Kaufman County Senior Citizens Services, Inc. (KCSCSI) was organized by a Task Force which was established by the Kaufman County Improvement Council. The goal of the Task Force was to create an organization to administer programs and services through a variety of Federal, State and Local resources to support the needs of older Texans in Kaufman County.
The Improvement Council Task Force realized that an independent organization was needed to administer the multiple resources necessary to support the elderly citizens of Kaufman County. With efficient management of services to the elderly, all of the available resources could more easily be available to the senior citizens county wide. KCSCSI was therefore chartered May 1, 1980 to provide these services.
KCSCSI management consists of a governing Board which is comprised of eleven (11) Board of Directors members, including one (1) from Navarro County. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors, these dedicated Kaufman and Navarro County citizens are involved daily in the delivery of meal service to the elderly.
Kaufman County senior citizens are involved as site council members who have the responsibility to set policies in reference to programs and activities in the Senior Centers. Two of the Senior Centers provide 75,000 meals per year in our Meals on Wheels program. The Meals on Wheels Program receives extensive support from the cities and communities in Kaufman County which provide facilities for use as Senior Centers, as well as paying some or all of the utility bills, and providing staff for some of the centers.
In its 31 years of existence, KCSCSI services have been expanded to include congregate meals at senior centers in four (4) communities in the county. The Meals on Wheels Program now covers the entire counties of Kaufman and Navarro, with Meals on Wheels for the handicapped, Emergency Aid assistance, Alzheimer support groups, and the Ensure Program providing essential services to the general public.
In 1988, KCSCSI became the public transportation provider for Kaufman and Rockwall Counties by establishing Kaufman Area Rural Transportation (KART). Since that time, KART has been recognized by the State Legislature as the Rural Transportation District for Kaufman County. In November of 2002 KART became an individual entity by qualifying as a political sub-division of Texas operating with its own Board of Directors.
Phyllis Walker, Director of Aging (left)
and Omega Ann Hawkins, Executive Director