ALBANY, GA -
Dougherty County Community leaders are worried about the well-being of elderly people who live alone.
Recently, several people died in their homes and weren't found for days.
Senior advocates plan to ask Albany city leaders to revive a program to give daily welfare check calls to those in need.
In recent weeks, the deaths of at least three people in Dougherty County went undiscovered for several days or even weeks. The SOWEGA Council on Aging and the Coroner are looking for ways to help.
Over the weekend, a body was discovered in a home on South McKinley Street. The man with medical issues died home alone,and was not discovered for a long period of time. It's something that Coroner Emma Quimbley is seeing more often lately.
"We have a lot of elderly people that live alone. Just like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes that same village to care for our elderly population," said Dougherty County Coroner Emma Quimbley.
The SOWEGA Council on Aging's Meals on Wheels program has also seen an increase number in their daily visits.
"We've often found people in distress. Fallen, sick, sometimes dead. And that's one of the benefits, but you can only have so many people on that program," said Kay Hind the SOWEGA Council on Aging Exec. Director.
Dougherty County's 911 center used to have a program where their computers would do daily welfare calls and alert family in case of no answer, but that program was ended because it was unpopular with the seniors, because the calls went out at 6:00 AM.
"I'm going to contact the city again and see if we can reactivate it with maybe an 8 o-clock call," Hind said.
With an aging population, Quimbley is urging churches and relatives to remember the importance of a daily call to check on the elderly living alone.
"That welfare check is most important to be able to guarantee that your loved one will not be there alone at that crucial time," Quimbley said.
Community leaders say the need for a welfare check program for those people living alone is obvious, and urge seniors or people in need to reach out and get involved for their own personal safety.
Community leaders say there are a number of ways to do daily checks. Some neighbors keep watch, signaling each other just by opening and closing their curtains at certain times, so there is not even a phone call involved.
SOWEGA Council on Aging officials say their Senior Volunteer program will now make daily welfare calls in Albany as they try to get the city to restart its program.
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