Corinne Calise Russo, Direc­tor of the Rhode Island Depart­ment of Elderly Affairs (DEA), has announced that United Way 2–1-1 in Rhode Island has been awarded a three-​​year grant, through a com­pet­i­tive bid­ding process, to man­age to the state’s Aging and Dis­abil­ity Resource Cen­ter (ADRC), known as The Point.

Since its incep­tion in 2005, The Point has served a pri­mary gate­way to home and com­mu­nity based long term care ser­vices and insti­tu­tional care. The Point ensures that all indi­vid­u­als have access to infor­ma­tion, assis­tance, assess­ment and coun­sel­ing ser­vices regard­ing home and com­mu­nity based ser­vices, insti­tu­tional care and other related long term care services.

“The Point is rec­og­nized as the pri­mary resource for seniors, adults with dis­abil­i­ties, fam­ily mem­bers, and care­givers to define consumer-​​directed long-​​term care options,” declared Corinne Calise Russo, DEA Director.

“The Point and DEA share a com­mon vision for Rhode Island. We are jointly com­mit­ted to
pre­serv­ing and pro­tect­ing the inde­pen­dence and dig­nity of our con­stituents and pro­vid­ing them with options to remain vibrant mem­bers of their com­mu­nity,” she added.

“Based on the his­tor­i­cal com­mit­ment of DEA and United Way 2–1-1 in Rhode Island, to serv­ing vul­ner­a­ble cit­i­zens, we are extremely con­fi­dent in the abil­ity of United Way 2–1-1’s pro­fes­sion­al­ism and demon­strated abil­ity to suc­ceed in tak­ing THE POINT to an increased level of achieve­ment and pub­lic ser­vice,” declared Direc­tor Russo.

“We’re grate­ful to the Depart­ment of Elderly Affairs for the oppor­tu­nity to serve the
elderly and adults with dis­abil­i­ties through United Way 2–1-1 in Rhode Island,” said Anthony Maione, pres­i­dent and CEO of United Way of Rhode Island.

“The trained Infor­ma­tion and Refer­ral Spe­cial­ists who answer the phones at the 2–1-1 call cen­ter will help ensure these indi­vid­u­als, their fam­i­lies, and their care­givers receive the assis­tance they need.”

“Dial­ing the 2–1-1 is the fastest way to get to The Point,” said Cristina Amedeo, direc­tor of United Way 2–1-1 in Rhode Island.

“It’s that easy to get infor­ma­tion about health and human ser­vices 24 hours a day, seven
days a week. The col­lab­o­ra­tion between DEA and United Way 2–1-1 of Rhode Island will assure that The Point meets the needs of our clients,” she declared.

Fund­ing for The Point is pro­vided by the fed­eral Admin­is­tra­tion on Aging (AoA). To ensure that Rhode Islanders seek­ing infor­ma­tion about long-​​term care ser­vices and other pro­grams receive the most cur­rent, con­cise, and clear infor­ma­tion, The Point will con­tinue to part­ner with other agen­cies such as statewide Com­mu­nity Infor­ma­tion Spe­cial­ist agen­cies (Regional Points); senior cen­ters; state Depart­ments of Human Ser­vices; Labor and Train­ing; Chil­dren, Youth and Fam­i­lies; Men­tal Health, Retar­da­tion and Hos­pi­tals; Ocean State Cen­ter for Inde­pen­dent Liv­ing; Cross­roads Rhode Island; and Qual­ity Part­ners of Rhode Island.

In 2008, The Point was cited as a “Pro­gram Cham­pion” by AoA for its out­reach and edu­ca­tion pro­grams, train­ing, part­ner­ships with other com­mu­nity agen­cies for pro­vid­ing consumer-​​focused infor­ma­tion regard­ing long-​​term care options in Rhode Island.

The Point, under its new man­age­ment, is acces­si­ble by call­ing 401–462-4444 or 401–462-4445 (TTY), by dial­ing 211, or by the 711 sys­tem for deaf/​ hard of hear­ing callers, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Lan­guage trans­la­tion will be pro­vided, as needed. The Point’s web­site address is www.ThePointRI.org. The web­site can also be accessed through the United Way 2–1-1 in Rhode Island web­site links at www.211ri.org or www.uwri.org.

Walk-​​in clients are wel­come for con­sul­ta­tion or coun­sel­ing by a Point Ben­e­fit Spe­cial­ist at
United Way 2–1-1 in Rhode Island, located at 50 Val­ley Street, Prov­i­dence, on Mon­day, Wednes­day, and Fri­day, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, Tues­day and Thurs­day from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, and Sat­ur­day from 8:00 am to 12 noon. Addi­tional on-​​site appoint­ment infor­ma­tion at alter­nate loca­tions will be announced soon, along with a toll-​​free “800” number.

About United Way 2–1-1 in Rhode Island:

On June 1, 2007, United Way 2–1-1 in Rhode Island was launched as a tele­phone ser­vice to work sim­i­larly to 9–1-1 and 4–1-1. By dial­ing 2–1-1, you receive a 24/​7/​365 health and human ser­vices helpline staffed by infor­ma­tion refer­ral and state-​​health and insur­ance coun­sel­ing spe­cial­ists. The ser­vice is free, con­fi­den­tial and local, and in 175 lan­guages and dialects. United Way 2–1-1 in Rhode Island is head­quar­tered at United Way of Rhode Island. It is funded by United Way of Rhode Island with sup­port from Hasbro’s Chil­dren Fund, State of Rhode Island and admin­is­tered by Fam­ily Ser­vice of R.I. For more infor­ma­tion, visit www.211ri.org.

About the Rhode Island Depart­ment of Elderly Affairs:

The Depart­ment of Elderly Affairs was estab­lished as a cabinet-​​level posi­tion in 1977 under Rhode Island Gen­eral Law 42–66-1. DEA is respon­si­ble for the devel­op­ment and imple­men­ta­tion of a com­pre­hen­sive sys­tem of pro­grams and ser­vices for Rhode Islanders age 60 and older. DEA is also the state’s sin­gle plan­ning and ser­vice area agency on aging under the pro­vi­sions of The Older Amer­i­cans Act of 1965.