A new fund to support services and amenities to senior citizens has been created by the Juneau Community Foundation, according to a press release.

The fund was created by Senior Citizen Support Services Inc. (SCSSI) which is dissolving as a nonprofit corporation and transitioning to an informal advocacy group, according to a press release from the JCF. SCSSI transferred its cash assets worth $125,000 to the foundation to create the Senior Citizen Support Fund. Money from the fund will be used solely to support senior citizens.

“Pretty soon, 25% of the population of Juneau will be over 65,” SCSSI President Sioux Douglas said in a phone interview with the Empire Monday. “That’s going to be a huge challenge with an aging population that’s going to services and attention.”

One of the biggest challenges for Juneau, according to Douglas, was getting a workforce trained in working with and helping senior citizens. In the past, SCSSI has provided scholarship money to train health care workers to work with seniors, which is something the new fund could be used for.

Douglas said the fund would most likely not have enough money to build senior housing on its own, but could provide extra amenities or services to a senior housing facility once it’s built.

The City and Borough of Juneau is looking for a developer to construct a senior housing facility on Clinton Drive in the Mendenhall Valley.

Though SCSSI will no longer operate as a corporation, some of its members will work as advisors to the Juneau Community Foundation in regards to the fund and the needs of senior citizens, according to Douglas. SCSSI will continue to operate as an informal advocacy group, promoting the needs of elders in the community, Douglas said.

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• Contact reporter Peter Segall at 523-2228 or psegall@juneauempire.com.

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