Greene County Council on Aging - October 2020 Newsletter

The Good and the

Not-So-Good

The purpose of this newsletter is to inform and educate, as well as acknowledge the support our community provides to further the work of the Council. We attempt to do this in a positive way, even when some of what we share is ‘not-so-good’!

A significant portion of Your Council’s budget funds the Partners in Care Program (PIC). Through PIC, the Council’s fifteen care managers work with 1,300 Greene County seniors each month, providing a variety of supports, including services purchased from thirty (30) agencies. Seniors and family caregivers benefit from these services in many ways ~ most importantly improving their quality of life.

These six months+ of COVID-19 have been challenging, but we have had positive impact through increasing the number of meals purchased and delivered, exceeding projections for grab bar installations, and not missing a beat with putting in place emergency response systems (ERS). This has been possible due to the work of our care managers and our providers. 

The ‘not-so-good’ side, however, is the difficulty provider agencies have had and continue to have with hiring compassionate and competent paid caregivers. These individuals are needed to staff the requests from our care managers, as well as individual community members. 

These paid caregivers assist seniors with bathing, dressing, toileting, and maintaining a reasonably clean space. For many, this assistance is life changing.  For several reasons, it is taking two weeks or more for our providers to staff these requests. And while we appreciate the patience and understanding of our seniors and family caregivers, we do not see this improving any time soon.This work is definitely not for everyone. It is for those who are patient, caring and flexible. It is for that person you would want to be with your mom or grandpa, when you are not able to be there. It is for that person who understands that what they do for and with the senior is playing a role in keeping them safe and in their own home. 

We respectfully encourage you to think of anyone you know who might fit the description above. We have no doubt that there are many wonderful ‘potential paid caregivers’ in our community who may just need a little nudge to seek out these very important positions.

Memory Loss, Dementia & Alzheimer’s Disease

The monthly Medicare 101 session is scheduled for Wednesday, October 7th from 3:30 to 5pm. This session is for those who are turning 65 in the next six months and will include an overview of your Medicare options, costs, information about the enrollment process and what you can expect. 

This program is set for Wednesday, October 21st from 2:30 to 4:30pm. We will be discussing the various reasons any of us might be experiencing memory loss, strategies for managing memory loss, and disease processes impacting our memories and cognitive functioning. 

Your Council would typically be promoting the Medicare Check-Up and Wellness Event at this time, but as previously reported, this event will not be held in 2020. We are, however, offering you an opportunity to have documents shredded.

We all have papers that we do not need to keep, but they have personal information that should not be in the hands of others. So tossing them in the trash or including them in our paper recycling is not an option. And let’s face it, sitting in front of a shredding machine for hours on end isn’t great for any of us!

So we invite you to gather up you canceled checks and bank statement from decades ago, old statements from medical appointments, and papers from deceased loved ones and join us for our Drive-By Shredding and Senior Salute Event on Saturday, October 24th. 

Of course there are papers and documents that you should not shred and instead keep in a safe place, such as those related to property, income and other taxes, and investments.  If you aren’t sure about a paper, it is best to keep it.

What can you expect from this event? Well, we are partnering with Shred-It, an international document destruction company, to have on-site one of their trucks into which we will transfer papers and documents from community seniors for confidential and safe destruction. You can bring boxes or bags of papers, and Council team members will take them from your vehicle and place them in the truck.

Your Council team, along with some supportive community members, will also be on hand to greet you, share a few treats and tokens, and offer you the Council’s 2021 printed calendar. No reservations are needed, but you may have to wait in line for a few minutes, depending on our shredding traffic!

Drive-By Shredding 
& Senior Salute Event
Saturday, October 24th
9am to 12pm
Xenia Community Center Parking Lot
1265 W. Second Street
(next to the Council’s office)

Pleased to share that the Council’s much-anticipated 2021 print calendar is now available. We were able to pull this together during COVID-19 by going with a gardening theme. We could be outside and maintain our distance, while creating another terrific calendar.

This is also our first ‘in color’ calendar, which was key in highlighting the beautiful gardens of our senior storytellers. The calendars will be available at the October 24th Shredding & Senior Salute Event, as well as at the Council’s office and the senior centers. Our appreciation to the seniors and all who participated in creating this beautiful calendar. It has truly been a bright and lovely spot during this interesting and isolating time. We hope it will bring you as much joy as it has brought to all of us.

We don’t know what the next few months will bring, but your Council elves are moving forward with planning and preparing for the Holiday Soiree. 

The Holiday Soiree is scheduled for Friday, December 4th and will be a special and memorable experience, even with the necessary changes with our set-up, flow and food offerings.

There are a few things we won’t be able to do, but we can assure you that one of a kind creations are already being crafted and our bakers are planning for the tasty packaged treats . We will have a spacious one-way path for our guests to navigate, which will be more than worth the anticipation and wait!

We invite you to add this to your calendar and keep watch for updates in future newsletters, on our Facebook page, and on our website.

In Memory Of:   
Don Necina
Ella Turner

Donors:
Lynn Berry
Teresa Geraci
Mary & Robert Hamburg
Velma Joslin
Joselyn Pierce
Rachael M. Scott
Reta & Larry Shewman
Daniel Wade

Donors:
Hospice of the Miami Valley Foundation
Todd Tackage/IHS Pharmacy Jamestown
Pizza Dive
Synergy Construction
WBZI Real Roots Radio
Beavercreek and Xenia Chambers of Commerce

Thank You To Our September Volunteers:
Cathy Brown
Sue Watts

◊ Medicare 101 ~ October 7th, 3:30-5pm AND November 4th, 5:30pm to 7pm
Xenia Community Center           Space is Limited and Reservations are Required

◊ Memory Loss, Dementia & Alzheimer’s Disease ~ October 21st, 2:30-4:30pm
Xenia Community Center                Space is Limited and Reservations are Required

◊ Drive-By Shredding & Senior Salute Event ~ Saturday, October 24th, 9am to 12pm
Xenia Community Center Parking Lot

Medicare Open Enrollment ~ October 15th through December 7th

◊ Election Day ~ November 3rd

◊ Weekly Programming with our Partners at Real Roots Radio, WBZI FM 100.3:
Wednesdays around 12:05pm ~ Boomers and Beyond
Thursdays soon after 6:00pm ~ Partners in Caregiving

◊ In-person and online Caregiver & Kinship Support Groups
Contact the Council for more information

◊ Questions or to request grab bars, masks or other services
~ 937-376-5486 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

◊ Regular Updates and Information Posts on the Council’s Facebook Page and website

Please continue to be on alert regarding the various COVID-19 scams. For more COVID-19 information, please go to www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/or 
coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/home