[SeniorTaskForce-News] May meeting of the Senior Task Force

[Rosanna McLain]

Rosanna had the privilege recently to meet with a group of people interested in being actively engaged in making Champaign-Urbana a good place for its citizens to live once they reach retirement age - and beyond!  They have been looking at a model promoted by the World Health Organization called Age Friendly.  They define it this way:

"A key strategy to facilitate the inclusion of older persons is to make our world more age-friendly. An age-friendly world enables people of all ages to actively participate in community activities and treats everyone with respect, regardless of their age. It is a place that makes it easy for older people to stay connected to people that are important to them. And it helps people stay healthy and active even at the oldest ages and provides appropriate support to those who can no longer look after themselves."

It is a way to evaluate, plan, and adapt so that, as we age, we can still be active, engaged, safe, and contributing citizens.

Trust us when we tell you, these people are not interested in a study, a survey, or a series of meetings.  They are interested in evaluation and, when needed, change or advancement.

And, they have asked the Senior Task Force to help.  Since this is right in line with the core purpose of the Task Force, we hope that you will meet with us in May to see what we can do.  As those in Champaign County with the most information on the current state of affairs and the needs of older adults, the Task Force has a lot to offer.

If you are interested in finding out more about Age Friendly communities, the AARP website has some very readable information on what they are and how a community can reach its goal of being Age Friendly.  Right now, there are no communities in Illinois with the Age Friendly certification.  Wouldn't it be awesome if Champaign-Urbana was the first to look to the needs of this growing, voting, spending, contributing segment of our population?

Kathleen Holden will be our speaker for the May 20th Task Force meeting to tell us more and to see how she and the Steering Committee can enlist the Task Force as participants in this important effort.  You may remember Kathleen from the University of Illinois (especially her recent work there establishing the OLLI program), from her role on the Clark-Lindsey board, or from her other community efforts.

We plan to share this information with some people who do not normally attend the Task Force but who might be interested in the Age Friendly process.  If you know of anyone who should be included, please let Rosanna know.  For this one meeting, we would appreciate it if you would let us know if you are planning to attend, so we can make sure that we have enough seats for everyone.  Just send a quick email to rmmclain at familyservicecc.org<mailto:rmmclain at familyservicecc.org>  (Do not reply to this email.)

We look forward to seeing you there - Wednesday, May 20th at 9:00 at Grace Church on Philo Road.



Rosanna McLain , co-chair, STF                                       Patrick Harness, co-chair, STF
Director                                                                                                          Community Representative
Senior Resource Center                                                                              Health Alliance
at Family Service                                                                                          www.healthalliancemedicare.org<http://www.healthalliancemedicare.org/>
     405 S. State St.                                                                                        217.337.3486
     Champaign, IL  61820
     (217) 352-5100
    rmmclain at familyservicecc




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