'Gatekeeper of the Month' Helps 99-Year-Old Woman Get Needed Assistance

When Cecilia Bagazinski knocked on the door of an elderly woman's home in Birmingham recently, she found herself waiting out in the cold long enough for neighbors to come out and ask her why she was there.

Bagazinski, an Oakland Township resident and senior service technician for DTE Energy in Pontiac, said she had received a trouble call at the address that evening and had arrived to fix a problem, which required access to the fuse box.

"It took her a while to answer the door," Bagazinski said. "I actually had some neighbors come out wanting to know what I was there for, wanting to make sure she was OK. She had her neighbors looking out for her.”

The 99-year-old woman eventually answered the door, and Bagazinski quickly realized the elderly woman lived alone.

"We got to talking, and she said the only family she had" was her 77-year-old son-in-law, who lived in Troy, Bagazinski said. "She really had no family members to help her, and I thought, well, let me turn her in and say, 'she’s 99; there’s got to be something the Gatekeeper Program can do for her.'”

And there was.

Because of Bagazinski's confidential referral through the Gatekeeper Program, the local Area Agency on Aging office conducted an investigation and ultimately referred the 99-year-old woman to Home Injury Control, an agency that assists senior citizens with home maintenance and minor home repairs.

“They told me they were going to go in there to injury-proof her home ... probably putting in hand rails and stuff so that she wouldn’t fall," Bagazinski said. “They talk about … Meals on Wheels; there’s light housekeeping and they come out and cut the grass and shovel the snow. I mean, there’s all different aspects to the Gatekeeper Program.”

The Michigan Office of Service to the Aging initiated the Gatekeeper Program in 1978 to help senior citizens receive assistance from a variety of human service and community organizations through confidential referrals. A recent DTE Energy press release explains "at-risk seniors can receive help with transportation, nutrition, home repairs and health agency referrals, among other things," through the Gatekeeper Program.

Employees from more than a dozen agencies in Michigan, including  Consumers Energy, participate in the Gatekeeper Program, and Bagazinski, a DTE Energy employee for 31 years, is no stranger to the program. In fact, she is the only person to be chosen as Gatekeeper of the Month twice; the first time, Bagazinski was recognized for referring her own mother, who is 86 and living alone in Detroit.

“I know the program works because they came out and weatherized the whole house," she said. "They put in insulation, the recaulked all the windows … they put in the little insulating strips to keep all the air out. They checked the furnace – it’s just wonderful.”

Bagazinski pointed out that the care the senior citizens receive is often ongoing and not just a one-time occurence.

“The word needs to get out," she said. "I turned in three more people last week. ... Most of them are older women who live all by themselves, and I'm thinking, 'how do they do everything around here?' so I turn them in, and hopefully they get help."

Helping people in any way she can is her goal, she said. “Being able to help someone, either with the electricity problem in the house, or knowing that the Gatekeeper is such a wonderful program, yes, it makes me feel good to be able to help someone one way or another.”

DTE Energy Gatekeepers of the Month are eligible to be named “Gatekeeper of the Year" and also receive a $50 gift card from DTE Energy.