These are pretty tough times we’re living in and I imagine every one of us, in one way or another, is experiencing some difficulties.

Today I’d like to share some of the supportive services that are available to seniors 65 and older, the blind and the disabled.

Comprehensive Services for Older Adults provides services to help maintain our quality of life and our independence.

You might want to check out their Web site, reachable by visiting www.co.napa.ca.us. Some of the services are:

• Adult Protective Services. Regardless of income, if you are living outside of a licensed care facility and have physical or mental limitations restricting your ability to carry out daily activities or protect your own rights, Adult Protective Services provides information and referrals regarding elder/dependent adult abuse or neglect, including physical, sexual, financial, psychological abuse, mental suffering and even self-neglect and malnutrition. The office also assists with estate conservatorship investigations and referrals to the Public Guardian for probate conservatorship.

Call 253-4398 during the week, or 888-619-6913 at night or on weekends.

Often, when we live alone, we don’t eat right and can suffer from malnutrition.

If this sounds like you, please give Comprehensive Services for Older Adults a call.

• County Veterans Services

Pat Jolly, veterans service officer, is an amazing fellow.

Through his efforts Napa County veterans and their dependents have received $3.6 million in new monies.

Additionally, college-bound students received tuition/state fee waivers totaling $128,000, nearly double the prior year’s benefits.

Pat advocates heavily at the state and federal level to increase benefits and eligibility for veterans and their families. He is also the state president of the California Association of County Veterans Service Officers.

Kristin Brown, who has taken over for retired old friend Chuck Castillar as deputy director of Health & Human Services, said County Veterans Services “is a very valuable service for our seniors and veterans of all ages, as well as their families.

The benefits received often help meet basic needs and give many the resources to remain independent.

The $3,579,074 brought into Napa County in the past year also provides a significant boost to the local economy, and thus benefits the community as a whole.”

Jolly tells me that more veterans are looking into benefits this year and he encourages them to use their benefits even though they say others need the help more than they do. Our generation just finds it difficult to ask for help. But my point is, don’t let your health suffer; don’t lose your good quality of life. That’s what you’ve worked for all your life.

Contact Pat Jolly at 900 Coombs St., Suite 257, Napa, 253-6072.

Besides these agencies, there are many other CSOA services, such as: Public Health Nursing; Public Administrator/Public Guardian/Public Conservator; Multipurpose Senior Services Program; Medi-Cal; In-Home Supportive Services; Geropsychiatric Case Management; Alcohol and Drug Services.

We’re not alone. There is good, friendly help available in this wonderful community that we live in. There is no reason for any of us to suffer. This is a time to help one another. OK?

Senior Corner appears every other Monday, alternating with Jim Ford’s Napa As It Was. Betty can be reached at bettyrrhodes@sbcglobal.net.