Last year, the onetime assistant director of program operations at the state Office of the Aging became director of the Northeast New York Caregivers Consortium.

He also volunteers with local service agencies, including the United Way and the Clifton Park Senior Center.

The consortium, which is funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is a network of organizations in 15 counties that provide support services for caregivers and caregiving programs. It fosters cooperative efforts among 10 member agencies in developing volunteer recruitment, public awareness and fundraising.

Kramer is working with the members and numerous other organizations in the public and private sectors to expand the program to meet the growing need for home-based support.

"By 2030, one in five New Yorkers will be a senior citizen," said Kramer, a Clifton Park resident and married father of a grown son. "There is an ever-increasing need for caregiver services, and building a collaboration with local officials and providers is a great way to prepare for the coming surge."

Last Monday, more than 200 local health professionals discussed and networked on the latest trends in caregiving at a conference at the Desmond Hotel organized by the consortium and the Albany Guardian Society. It focused on getting caregivers the resources they need to help senior citizens remain at home and out of nursing homes, Kramer said, but he also stressed his group, which serves Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Fulton, Greene, Herkimer, Montgomery, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Ulster, Warren and Washington counties, doesn't reach out only to senior citizens.

"Not-for-profit caregiver programs have such great love and heart, and we've been working to change the perception that they benefit just the elderly," Kramer said. "It's been a great year for the consortium and our continued expansion ensures great collaborative efforts in the future."

For information, go to http://www.nenycaregivers.org.

Jennifer Patterson can be reached at 454-5340 or by e-mail at jpatterson@timesunion.com.

Volunteers needed

Where: Northeast New York Caregivers Consortium

Information: The consortium, a nonprofit network of organizations in 15 counties that provide support services for caregivers and caregiving programs, is seeking volunteers. To help, call Edward Kramer at 527-2404, or go to http://www.nenycaregivers.org.

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