SALSA’s Vision:

To empower the community to improve long-term care and support service systems, to improve understanding about and access to long-term care and support services, and to prolong the independence of older adults through a partnership of older adults, families, service providers, and advocates.

The result of this vision is a system that provides “no-wrong-door” access to comprehensive and client-centered services to older El Pasoans.  The “no-wrong-door” integrated long-term care system will make it much simpler for  seniors needing long term care.  They can access services through any organization linked to long-term care such as hospitals, the Area Agency on Aging, churches, senior centers, or the Texas Department of Aging and Disabilities (DADS).

SALSA is a partnership that develops and implements projects that further the SALSA Vision.  The partnership consists of private citizens as well as individuals from the City of El Paso, El Paso County, DADs, non-profit agencies, for-profit organizations, and other interested groups.  Partners help serve the needs of older El Pasoans as well as develop networks, share information, and learn about programs and services being carried out throughout El Paso county.

Community Partnerships for Older Adults (CPOA)

www.partnershipsforolderadults.org,

Community Partnerships for Older Adults (CPFOA) is a $20-million initiative of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation®. It is designed to help communities improve the systems delivering long term care and supportive services to vulnerable older adults and their caregivers. This program stimulates community-generated solutions for developing systems of long term care with the understanding that there is no one-size-fits-all program that can adequately meet the diverse needs of older adults. Creating this kind of change requires strong collaborative efforts between key community groups, agencies, businesses, government officials, and consumers. Through grant awards and technical assistance resources, the CPFOA program assists community partnerships that are working toward positive change in their long- term care and supportive services systems. This initiative continues the Foundation's longstanding effort to foster a society in which older adults remain in their own homes and communities and continue to live full lives, with as much choice as possible.

SALSA Projects

SALSA. relies on partners throughout the community to collaborate on projects that improve access to long-term care and improve the lives of older adults in El Paso .  Projects encourage networking and learning among partners with the ultimate goal of creating sustainable programs that are accessed by older adults and advocates.  Anyone can participate in SALSA Projects, and older adults are especially encouraged to join.  Expertise is not needed in any area and training is available when needed.  Currently, this is a list of projects SALSA. partners are working on:

 Education & Training-Partners develop training modules and educational materials for groups such as older adults, the general public, and professionals to improve understanding of issues that affect seniors.  The modules encourage proactive approaches to learning and doing among.

 Media Festival-A film competition is being organized for the fall of 2006 that will award prizes to local filmmakers for short films on older El Pasoans.  The project will create greater awareness of issues that affect older adults and generate media materials that will be used for future projects such as educational vignettes, television commercials, and a documentary.

Grant Opportunities Research Group-Partners are researching grant and other funding opportunities for SALSA. and its partner agencies.  Participants are given training on grant research and grant writing, and the group is encouraged to share information about funding opportunities in order to maximize funding opportunities for programs in El Paso .

 Viva 3^rd Age-The El Paso Times publishes a weekly column on issues that affect older adults every Friday.  SALSA. partners seek out stories, recruit writers, and edit the stories published in the weekly El Paso Times article.

 Web Site Development-Participants are working to develop the content for a web site for older adults and their advocates.  The web site will provide education and information on issues that affect older adults in El Paso .  No experience in web development is necessary.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

New projects are constantly developed to respond to the needs of older adults in El Paso,  Partners are always needed for existing and future projects.  If you are interested in joining the SALSA partnership contact:

Laura Ponce, Project Coordinator

laurap@riocog.org915-533-0998 ext. 164