Search and Care, Inc.

Search and Care's central goal is to help older New Yorkers age safely at home for as long as possible -- with improved quality of life and peace of mind.

• Care Management: Search and Care's Care Management Team continues to qualitatively and quantitatively measure the impact and scope of our services by recording all units of care and regularly discussing needs and benchmarks.

• Mental Health Care: By continuing to use the empathic services of our Mental Health Specialist, in triage with skilled social workers/care managers and members of other agency ancillary services

• Money Matters: Our Financial Oversight Program will continue to manage bill paying and organization for clients, while “Money Matters" will continue to reach deeper into the community to help elders who are care managed by other agencies but still need financial management supports.

• Therapeutic Groups: Search and Care will continue to enhance/expand therapeutic groups/enrichment activities, particularly for East Harlem older adults.

When Search and Care was founded in 1972 as a two-person agency (by The Reverend Clark Oler and Exec. Director Suzannah Chandler, MSW), it was less of a direct social service provider, and more of a resource and referral conduit for community elders in need and identified as at-risk – connecting them to social services, medical providers, financial institutions, emotional and social supports. In the last ten years, significant agency growth has fostered Search and Care's ability to shift from a referral source, to more of a direct service and programming provider. The result is an agency that is adept at treating each client as an individual (in contrast to “one size fits all" case services), and yet, at the same time, comfortably works in collaborations, linkages and partnerships with diverse community entities.

Search and Care has augmented its staff and internal skills, which has increased our organizational capacity and allowed us to continue carefully serving an increased client census. With the addition and seamless integration of bilingual staff members, and a Homecare Worker, we have been able to respond to community needs at an individualized and compassionate level.

Search and Care's Nursing Program has been bridging a gap in services for clients more in need of medical support. Our clinical RN provides medication monitoring, education, and pouring as well as nutritional guidance and support. She also runs a popular therapeutic group “Medical Rap", which brings together at-risk older men and women and helps them normalize their health concerns while encouraging peer support and comraderie. Two Psychiatric Nurse Practioner Graduate Students from Columbia University add to this program by providing clients who have more complex mental health concerns, (i.e. bipolar disorder), with support.

Search and Care's “Money Matters" program has become very successful in the community. The program is now providing financial risk avoidance/exploitation, money management, and debt reduction/management strategies to older men and women who are being care managed by other agencies, but were missing financial guidance.

Most recently, a strong achievement of Search and Care's has been the addition of a bilingual and culturally competent Volunteer Coordinator specific to East Harlem. This role will allow Search and Care to grow its volunteer presense in the underserved and high-need region of East Harlem.