LAKE COUNTY – Lake County is home to a large population of seniors, many of whom live alone. But a free service offered by the Lake County Sheriff's Office helps keep seniors connected and lets them know they've got someone watching out for them.

The You Are Not Alone program – call YANA for short – is one of the many valuable services offered by sheriff's office volunteers, according to Capt. James Bauman.

The program's purpose, said Bauman, is to promote peace of mind and a sense of security for the elderly or disabled who enjoy the independence of living alone but who have no friends or family members available to check in on them with any consistency.

While enrollees in the YANA Program are generally able to take care of their own day-to-day needs, Bauman said they also recognize that a medical crisis in or about the home could render them helpless and worsen if their distress goes unnoticed.

Sheriff’s volunteers working primarily out of the South County Substation make regular morning phone calls each weekday to YANA enrollees to check on their welfare and let them know that they really are not alone, said Bauman.

If a call to a YANA enrollee is unanswered and that person has made no prior notification to the program that they will not be home, a dispatch for fire/rescue or law enforcement is initiated for response to the residence for a welfare check, he explained.

Making the connection with seniors is meaningful for the volunteers involved.

"I feel that our YANA clients give to me as much they say I give to them,” said Ruth Gaul, a sheriff's office volunteer who assists in making the calls, Monday through Friday.

“They are a special group,” Gaul said of the seniors who use the YANA program. “Hopefully more will get on our call list.”

Bauman reported that there is no cost for enrollment in the YANA Program.

The application process is very basic, said Bauman. Interested seniors simply provide sheriff’s volunteers with the information necessary make the daily welfare calls and, for fire/rescue or law enforcement personnel to respond and access the enrollee’s property should the need arise.

All information provided in the application process is kept confidential, he added.

The program also is welcoming volunteers to make the calls.

Anyone interested in enrolling in the YANA Program or becoming a volunteer may call the Lake County Sheriff’s South County Substation at 994-6433, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to noon to speak with a sheriff’s volunteer.

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