Serving Our Seniors Magazine: Jan - Mar 2022

Serving Our Seniors REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY 10,822 Total Number of Calls to Serving Our Seniors Asking for Help 1,159 Individual Older Adults Who Called for Help with a Question/Problem/Concern 754 New older adults calling to ask for help for the first time Nutrition 22,865 Rural Home Delivered Meals 0 Rural Lunch Groups met in fiscal year 2021 due to Covid-19 guidelines Affordable Transportation 232 Older adults used weekday transportation funded by Serving Our Seniors 8,402 1-way trips were taken by older adults who paid a bus fare of $1.50 42 Older adults used weekday transportation at a reduced bus fare of 50¢ per 1-way trip 2,513 Trips were provided to the 42 people for 50¢ per 1-way trip 41 Older adults used Out of Town Transportation to get to their health care appointments. (Volunteer drivers resumed driving in July 2021) 59 Trips were driven to take the 41 older adults to their health care appointments 15 Older adults were given gas vouchers so they could afford to travel out of town to their health care appointments. Priority Programs 88 Small Home Repairs 37 New Ramps Installed 137 Ramps in Service throughout Erie County Services to Support Independent Living at Home Education Offered 998 Medicare Counseling Sessions October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2021 From the Director In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I hope you enjoy reading about our Lake Erie couples, (pg 6) featured on the cover. Each share how they found one another and what they credit to their lasting relationships. I turned age 60 in December 2021 and I write about it. On page 10, my significant other, Mark Norman and I share our thoughts about confronting our health fears as “older” adults. On page 13 you will read about my Successful Aging Visit at the Cleveland Clinic and what it uncovered about my health. I intend to use my new place in life as a bully pulpit to destigmatize talking about memory changes and aging; as well as, become the posterchild for the benefits of having a consultative geriatrician and the value of undergoing a lengthy geriatric assessment. If you are a grandparent raising grandchildren, be sure to read the two articles on page 4. The remaining pages are filled with thanks and acknowledgments, a tip for healthy eating, and more on preventable health care and innovations in delivering primary care at home. To the right is our report to the community for Serving Our Seniors Fiscal Year 2021 (October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2022). It’s a quick glimpse of what we have been up to and the impact we are making. Finally, I would like to ask for your help – as a reader. If you enjoy this magazine, please tell our advertisers. Let them know that you saw their ad in Serving Our Seniors Magazine. It is the advertisers, who pay for the cost of publishing and mailing the magazine to your home. We couldn’t do it without them. Please thank our advertisers. Happy New Year, Sue Daugherty www.servingourseniors.org 419-624-1856 3