Brittany Soffian grabbed her bags and headed to the apartment door in South Abington Township. Inside, an older adult needed assistance from the Milford resident.
When the Lackawanna County Area Agency on Aging faced a growing waiting list of older adults in need of care, the department found a unique solution.
In exchange for working with older adults, Soffian and nine others receive a full scholarship to Lackawanna College.
“I was just so excited when I first heard about it. I immediately applied,” said Soffian, a student in the college’s nursing program. “Not only do I get to help people, which is what I'm in school for, but I also get to give back to the community. So for me, it was kind of like a no-brainer.”
Lackawanna County Commissioners approved an amended agreement during Wednesday’s meeting that allows the county to provide $70,000 to the scholarship fund annually through 2026.
Jason Kavulich, who led the Area Agency on Aging before his appointment to state secretary of aging, helped establish the fund in 2022 when providers in the county did not have the employees to serve older adults.
The waiting list for in-home services, such as personal care, help with meals or household tasks, continued to grow. Offering sign-on bonuses didn’t help.
The county initially used American Rescue Plan funding to establish the scholarship program, and state money will keep it going. If the county doesn’t use its share of funds for older adult care, the money goes back to the state. The state encourages counties to use the funding in creative ways, explained Sara McDonald, Area Agency on Aging director.
“I just hope overall in the next few years, we really see the impact of how much better coming together as a community really will help older adults in our county,” McDonald said.
To qualify, students must be enrolled in any associate or bachelor’s degree program or a continuing education, certificate or certification program at Lackawanna College and work a minimum of 15 hours per week as a service provider. The students earn a paycheck, and go to school for free.
More than a dozen area businesses and organizations now have similar partnerships with the college.
“Many of our students are first-generation college students, so then going for higher education is new to them, so we help them with that,” said Bill Schoen, the college’s director of continuing education and the cannabis program. “And then in return, our goal is to give regional employers a better trained workforce.”
The county hopes to expand the scholarship program as long as funding is available. As the region’s population ages, the need for care grows. Prior to the scholarships, about 70 older adults sat on the waiting list. About 50 names remain.
Back in South Abington Township, Soffian walked to the door of her first of two clients that morning. An afternoon of clinicals for her nursing program followed. Soffian hopes to eventually work in a burn unit or as a lactation consultant and says the scholarship opportunity has provided her with an important perspective.
“I definitely feel like it's benefited not only me but the clients,” she said. “I'm very close with the clients and now they're all very excited with me in school… they talk to me like they’re my family members now.”
For more information, contact the Area Agency on Aging, 570-963-6740.
