As a sign of its appreciation and gratitude for the many services he has provided to the senior citizens of Delaware County, Crozer-Keystone Health System’s Senior Health Services Department awarded its second-annual “Senior Service Excellence Award” to Carl Clauss, chair of the Board of Directors of Horizons Unlimited, on Thursday, May 19, 2005.
Mr. Clauss was educated in the Nether Providence School District (now Wallingford-Swarthmore School District) and received his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University. He later attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his master’s degree. Mr. Clauss moved back to the Delaware County area in 1973 to raise his two children with his wife, Joy.
Mr. Clauss spent more than 40 years at DuPont Corporation, working in sales, manufacturing, financial analysis, marketing management, corporate planning, human resources, benefits management, legal and insurance. He also served on the Board of Directors of Nobel Insurance, an insurance company that specialized in writing explosives risk. When DuPont sold its explosives business in the U.S. and Canada ($100 million in sales and 450 employees), Mr. Clauss was asked by the two owners to re-establish all the administrative activities that had been provided to them by DuPont’s corporate entity when it was an individual business.
After his retirement from DuPont, Mr. Clauss devoted his time to utilizing the skills practiced over his 40 years of work experience assisting lower-income seniors in Delaware County. He first volunteered as an advocate for Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania and spent time each week counseling seniors on legal matters at the Chester Senior Center and Chester Eastside Ministries. At Chester Eastside, he helped establish adult education programs to address a need for consumer education and basic budgeting practices in the community. Mr. Clauss also developed a five-week workshop on “Basic Budgeting and Consumer Education,” which benefited 16 senior citizens and mothers receiving welfare benefits.
Mr. Clauss then attended an APPRISE Health Insurance Counseling Program, where he was trained to help senior citizens with their questions about Medicare. He regularly staffs the APPRISE Hotline and counsels seniors on Medicare at the Chester Senior Center and the Upper Darby Senior Center. He also provides his Basic Budgeting and Consumer Education workshop at the Upper Darby Senior Center, where more than 70 older adults attended the first session. Mr. Clauss has recruited many additional volunteers to bring the APPRISE program to senior centers throughout Delaware County.
Through his involvement with APPRISE, Mr. Clauss became a board member at Horizons Unlimited, where he currently serves as the Chairman of the Board. His leadership enables Horizons Unlimited to recruit additional board members and funding to keep the agency’s programs growing to meet the many needs of older adult consumers in Delaware County.
Mr. Clauss is described by his colleagues as a “compassionate, caring, and knowledgeable volunteer who does not give up until a problem is solved.” He is also described as “creative,” “committed,” and “enthusiastic,” giving “100 percent of himself whenever he can” and “taking his responsibilities very seriously.”
Please join the Crozer-Keystone Health System in congratulating Mr. Carl Clauss on his achievement.
The Crozer-Keystone Senior Service Excellence Award was created to recognize an individual who has had an impact on the aging community in Delaware County. This individual is recognized for his or her contribution to the health and welfare of the senior population of Delaware County and embodies the philosophy of CKHS Senior Health Services, which is “to meet the needs of the senior community with respect and dignity to enhance quality of life.”
The Senior Service Excellence Award is given on a yearly basis. Nominees should reside or work in the Delaware County community, provide services to the elderly population in the area, and consistently contribute to the health and welfare of the growing aging population.
Crozer-Keystone Health System is the largest provider of health care services in Delaware County. We’re 5 hospitals, 2,600 doctors and nurses, and 7,100 caring people with 1 vision. Crozer-Keystone. Something to feel good about.