Monday, November 22, 2021
Lombard, IL – Marla Fronczak, Chief Executive Officer of AgeGuide, the Area Agency on Aging for Northeastern Illinois, received the CLESE Champion of Older Adults award at the Coalition of Limited English-Speaking Elderly Annual Members Meeting on November 18th.
Marta Pereyra, the Executive Director of CLESE, explained that Ms. Fronczak received this award because she has such an understanding of the needs of older adults, especially immigrant refugee groups. In addition, Ms. Pereyra said the award recognizes the great partnership between AgeGuide and CLESE and its investment in supporting culturally appropriate services for older adults.
AgeGuide and CLESE have partnered on a number of initiatives to reach limited English-speaking older adults in the collar counties of Chicago. The organizations have worked together to reach limited English-speaking older adults on important initiatives such as the 2020 Census and most recently, the Medicare How-To series for the AgeGuide Learning Center. This How-To series goes in depth on how to navigate the Medicare website. The series of five videos are available in English, Spanish, Polish, Chinese and Hindi. CLESE also provides targeted outreach in AgeGuide’s 8 counties to limited speaking older adults and their families which helps them access services and supports to improve their quality of life, enabling them to live independently in the community.
“I am honored to receive this award from the Coalition of Limited Speaking Elderly” said Marla Fronczak, Chief Executive Officer of AgeGuide. “Working with CLESE has allowed AgeGuide to reach minority populations that we might not have been able to reach without their assistance. We are proud of the work we have been able to do together and are looking forward to expanding our partnership in the future.”
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About AgeGuide
AgeGuide Northeastern Illinois is a nonprofit organization responsible for developing and coordinating a network of services for older adults throughout the eight-county region. AgeGuide informs and advises public and private agencies and the general public of the needs of older adults living in the area, and acts as an advocate on their behalf. The Agency serves DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties. Other information about AgeGuide and other topics of interest to older adults and links to other resources are available at the Agency’s web site: www.ageguide.org.
About CLESE
The Coalition of Limited Speaking Elderly was formed in 1989 by a culturally diverse group of leaders of minority social service organizations. Their mission is to improve the lives of Limited English speaking older adults by providing leadership, education and advocacy. CLESE currently has 50 members that together serve over 200,000 clients each year.
