An era for the ages emerges
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; mso-ascii- mso-ascii-theme- mso-fareast- mso-fareast-theme- mso-hansi- mso-hansi-theme- mso-bidi- mso-bidi-theme-} The Senior Games just ended Oct. 5, and one of the events on its calendar was the new Senior Expo held at SUNY Orange”™s Middletown campus on Saturday, September 27. Open to all nearing or who have already arrived at the “golden years,” it offered everything anyone over Jack Benny”™s age needs to know and perhaps some things things they wished they didn”™t know.
The expo provided a wealth of information on what”™s available locally.
Reaching out to the 55-plus crowd is one of Elizabeth Potts”™ areas of expertise. As a support specialist for the Senior Community Service Employment Program, she sees many who planned to retire and have found those Wall Street feathered nests perching precariously enough for them now to contemplate putting off retirement to re-enter the workforce. That”™s where Potts and the SCSEP comes into play. “We”™ve seen a steady stream of people coming in,” said Potts, “and more and more people who planned to retire are finding out it is not going to be possible and live comfortably.”
Going back into the work force after years of homemaking can be a challenge for women who are facing the loss of the primary breadwinner, either through death or divorce, while the skills they used before bringing up baby may seem a bit dusty. SCSEP can help them brush up and find a new career waiting in the wings.
Living wills, trusts, passing along a business to the next generation, caring for an aging parent, dealing with Alzheimer”™s on a personal level (or living with someone who has it) were all topics of interaction between the more than 75 vendors and nearly 400 visitors who attended the five-hour event.
Workshops that ranged from saving energy to simple exercises to improve muscle tone were available throughout the day. One health care participant, St. Luke”™s-Cornwall Hospital, gave eye exams, hearing checkups and classes on improving health through simple exercises. Yes, go ahead and squeeze that “tension” ball even when you aren”™t feeling aggravated; it”™s a good way to help keep fingers nimble. Even the most stubborn couch potatoes could find ways to stay healthy and create a healthier bill of fare for the baseball playoffs.
And then, there are the services people don”™t like to dwell on ”“ the ones available when an older member of the family can”™t do for themselves anymore. Even more disturbing: What to do when it”™s your own time to get help amid failing health. “Things people don”™t like to think about, but if they are smart, they”™ll plan and look into it while they are healthy and can make good decisions,” said Pamela Hayes, director of Mulberry House Senior Center in Middletown.
Dealing with quality of life issues, the Senior Fair is the “one event where one-stop shopping is available for everyone over 55,” said Janice Valentino, marketing director for Hospice of Orange and Sullivan Counties.
Vendors were pleased with the turnout, which has grown from its first introduction last September, and many hope it will eventually become a major mid-Hudson offering, although logistics and traveling can be a problem for many””especially with the fluctuating price of gas.Â
With county budgets straining everything across the region, many nonprofits service are being forced to make cuts wherever they can, but the cost can be more far-reaching than dollars and cents. That extra Dial-A-Bus ride, Meals on Wheels and other sources seniors rely on may face serious cutbacks in the months ahead. And the volunteer pool continues to shrink, as families work two or three jobs to keep going.Â
Even those who  were once relatively comfortable aren”™t finding particular comfort with the upcoming heating season closing in. The booth with HEAP (Heating Energy Assistance Program) information was among the busiest, although income levels for those eligible have risen, removing some from the heating-help picture. While the method of arriving at the maximum income allowable has not changed, median income has risen, and along with it, a number of people who might have been eligible in the past are now out in the cold. Â
“It just doesn”™t seem right,” said one carpooling over 55er, who teamed up with two neighbors to save on gas to attend the expo. “I work two jobs. Gas and food are taking a huge chunk of my monthly income. I don”™t qualify, not on paper. I just don”™t know what I”™m going to do this winter.” She was “too ashamed to give you my name … I never thought I”™d be looking for a handout.”