.
The Colfax outreach office serves north county residents with housing programs including Section 8, emergency assistance, such as with rent and utility bills, and emergency food.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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