Upcoming Reduction in Federal Funding for CAPS Program Supporting Senior Employment

CHICAGO (WLS) — Federal funding cuts are coming to programs that help keep seniors employed.

Some organizations say they found just this week that the cuts will mean sending their senior clients home.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

The Community Assistance Program, known as CAPS, will have to turn away 141 seniors who rely on their help to secure employment starting next Monday, as a letter they received indicated. The organization fears that without federal funding, some seniors may face the risk of homelessness.

Seniors Friday said they have worked all their lives, and they’ll have to keep working to stay afloat.

“It’s like a little piece of heaven to make ends meet,” CAPs client Sandra L. Robinson said.

Robinson, a 67-year-old who has been working since she was 16, is witnessing the impending closure of the Community Assistance Program, which provides job opportunities and training for more than 100 seniors with an annual income of less than $18,000.

“We were told that if anybody worked after the first of July, they would not pay for it,” Community Assistance Program CEO Sheryl Holman said.

Holman disclosed that the federal budget currently lacks provisions for funding the program, leading to the Illinois Department of Aging being unable to authorize seniors to continue their work.

“I’m chasing dollars now,” Holman said. “This program is vital to them. They have nothing else. I mean, who can live off $1,000 a month?”

Holman says CAPS receives over $2 million in government funding. She says she has clients who will have no way to pay rent or for life-saving medication, like insulin.

“It’s going to be tight. I have my rent. I have my meals and the medication. And I depend on the job that covered that part of it,” CAPS client Tammy Spivey said.

The seniors are already sending letters out to their representatives and even working on their job resumes.

“I don’t want to stay at home and sit, and I’m not going to stay at home and sit,” CAPS Client Juanita Wright said.

Some, like Wright, are employed through CAPS, at the Atlas Senior Center.

Just a few weeks ago, they were celebrating Senior Day.

Now, they’re trying to keep hope alive.

“Seniors have paid their price. They’ve worked their timeline. And here they are again,” Holman said.

CAPS said their senior program is so valuable that their current waiting list is 120 people.

The Illinois Department on Aging did not immediately respond to a request for comment.