The trickle-down theory just means that those at the bottom of the financial ladder just keep getting less. There have been six reported suicides of Seniors and Persons with Disabilities clients who were cut off of prescriptions and other resources. Energy assistance, which provides heating assistance to low-income households, focusing on seniors and persons with disabilities as a priority, was unable to serve all those clients who requested funds. I talked with an administrator of a local assisted-living facility and was told that because of the cut in resources through Senior Services, she had a number of residents who will be served eviction notices.

A friend had a developmentally disabled relative (who functions at a 3-year-old level) evicted from foster care and returned to his 85-year-old medically ailing parents for them to provide for his daily care. Disabled individuals who manage to live and work successfully on their own with state-supported independent-living counselors are being targeted for cuts which will then put them in danger of homelessness, job loss and no longer functioning successfully in daily living situations.

Many medical practices are no longer accepting new Medicare patients so adult children that are moving their parents closer to them are frantically trying to find any place which will take their parents as patients. Secure Horizons Medicare+Choice plan closed enrollment for all Oregon counties effective Jan. 31. The federal program of Qualified Medical Benefits has provided Medicare beneficiaries with low incomes with assistance with their monthly Medicare Part B premiums. Those clients with an income of just over $997 per month have been eliminated from that program. Because federal law requires the termination of the program, beneficiaries do not have the right to appeal.

The Green Thumb program now known as Experience Works, which provides paid job experience, so low-income seniors not able to make it on only Social Security can gain job skills and hopefully become employed, has been cut drastically this last year. State-funded RSVP projects using more than 6,300 volunteers involved in projects that reach more than 67,000 children and seniors, providing more than 439,000 hours of volunteer services, have been cut. Using the national standard of calculating volunteer value, this means the RSVP State Project volunteers have actually given the state back in excess of $6.5 million in services for a minimal investment of dollars. I call this double jeopardy. Eliminate services and resources to our most vulnerable citizens who are supported with tax dollars and then also cut the volunteer projects that are there to help those same individuals deal with the life crisis they are encountering with all this loss.

Is it any wonder some people decided without further research or investigation to end the struggle. How many more will make that decision? How low will we go before it is enough? Personally, I don't believe we can wait any longer. I want to say now, "I am mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore."

Fortunately, there are many volunteers still out there plugging away doing their best to improve the quality of life for people in this community. This column has referred many times to the RSVP programs, which offer help in a variety of ways, SHIBA (Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance), Senior Peer Consulting and SASSI (Safe and Secure Seniors Independent). Please call 753-9197 if you have questions about any of these projects. RSVP volunteers may not have all the answers or be able to pull resources out of a hat but they sure will listen and help problem-solve.

Another great volunteer driven project, the AARP Tax -Aide program, has started up for the season. Last year was another record-breaking year; locally Tax-Aide volunteers assisted more than 1,000 taxpayers file 1,306 tax returns. Tax-Aide volunteers prepare federal and state tax returns for low- to moderate-income persons, free of charge. The tax returns are prepared using computers and e-line filed. Call the Corvallis Senior Center, 766-6959 to make an appointment for a time and location convenient for you. Now, if that isn't the most amazing volunteer service imaginable - someone willing to help you with your tax preparation.

Cynthia Hylton is the volunteer coordinator of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) in Benton County. For information about exciting volunteer opportunities that may or may not require working with a bunch of "old people" contact RSVP, 753-9197, e-mail address: hyltonc@linnbenton.edu.