ProAging Information Network

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A Colorado  retirement community is believed to be a first, the “vision enhancement” apartment was remodeled to deal with the challenges of living with macular degeneration.

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/apartment-103862-retirement-looks.html#ixzz0y92BIkQ0

 

• Date: 10/06/2010


• Time: 7:30 – 9 a.m.


• Location: Timonium Fairgrounds - Promenade Palace (formerly the Cow Palace)


• Address: 2200 York Road Timonium MD 21093

Description: Join other senior-serving professionals for the best networking event of the year! * Free Continental Breakfast * Free Admission to the Expo * Networking Games

Sponsored by * Baltimore County Department of Aging * ProAging.com * Guide to Retirement Living Sourcebook * Baltimore County Provider Council * Ivory House Sponsorship opportunities are still available starting as low as $250. Call 410-887-2002, for more information.

Please RSVP to rsvp@proaging.com to receive directions and information on parking, etc.

http://www.retirement-living.com/event/1657/professional-breakfast-at-senior-expo

The Hill Newspaper reports that more than 1 million seniors have received $250 checks to help pay for their Medicare prescription drugs. The healthcare reform law over time closes the so-called "doughnut hole" in which Medicare beneficiaries who reach a certain threshold of drug expenses pay the full cost of their drugs.

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\Google Inc. (GOOG) has invested $86 million in a tax-credit fund to finance the construction of 480 low-income housing units, a move that comes as the Internet search giant ramps up its engagement in the public sphere.

Google’s money will be managed by U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp., or USBCDC, an arm of commercial bank U.S. Bancorp (USB) that invests in community projects. The fund will provide housing for low-income families and senior citizens, according to a press release posted on U.S. Bancorp’s website.

The developments will be spread among seven communities in the West and Midwest. The housing will include units with as many as four bedrooms, the release said.

"Our investment with USBCDC allows us to further our goal of providing relief to people who otherwise may not have access to quality housing," said Brent Callinicos, a Google vice president.

Google’s investment comes as the Mountain View, Calif.-based company burnishes its profile in public issues, such as renewable energy and the environment. In May, the company said it was investing $38.8 million in two North Dakota wind farms. In July, Google also announced its purchase of 20 years’ worth of wind power from an energy facility in Iowa.

Associated Press reports that Orange County-based Skilled Healthcare faces a $677 million verdict, sending shock waves through the industry and rekindling calls for tort reform.

The verdict as it stands is already thought to be the largest in the country this year and its ramifications are still being sorted out weeks after the jury surprised even the plantiffs’ lawyers with the size of their verdict. Tort reformers have seized on the verdict as the latest example of litigation abuse.

The company’s stock price has plunged on fears it will have to file bankruptcy. A class-action lawsuit representing 32,000 patients that blamed the nursing home staff shortage  — echoing a common complaint across the country that for-profit nursing homes are too concerned with the bottom line

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Local entrepreneur and County native W. Dudley Dixon Jr. has been named an Innovator of the Year by The Daily Record for his efforts in founding and building Independence Housing Group, LLC.

Independence Housing Group was founded by Mr. Dixon in 2008 to address the real, and sometimes dire, needs of the many older Americans living in sub-standard homes without the resources to improve their living conditions. His goal was to create a program that would allow senior Americans to live independently as they desire to do, and to do so with dignity on the land that they called home.

While discussing the challenge with his father, W. Dudley Dixon Sr. who has 40 years of experience in the title and mortgage business, the two men developed this unique concept. Independence Housing Group funds all of the development and construction costs for a new home, or for the renovation of the senior’s existing home, for any qualifying senior age 62 or older. Independence Housing performs all of the work required, including:

• ·         Title work


• ·         Bridge funding


• ·         Helping the senior secure a federally insured reverse mortgage


• ·         Coordinating all required FHA counseling for the customer


• ·         All permitting


• ·         Paying off any small liens, if necessary


• ·         All site work and construction


• ·         Settlement coordination

Once the new or renovated home is permitted and built, the new home and property become the security/collateral so that the senior can secure a federally insured reverse mortgage. The reverse mortgage repays Independence Housing Group, and any additional money is made available to the senior at any time during his or her remaining years in the home.

 “Before Independence Housing was created, our low to moderate income senior customers often could not qualify for this federally insured loan program that was created especially to help them,” explains Jan Miles, Director of Reverse Mortgages for Jacob Dean Mortgage, Inc. “In many cases, the cost of the repair exceeded the 15% government limit, and the senior homeowners could not afford to make the repairs needed to qualify for the reverse. It was a catch-22 that left these seniors with no options.”

The program created by Independence Housing Group provides low to moderate income seniors in need with a safe, comfortable home for the rest of their lives with no out-of-pocket costs and no monthly mortgage or rent payments. When the senior passes away, the family or heirs inherit a property of much greater value that they can sell, or they can choose to refinance the home and live in it themselves.

The Innovator of the Year Award was created in 2002 to honor Maryland businesses and/or individuals who have had a positive effect and tremendous impact in Maryland., The program is based on the belief that innovators are people with vision who have the ability to see a need and fill it, with the courage to make change and the stamina to await the results.

Mr. Dixon is a third generation Anne Arundel County resident, currently living in Severna Park. He is a graduate of Severn School and Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Dixon will receive this honor at the awards dinner on Thursday, October 21, 2010, at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.

 

 A new case of child abuse or neglect enters the Fairfax County

Domestic & Juvenile Relations Court system once every 38 hours. These children need caring advocates to help ensure that they grow up in safe and permanent homes.

 Fairfax Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) trains citizen volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children who are under the protection of the court system. All CASA volunteers undergo extensive training; no prior experience in child welfare or the law is required.

CASA volunteering is a great fit for retirees, who bring the skills and the experience needed to build rapport with professionals, and to advocate forcefully for the needs of a child.>

If you seek a volunteer role with real purpose that can create real  change, visit

www.SpeakForTheChildren.org or

contact Elisa Kosarin, Recruitment and Training Manager, at 703-273-3526, x22, or

ekosarin@casafairfax.org

Special thanks to Susan Kraus for sharing this wonderful video