Dottie Selby didn’t know it at the time, but a lot of change sure came from one little prescription.

Selby went from struggling alone to maintain her two-bedroom rental to enjoying the good life and camaraderie of seniors. She enjoys being a part of the community at her assisted living complex here in Oak Harbor. She walks down the halls and says “hi” to friends. The beauty salon is just down the corridor. Good food and conversation can always be found three times a day in the dining hall. She could even take art classes, if she wanted.

“I’m still getting adjusted, but so far I haven’t been so inclined,” she said.

You see, Selby simply contacted the Senior Information and Assistance office in Oak Harbor earlier this spring because she needed help filling a prescription for pain medicine.

“She was in debilitating pain, so she couldn’t drive,” said Pati Brigman, Senior Information and Assistance Specialist/Case Manager. “The local pharmacy serving her could deliver her medicine, but only after they received the prescription form.”

Brigman sprung into action. It’s what she does, after all.

After fetching Dottie’s prescription she sat down with the 84-year-old for a bit of conversation. That’s what she does, after all.

Soon Dottie shared her feelings of being overwhelmed by the daily chores around her home.

Brigman scheduled an appointment for a social worker to visit with Dottie and evaluate her housing needs. During the discussion Dottie said her landlord was planning to sell the house that had been rented by her family, off and on, for 25 years.

“I was expecting a get well card, but I got a get out card instead,” Dottie said, now able to laugh about it.

With the impending sale of her residence, Dottie was faced with finding a new home in just a few weeks. But her family was miles away and she didn’t have the resources to move.

“My sister is 11 years younger but we wouldn’t have been able to do it,” Dottie said.

Dottie is among a growing number of seniors with no family, no friends, no church and little money to go to if something arises, according to Linda Bonny, Senior Information and Assistance Program Director/Case Management.

“They struggle to maintain their independence on their own and don’t know where to go if they want to maintain staying at home,” she said.

But in about a week, a social worker found Dottie an apartment at Summerhill Assisted Living. Dottie’s son flew in from Mississippi to help load up her belongings, and a youth group from Christ the King Community Church provided the extra manpower.

“It was really a miracle — they called looking for service projects and I immediately thought of Dorothy,” Brigman said.

Luck struck again when a gentleman called Brigman’s office wanting to donate a lift chair.

“Dorothy has bad arthritis and has difficulty getting up, it was perfect,” she said.

Answering calls for help like Dottie’s is all in a day’s work for the four Senior Information and Assistance offices of Island County, located in Oak Harbor, Coupeville, Bayview and on Camano Island.

The offices work in conjunction with county and state agencies to help provide services for ages 60 and over.

Brochures boast the goal of helping “celebrate the independence of all community members while helping support the dignity and health of Island County’s senior population.”

“They were so much help,” Selby said. “I would have been lost without them.”

The mission is simple: Provide information on services and programs that many seniors don’t know about or provide names and offices when seniors don’t know who to call for help. They are a one-stop shop for senior resources. Brigman and other Senior Information and Assistance specialists meet with seniors in the office, but also make home visits.

Two of the most popular programs the Information and Assistance offices facilitate are Meals on Wheels and providing low-cost nutritional supplements such as Ensure or Glucerna with a prescription.

A “Job Bank” referral list is kept for seniors looking for in-home care — certified nursing assistants, personal assistants, housekeepers, handymen, etc. All of the providers in the job bank undergo a complete background check. Brigman can also help link people with the right state-funded programs, such as COPES to help them defer the cost of such in-home care.

Information and Assistance keeps a housing database of assisted living facilities, adult family homes and nursing homes. There’s a lending closet of wheelchairs, walkers and other equipment. And Brigman can help family members and caregivers find respite opportunities.

“There are so many services they are too numerous to mention,” Brigman said. “A large component of our day-to-day task is directing seniors to the appropriate agency or organization that can meet their needs and the best part — it’s free of charge.”

Often, it’s as simple as sitting down to help seniors navigate through the daunting process of filling out forms and applying for Department of Social and Health Services assistance.

“Trying to navigate your way through the many governmental programs, services and available resources can be difficult for anyone,” Brigman said. “It can be especially so for our senior clients.”

The Senior Information and Assistance offices can help with almost everything. You name it — property tax deferrals, power of attorney forms, discount prescriptions, discount dental, living wills, transportation, and even disabled parking permits.

And if they don’t have the answers? Brigman and other staffers research it and get back to the client as soon as they can. No question, no need, goes unanswered.

“We receive calls all the time from family in Florida, Wisconsin, Oregon and other states wanting help relocating their parents here in Washington,” Brigman said.

The Oak Harbor office alone provided information to 254 seniors and assistance to 107 seniors in March.

In the little under six months that Brigman has been with Senior Services of Island County, she has heard countless times each day from grateful seniors.

Already she’s built a reputation for going that extra mile to help seniors.

Just last week, she was back visiting Dottie at Summerhill, seeing how things are going, checking to see how Dottie’s apartment decorating was coming along.

“She’s always out visiting seniors if she’s not talking to them in the office. She talks to them forever and they truly appreciate it,” Bonny said. “It’s the little things we do that help so much.”