Community

Senior Solutions: Dec. 14

Our recent snow storms have hurried the transition from harvest to winter!

I must admit that I love see the trees dripping with snow and ice. It makes the landscape look so magical. It also makes travel more difficult. At this holiday time of year there are a lot of people who experience loneliness. sometimes because they can’t drive in the winter weather.

We can all do a little bit to help minimize that lonely effect on the people we know. If you are baking cookies, why not put a dozen into a container and add a bow before you run it down the road to a neighbor whose family lives far away. Invite someone to a holiday bazaar with you. Call an old friend you haven.t seen for quite a while. You never know that these little acts of kindness might make a huge impact on someone.

There are community lunches and dinners. Call someone you know who does not get out much and go together. Get a few friends and all go together. Take a decorative fruit basket to an older neighbor. There are so many little ways to celebrate that make us all feel better. Help an aging friend decorate their house. It can be simple, but it will cheer the person up throughout the season.

Very often when people are lonely they get depressed and may stop caring for themselves. There can be various reasons for this. If we can intervene early enough we may be able to help. Give our HelpLine a call if you know of someone who is exhibiting symptoms of self neglect. 802-885-2669.

Nutrition is also important. Fresh fruits and vegetables contain healthy vitamins that we all need. Just because we get older it doesn’t mean we don’t need nutritious meals. For many of us it is a matter of the cost. The answer?

Call the HelpLine and sign up for 3SquaresVT. Did you know that for every dollar you receive of 3Squares benefits, one dollar and seventy-five cents goes into your community? So you are really helping your hometown!

Don’t forget that we can assess your other needs and match you up with the benefits that can keep you healthier and help you get medical and insurance programs that suit your situation. As an NCOA Benefits Enrollment Center Senior Solutions can find many available programs, Medicaid – long and short term care, Caregiver respite grants, Home Meds evaluations, fuel assistance and much more. As the Southwestern Vermont Council on Aging, all of our services are free. That is because we are funded through the federal Older Americans Act money and state money as well as private grants and donations. The towns we serve also provide funding to help support what we do for their aging and disabled individuals.

Please join us in our efforts to make growing older in Vermont as healthy and dignified as possible. Volunteer to help in many ways. You can become a volunteer visitor for one of our programs, host a table at an event, help get petitions signed for Town Vote Day, or help make phone calls. One very nice and easy thing you can do is to post on your social media sites how people can contact us: “Call the Senior Solutions’ HelpLine at 802-885-2669.”

So now let’s all remember to smile at the people we see as we are doing our errands and all those super busy tasks we need to do. It may be the only smile some people see all week!

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