This week I attended my last Advisory Board meeting for Aging In Place in Darien. That's because the Advisory Board has been disbanded and we will now have a Board of Directors. The new board has a fantastic array of really smart, dedicated people. I'm so excited that I will be working with them to more firmly establish AIP as a nonprofit serving the needs of Darien seniors.
Aging In Place in Darien has come a long way in a few years -- from just an idea to an organization that connects seniors to the myriad services that exist to help them stay in their homes as they age. In July, we sponsored a meeting of local service providers in Norwalk, Darien and Stamford. There are over 90 such providers! 30 showed up and were thrilled to be networking and discovering how others serve seniors. The biggest problem seems to be lack of awareness. We help correct that.
"We identify barriers and help break through them," says Olive Hauser, Director of Social Services in Darien. She's right, that's one of the big things AIP does. By working collaboratively, brainstorming, providing information and links, and acting as catalysts, we've helped Gallivant increase its ridership. (Gallivant is Darien's van that takes seniors and disabled to appointments of all kinds). We also helped the town establish half-price taxi vouchers for seniors by tapping a state senior transportation grant. Seniors buy the vouchers at Town Hall, and Eveready Taxi will accept the vouchers as payment for rides. Demand for taxi vouchers keeps climbing. Call Darien Social Services for more information -- 203-656-7328. To ride on Gallivant, call: 203-655-2227.
But AIP does even more to help you to remain independent. Alyssa Israel, the AIP Coordinator, has a list of vetted service providers, if you need help around the house. She gets about 30 to 50 calls each month, mostly requesting handyman or home maintenance help, followed by transportation requests. Alyssa can be reached at 203-202-2912.
I'm looking forward to our new board keeping up the momentum and accomplishing even more in the months and years ahead.
Showing posts with label senior services. Show all posts
Showing posts with label senior services. Show all posts
Senior Transportation Resource
I just found out about a national Web site on senior transportation - the National Center on Senior Transportation (NCST). It's run by Easter Seals and has all sorts of links to organizations nationwide that help seniors with transportation and other needs. They also run seminars. Check it out. Visit the site and look around.
Their mission is:
to increase transportation options for older adults and enhance their ability to live more independently within their communities throughout the United States.
http://seniortransportation.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=NCST2_homepage
Their mission is:
to increase transportation options for older adults and enhance their ability to live more independently within their communities throughout the United States.
http://seniortransportation.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=NCST2_homepage
How to Name a Senior Service
I'm part of a Google Group that discusses the organizations that are starting up all over the country which were inspired by the Beacon Hill Village model. Recently, I got into a discussion about what to name such organizations. Do you offend people with names like Old, Village, Aging, Senior, Elderly, etc.? I posted a response in the group, and I post it here, too.
I've been dealing with this issue since 1975. Even in the mid-1970s, adults over 65 did not want to be called "older" or "senior" or "elderly". Yet, this same group wants perks for their age, like free checking accounts or discount movies. I know this because I was doing market research on "elderly" bank customers as a class project when I was at Wharton in Philadelphia. I've come to the conclusion that you truly can't please all the people all the time. If someone really needs the services, they won't care what the service is called. Plus people love to complain.
Norwalk Community College (Norwalk, CT) runs a special set of courses for people over 60. It's called Lifetime Learners Institute. It's popular and vibrant. They say up front that it's for people 60+. Stating an age may be the easiest way to communicate who your target audience is. My father-in-law used to be proud of belonging to the "Old Guard." "Adult" could connote "sex" as in adult videos. Any word you choose could have something wrong with it.
I'm on the board of Aging in Place in Darien. We discussed our name a lot and finally decided to just go with our descriptive title. Our town has a Senior Center and a Senior Men's Group that are popular. People who are offended by the names are missing out on great programs. Eventually, they hear of the true value via word of mouth.
Wyn Lydecker
Founding member of Aging in Place in Darien
I've been dealing with this issue since 1975. Even in the mid-1970s, adults over 65 did not want to be called "older" or "senior" or "elderly". Yet, this same group wants perks for their age, like free checking accounts or discount movies. I know this because I was doing market research on "elderly" bank customers as a class project when I was at Wharton in Philadelphia. I've come to the conclusion that you truly can't please all the people all the time. If someone really needs the services, they won't care what the service is called. Plus people love to complain.
Norwalk Community College (Norwalk, CT) runs a special set of courses for people over 60. It's called Lifetime Learners Institute. It's popular and vibrant. They say up front that it's for people 60+. Stating an age may be the easiest way to communicate who your target audience is. My father-in-law used to be proud of belonging to the "Old Guard." "Adult" could connote "sex" as in adult videos. Any word you choose could have something wrong with it.
I'm on the board of Aging in Place in Darien. We discussed our name a lot and finally decided to just go with our descriptive title. Our town has a Senior Center and a Senior Men's Group that are popular. People who are offended by the names are missing out on great programs. Eventually, they hear of the true value via word of mouth.
Wyn Lydecker
Founding member of Aging in Place in Darien
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