A new partnership to connect older adults with financial assistance launched this week, a partnership between Metro Nashville government and a group of nonprofits.
The program is called RESET, Raising Economic Security to Enjoy Thriving. It will help seniors sign up for food stamps and other benefits like Medicare Savings Programs and rent assistance. It will also coach those who want a new job or to earn more income, and teach people to avoid scammers among other services.
Grace Sutherland Smith is Executive Director of Agewell, one of the nonprofits in the partnership. She says the need for RESET was revealed two years ago, when a Metro government survey found that more than half of Nashvillians over age 65 didn’t have enough money to cover basic needs.
“Inflation has has caused cost to go up so much. And we certainly know that housing costs have grown dramatically,” she said. “It’s very hard to live on a fixed income today.”
Nonprofits in the partnership include some that specialize in advocacy for older adults: Agewell and FiftyForward, plus other organizations including United Way, Needlink Nashville, and the Tennessee Justice Center.
Until now, these organizations worked separately to provide pieces of what is now RESET. Now, they’re all under one umbrella, making it easier to connect clients with the exact help they need.
Smith says she saw the need for the program in the results of the citywide Imagine Nashville survey. Many older adult respondents commented that they didn’t feel they belonged in Nashville.
“Older adults said, ‘We don’t feel like we’re really benefiting from the financial and economic opportunities that a growing Nashville is achieving,'” she said. “That’s why a program like RESET and our collaborative is so important to say to older adults, ‘We hear you, we see you, and we’re here to help.'”
Clarification: This story was changed to clarify that RESET will enroll seniors in benefits like Medicare Savings Programs, but not Medicare itself.
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