SeniorAge partners with multiple agencies to provide services that help ensure the safety, well-being, and independence of seniors aged 60 and over. SeniorAge does not endorse any one agency, but are here to provide access and information to the many resources available within our community.
OATS, Inc.
OATS, Inc. is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 corporation providing specialized transportation for thousands of Missourians, including the rural general public, senior citizens and people with disabilities in 87 Missouri counties. We employee more than 700 people statewide, with 24% of them Veterans.
OATS is a public transportation system that is available to everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, color, religion, or national origin, and in fact serves a wide diversity of clientele. OATS, Inc. helps people get to work, doctor appointments, essential shopping, and other places people need to go. Our services range from taking toddlers to pre-school, getting people to work each day, taking patients to life-saving medical appointment, taking people shopping so they can continue living independently and even delivering meals to home-bound seniors in some communities. We also offer contract transportation service for agencies, whether it be for one day or one year.
For more information, visit their website at www.oatstransit.org
Ozarks Food Harvest
Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving 270 hunger-relief organizations across 28 Ozarks counties. The Food Bank reaches nearly 70,000 individuals monthly and provides more than 20 million meals annually. In 2023, Ozarks Food Harvest received its twelfth consecutive Four-Star Charity Navigator rating. The Food Bank has been named the Small Business of the Year by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and the Nonprofit of the Year by the Springfield Business Journal. Its facility, the O’Reilly Center for Hunger Relief, has also received “superior” AIB International food safety certifications.
Founded in 1983, Ozarks Food Harvest has a stated mission of Transforming Hunger into Hope. The simple statement serves as a visionary and meaningful summary of Ozarks Food Harvest’s goals, while expressing exactly what it is The Food Bank does. Ozarks Food Harvest provides food distribution and services to 270 Ozarks nonprofits through programs such as the Weekend Backpack Program, Mobile Food Pantry, After-School & Summer Food programs, the Senior Food Program and more.
Legal Services of Southern Missouri
Legal Services of Southern Missouri (LSSM) is one of four legal services organizations in Missouri funded primarily by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). LSC is a private, not-for-profit corporation created by an Act of Congress to ensure low-income people have equal access to the courts nationwide.
LSSM receives financial assistance from the following sources: Legal Services Corporation, State of Missouri, Missouri Lawyer Trust Account Foundation, and local area agencies on aging. However, without the support of local private lawyers, LSSM would be unable to provide high-quality legal representation to the poor.
LSSM is not a government agency, but rather a not-for-profit organization serving only the low-income and elderly in forty-three counties across southern Missouri. LSSM never charges a fee to a client.
Our program in southern Missouri is working to expand services to meet the legal needs of children, elderly, victims of abuse, and the disabled. LSSM’s core legal services provided to the low-income and elderly are domestic/sexual violence, family, consumer, housing, public benefits and elder law.
For more information on Legal Services of Southern Missouri, visit their website at www.lsosm.org
Community Foundation of the Ozarks
The Community Foundation of the Ozarks mission is to enhance the quality of life in our region through resource development, community grantmaking, collaboration, and public leadership. CFO is a public foundation serving the Missouri Ozarks. They are dedicated to working with its donors, nonprofit partners, and affiliated community foundations in meaningful and purposeful ways.
Founded in 1973, CFO has since grown to include 49 affiliate community foundations and more than 2,600 charitable funds totaling $253 million in assets, as of June 30, 2016.
For more information on the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and its member organizations, visit their website at cfozarks.org
OMBUDSMAN
Across the United States, over 2 million seniors live in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The Council of Churches’ Long-term Care Ombudsman Program is part of the State of Missouri’s Ombudsman Program. Ombudsman is a Swedish word, meaning “representative.” Each state is required by the Federal Older Americans Act (OAA) to have advocates and representatives in care facilities, and program advocates address complaints from residents and champion improvements to the long-term care system.
The Council’s Ombudsman program serves residents in over 20 counties in Southwest Missouri. Volunteers ensure all residents are informed of their rights, which include physician choice, freedom from abuse and restraint, participation in one’s care, ability to manage one’s finances, and retaining marital rights. Ombudsman also helps resolve complaints between the resident and the facility.
