Living on the edge of poverty has cruel consequences for those who also are aging and often alone. The so-called senior citizen may find himself suddenly trapped in that new, frightening lifestyle after a spouse dies, a job disappears or a health problem emerges.

In Adams County, about 20 percent of the 5,000 residents who are 65 or older live in poverty. Many others are on that edge.

In surrounding counties, the numbers are equally alarming &045; 24 percent of older residents in Franklin County live in poverty; 34 percent in Jefferson County and 33 percent in Wilkinson County. And in neighboring Concordia Parish, La., the percentage is about 20 percent.

The Natchez area has poverty levels well above the national trends. Nationwide, the poverty rate for older people is 10.4 percent, with another 6.4 percent classified as near poverty.

Why should all Americans pay attention to what is happening among older people?

The January 2004 Census Internet Release shows that the over-65 population will double by 2030 to more than 71 million in that category.

&uot;They need advocates,&uot; said Sabrena Bartley, director of the Natchez Senior Citizens Center.

Indeed, the center, a department of the City of Natchez, is one of the local nonprofit agencies helping older residents cope &045; providing transportation for them, assisting them with bill paying and reading their mail, feeding them a hot lunch each day and providing comfort and companionship.

Margaret Harveston of the center’s staff often is at the center of the personal assistance provided.

&uot;I talked to one person who gets $430 a month. She does own her own home, but she has to keep it up. I asked her how she could do it,&uot; Harveston said. &uot;She told me her daughter picks up the rest.&uot;

Family members, friends and churches often supplement what nonprofit social agencies do for the needy, aging population. Nellie Pewitt, 63, can attest to that.

Pewitt no longer can work because of multiple health problems. For about six years, she has lived on $564 a month from Supplemental Security Income and $43 in food stamps. Medicaid provides for the seven prescriptions she takes. She has no family nearby. But she has friends, mostly members of her church, Washington Baptist Church, who help her.

A widow, she has worked as a hospital sitter, at nursing homes and at a restaurant.

Pewitt owns her mobile home but pays $180 a month for the lot. She pays $70 to $80 a month for a telephone. Recently, with help from the senior center, she had butane gas hooked up for heat. &uot;I had no heat, not for a while,&uot; she said. That, too, however, is a big expense.

Buying groceries may depend on what other expenses she has had in any week or month. &uot;I do without, and people tell me I shouldn’t,&uot; she said. &uot;They say there is help out there, but I don’t like to ask for help.&uot;

With her struggles, Pewitt nonetheless is one of the lucky ones. At 7 a.m. each morning, she steps outside to wait for the Senior Citizen Center bus. &uot;I’m the first one on,&uot; she said.

Coming to the center &uot;is the best thing about my life,&uot; she said, in addition to attending church and having friends there.

Bartley, the center director, knows how much impact the programs have on participants. She only wishes there could be more.

&uot;It’s not easy. We’re faced with budgeting restrictions and fixed

funding sources; but we make a difference in spite of that,&uot; Bartley said. &uot;The foresight of the past city officials was beyond their time when this center was established in 1976.&uot;

The center receives funds from Mississippi Public Transit Association; Older Americans Act, administered through the Southwest Mississippi Planning and Development District; Council on Aging and other state and local grants. The city pays for maintenance of the building and grounds, utilities and insurance.

Last month, the center served 567 different individuals in nine different programs. &uot;We provided 6,336 units of service. In essence, we touched their lives over 6,000 times.&uot;

Noel Smith, 73, has hit a financial bump in the road, but his hearty optimism dominates any conversation about the future.

He and a son share an apartment. &uot;For a while he had a good job at Wal-Mart. When he lost that job, that threw the budget into a tailspin,&uot; Smith said.

His $889 Social Security check suddenly became the only source of income. Along with rent, utilities and groceries, he pays a $133 note for a 1985 Buick. &uot;And I just had to have the switch replaced. That was $108, even with a senior discount.&uot;

Retired since 1996, after 15 years in the Navy, a few years in other jobs and then 16 years with Corr-Williams, he enjoys good health, he said, and is recovering from a fall that left him with a broken hip.

He comes to the senior center daily and helps out with programs as a volunteer.

&uot;Right now, I just take one prescription. So medicines are not a problem,&uot; he said. &uot;What needs I’ll have in the future, I don’t know. I can’t think about that until the time comes.&uot;

Those too frail to leave home can apply to have meals delivered to them each day, said Edwina Petersen of the center staff.

The meals provide more than nourishment. Some of the homebound recipients have no other contact with the outside, Petersen said.

As other senior centers around the state have begun to deliver five frozen meals one day a week instead of the daily delivery, Natchez may have to do the same, ending that all-important contact.

&uot;We’re helping a great many people. There probably are that many more out there who could use our help,&uot; she said.