Jewish community leaders welcomed the announcement this week by Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-Dist. 7) that he has overcome "the toughest hurdle" to get federal funding for a home-care program for frail seniors in Union County.

On July 19, the House of Representatives approved legislation underlying Ferguson's original request for $300,000 for the Natural Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) program run by Jewish Family Service of Central New Jersey.

Contained within the annual funding bill for Labor and Education and other federal agencies, Ferguson's measure would include $200,000 for the NORC program.

That amount, he said, is a higher percentage of the amount requested than is usually given.

"The figures will still have to be reconciled by the House and the Senate — we're closer to the beginning than the end of the process — but I'm hopeful and optimistic that that figure will survive," Ferguson said on Monday, briefing lay and professional leaders at the Scotch Plains offices of the Jewish Federation of Central NJ. Final consideration of the legislation by the White House is not expected until the fall.

Ferguson first won funding for the NORC program in 2005 — also $200,000. In 2006, he gained initial approval for new funds, but a few months ago it was dropped in an across-the-board effort by congressional leaders to strip "earmarks" from appropriation bills, in an effort to curb the deficit.

"This year, we redoubled our efforts and tried again with renewed determination and vigor," the legislator said.

The NORC program provides a range of services to enable elderly people to stay in their own homes rather than move to nursing facilities. Ferguson described the program as "something really worthy of federal support," and something he was particularly pleased to be associated with.

"We see examples of bad things around the world," he said, "but this is an inspiring example of the good that can be done for others."

JFS executive director Tom Beck expressed his gratitude to Ferguson for his efforts on behalf of the funding. He said the initial funding, which ran for 17 months, helped the agency provide a group of seniors clustered in Lexington Apartments in Clark with home health-care visits, meals-on-wheels, counseling, case management, creative arts therapy, and small and larger-scale social get-togethers.

Rep. Mike Ferguson, shown with Eleanor Rubin, said he is
"hopeful" that funding will survive the budget process.

Stanley Stone, Central federation executive vice president, thanked Ferguson for his "steadfast dedication" and for not abandoning the effort to get the funding. He pointed out that the NORC services benefit not just Jewish seniors but "people from all walks of life."

Beck, asked what the repercussions had been of losing this year's funding, said the agency had maintained the program but with difficulty, "on a shoestring budget." He said no additional clients had been accepted from the waiting list.

"Hopefully, the new funding will breathe new life into the program," Beck said, "and allow it to become a model of service for our current clients and for the tidal wave of baby-boomers who will be coming into the system."

Costs vary depending on an individual's needs, Beck said, but on average it costs between $8,000 and $13,000 to provide the necessary services for someone to "age in place" in one's own home; it costs around $80,000 to provide the equivalent care in a nursing home.

Ferguson met some of the NORC clients in person when he visited the Lexington Apartments last year. He joked at the July 30 meeting about how much good advice the residents gave him about parenting, but they also told him how much the NORC services mean to them. He said he found the encounter very moving.

Beck had some additional feedback to offer from letters he has received from clients, and he read out from a few at the meeting. "May God bless you for all your efforts," one woman wrote. "My husband and I could never have survived without this program."

Esther Weintraub, left, listens intently to the discussion about NORC
funding, accompanied by her granddaughter Mindy Goldberger.

If those present needed any further persuasion about the desirability of such a program, they got a clear statement from a senior citizen. At the meeting with her granddaughter, community leader Mindy Goldberger, was 91-year-old Esther Weintraub, who lives alone in an apartment in Queens.

"I definitely prefer to stay in my own place," she told them.