Unleash the Power of Age: San Diego Seniors Are Appointed to California Senior Legislature

I am proud to announce the appointment of two San Diego seniors to California Senior Legislature: Peggy Shannon and Fred Davis.

“Established by state law, the mission of the California Senior Legislature is to help preserve and enhance the quality of life for older Californians and their families.”

The California Senior Legislature is a volunteer body whose primary mission is to gather ideas for legislation at the state and federal levels, craft the ideas into formal proposals, prioritize the proposals, present them to members of the Legislature or the Congress, and advocate for laws implementing the ideas.”(http://www.4csl.org/)

(From left to right: Fred Davis, Peggy Shannon, Queen Johnson)

Peggy and Fred have been exceptional advocates for seniors at Senior Community Centers and throughout San Diego County. They continue to shape our programs and the lives of many seniors. Peggy agreed to share a few thoughts about California Senior Legislature and her new exciting role:

The California Senior Legislature (CSL) has been working for seniors for over three decades and shares information about what seniors need to live a good quality life. My fellow volunteer, Queen Johnson, has been a member of California Senior Legislature for less than a year.  When two seats became vacant, she nominated Fred Davis and me to become members as well.

We will have the opportunity be advocates for our seniors.  It is a privilege to be able to work and let our State legislature know what our seniors need for a good quality of life. Fred does a lot of work with the homeless.   I work to empower seniors to advocate for themselves and to turn their ideas into reality.

It is an honor for Fred and me to be nominated and we are looking forward to advocate for seniors on a much broader level.

Find out more about Senior Community Centers’ Advocacy and Civic Engagement Programs where Fred, Peggy and Queen make a difference at www.servingseniors.org.

San Diego Senior Mobilizes California Wellness Foundation Conference Attendants

The California Wellness Foundation Conference in San Francisco was once again a great experience with engaging breakout sessions. Discussions included how the Fiscal Cliff will impact the future of grant making, the future of agencies that serve our low-income population and the role that for-profit organizations might play in a traditionally non-profit arena.

We were faced with questions such as:

1. What can be done to prevent smaller agencies to be left behind when facing sequestration and budget cuts?
2. What happens to the people these agencies serve?
3. How can social services agencies and nutrition programs build capacity to survive?

We may not have the answers but we need to have the conversation with both sides of the aisle to come up with solutions.

One way to get the conversation started is to mobilize seniors to become advocates. As a panel participant I shared our successful advocacy program with the audience and Queen Johnson, a senior volunteer at Senior Community Centers and appointed Senior Assembly Member of the California Senior Legislature, accompanied me to share her experience.

See for yourself what Queen has to say and how you can become an advocate:

Senior Community Centers’ Civic Engagement meetings are held on Wednesdays at 1:30 pm at the Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center. Join us! (Check the Activities Calendar for more information)

Happy Older Americans Month!

Every year since 1963, May has been the month to appreciate and celebrate the vitality and aspirations of older adults and their achievements. This year’s Older Americans Month theme “Unleash the Power of Age!” shows our nation’s commitment to honor the value that older adults contribute to our communities. 

The National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs (NANASP) works year-round to protect and empower seniors in our communities and wholeheartedly joins the 2013 Older Americans Month celebrations.

As the President of NANASP I’d like to share the following upcoming developments from the latest NANASP bulletin:

In time for Older Americans Month, there are indications of new movement on two important bills that are monitored by NANASP: the Older Americans Act and the Farm Bill.

• NANASP is monitoring developments with the staff of the Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging of the Senate HELP Committee which has jurisdiction over the Older Americans Act.  We are hoping for specific actions to be taken during May to jump-start the reauthorization process led by Chairman Bernie Sanders.
• Action is expected in the House and Senate during the first half of Older Americans Month on a reauthorization of the Farm Bill. NANASP will monitor developments that work to prevent major cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as well as to prevent changes in eligibility for SNAP related to participation in other federal programs.  NANASP will also be working for a strong senior farmers’ market program as well as a strengthened Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) and a renewed commitment to SNAP education.

Please join me in celebrating the millions of seniors who built this country through hard work and numerous sacrifices as well as the members of NANASP who continue to advocate for seniors in Washington and who provide critical services that keep seniors healthy, independent and happy.

Let’s take a moment and say Thank You to a senior for making our communities better places to live.

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NANASP is a membership organization for persons working to provide older adults healthful food and nutrition through community-based services. To join NANASP or renew your membership, please click here.