After several years of planning and hours of work, the dream of a comprehensive guide for services available for senior citizens in Plymouth County has become a reality.

The Plymouth County Fair marks the launching of the long awaited Plymouth County Senior Service Directory. Free copies may be picked up during the fair at the Floyd Valley Hospital Auxiliary Booth in the Commercial Building.

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"I'm very excited to bring this directory to Plymouth County," said Karen Borchers, executive director of the Ecumenical Institute, which started the process for the directory. "The directory is the result of hundreds of hours of volunteer labor to find the needs of seniors in our county, to compile the data, and to publish a listing of the services available."

"We would like to offer special thanks to Floyd Valley Hospital for their part in hosting events and meetings to help this dream become a reality," Borchers said.

The Senior Service Directory (SSD) will provide information to seniors and their families of available volunteer opportunities, spiritual care, professional and government organizations, health and wellness facilities and services, living assistance, housing, education, along with cultural and recreational opportunities.

The SSD will later be available at many of the businesses and organizations in Plymouth County that are listed in the directory. In addition to listing the services available in the county, the SSD features three types of indexes to allow people ease in finding a service either alphabetically, by city, or by category.

"We took small steps to get to this point," said Mary Herbst, one of the many volunteers who helped in the process, including planning, surveying area residents, and then compiling information.

Borchers also gave thanks to Lisa Niebuhr, who helped in the visioning process for the project.

Sandi Bolton, assistant to Borchers, hopes to receive success stories as a result of the directory.

"This is a way to connect people to what they need, whether a service or a place to volunteer," Bolton said. "A lot of businesses do offer special services for senior citizens."

There are 42 pictures within the directory of many different parts of Plymouth County, taken by amateur photographer, Scott Bricker.

Most of the financing has been provided by Ecumenical Institute. Many local businesses have also supported the cost of producing the directory by purchasing ads. Additional donations are being sought by those who feel that this is a worthwhile community project. Anyone wishing to make a donation, may contact either Sandi Bolton or Karen Borchers of Ecumenical Institute.