Casey Meyers has come full circle in the Town of North Hempstead administration, from being director of Project Independence at its inception to her current position as commissioner of the Department of Services for the Aging.
After graduating from Stony Brook University with a double major in political science and psychology, Meyers took a job on the staff of Rep. Gary Ackerman. But she had another objective in mind.
“I wanted to do something more on a local level,” said Meyers, who grew up in Roslyn Heights.
So she took her first job with the town in 2004 as a legislative aide to Councilman Thomas Dwyer.
The following year, Project Independence, a program that offers services to enable aging residents to remain living independently, was launched as a pilot program in two census tracts in north New Hyde Park.
Meyers said she could tell from the outset, based on inquiries from other ares of the town, that Project Independence would become a full-blown program.
Shortly after starting the program, town officials coaxed Evelyn Roth out of retirement to oversee the program, and the town Department of Services for the Aging was established with Roth as commissioner.
Meyers became the town director of legislative affairs in 2007 and then deputy to the supervisor.
But Meyers said she was happy to return to Project Independence when Roth retired as commissioner in June.
“I really enjoy working with seniors. I enjoy being able to help them and seeing results every day,” Meyers said. “Being director of legislative affairs, it takes a long time to work on a grant or a long time to accomplish something.”
When she was jump-starting Project Independence, she said, her primary mission was to spread the word about the program to build awareness of it among seniors.
“When Project Independence first started, there was an enormous amount of legwork and outreach that had to be done. Casey laid out the groundwork for how you reach these seniors,” said Rebecca Miller, deputy commissioner of the town’s Department of Services for the Aging
Now Meyers said the job entails building awareness for the different parts of the program and encouraging the approximately 50,000 town residents who are age 60 or over to sign up.
A mailer from the town, Pioneer, is sent to all eligible North Hempstead residents each quarter to advise residents 60 or over about Project Independence. Advisory committees meeting in all of areas of the town also help to build awareness. And a radio show on Friday mornings, with Roth as host, also makes seniors aware of the services.
The Project Independence taxi program, which offers seniors discounted rides for doctor appointments and to purchase necessities, has provided seniors with more than 65,000 taxi rides since it began in 2005. The taxi program is supported by an $850,000 federal New Freedom grant secured through the state Department of Transportation, Meyers said.
Meyers said a new nighttime pilot program expanding the taxi program will be launched in mid-November in Roslyn. The pilot program will allow seniors to receive discounted taxi rides for any nighttime recreation activities within town boundaries between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.
“It has to be within the town. They can attend whatever social activities they want to go to,” Meyers said.
If that pilot program is successful, it will eventually be expanded to other areas of the town.
A home-repair program, which the town administers through the Rehabilitation Institute in Westbury, was recently expanded from its pilot status in New Hyde Park to other areas of the town. Through this program, the town pays for minor home repairs senior householders need done, with people trained by the Westbury rehab institute accompanied by supervisors when they do the repairs.
“We never turned people down who needed it but we didn’t advertise it. The program is now available and trying to build awareness of it,” Meyers said.
Meyers said Project Independence is currently reinvigorating its program through all of its regional headquarters. Seniors can obtain information about services or secure them by calling the town’s 311 numbers.
North Shore-LIJ continues to provide nursing services for most regions and Meyers said Nassau University Medical Center is now providing nursing services for seniors in the Westbury area.
A new tai chi program has been added for seniors at Clinton G. Martin Park in New Hyde Park, adding to the tai chi, yoga and general exercise classes Project Independence already offers in other areas
“We do classes all over,” Meyers said.
Exercise is a primary occupation for Meyers in her free time, which includes walking the pit bull she adopted from the North Hempstead Animal Shelter.
She said she also enjoys spending time with her husband, Justin Meyers, town deputy receiver of taxes, who she married last year.
