The next Caregiver's Cup coffee club will be Friday, May 14 from 12:00-1:30 pm at Sadie's Coffee Corner in Henderson. If you provide care for an adult over age 60 and would like some non-structured social time and a good cup of coffee, join us! Call Austin with any questions at 252-436-2040, ext 6072. Newcomers welcome!

Relocation plans continue to move along for the Louisburg and Vance Senior Centers. Reopening events may be scheduled for sometime later this summer. Louisburg Senior Center is moving across the street to a much larger space, and Vance County Senior Center is moving to the re-purposed Eaton Johnson School.

Franklin County Senior Center hosted a drive-by thank you event for volunteers with a Wizard of Oz theme (pictured) at the V.E. and Lydia H. Owens Recreational Park at Bull Creek on April 23. What a fun way to celebrate volunteers!

Every May, the Administration for Community Living leads our nation's observance of Older Americans Month. The theme for 2021 is "Communities of Strength." Older adults have built resilience and strength over their lives through successes, failures, joys, and difficulties. Their stories and contributions help to support and inspire others. This OAM, we will celebrate the strength of older adults and the Aging Network, with special emphasis on the power of connection and engagement in building strong communities. There are many things we all can do to nurture ourselves, reinforce our strength, and continue to thrive. Connecting with others is one of the most important - it plays a vital role in our health and well-being, and in our communities. From finding joy in small things and sharing our stories, to looking at the big picture and giving to others, join in promoting the ways we are connected and strong. Each of the region's senior centers is planning community events in May to celebrate.

In North Carolina, the time between Mother's Day through Father's Day is recognized as Elder Abuse Awareness Month. In the Kerr-Tar region, program staff work with local senior centers, departments of social services, law enforcement, mental health providers, and other health and human service professionals to provide information to all citizens on how to detect, prevent, protect from, and report this crime. This collective group of organizations collaborates on a variety of community outreach opportunities such as presentations, health fairs, news articles, and educational events (such as the Elder Abuse Walk). In the past, this has been a very successful season for outreach. The pandemic has made it difficult to be as successful, however, there are plans in the works in all five counties. These are collaborative events with local providers in each county that will provide awareness for safer communities for some of our more vulnerable and elderly citizens.

FRANKLIN: Franklin County will host an Elder Abuse Awareness and Prevention Drive-Thru event on Thursday, June 10, 2021 at Owens Park in Louisburg from 11:30 am-1:00 pm. Attendees are encouraged to register in advance.

VANCE: Vance County will host an Elder Abuse Awareness and Prevention presentation on June 17, 2021 at 10:00 am at the Vance County Senior Center. The speaker will be Austin Caton, KTAAA Family Caregiver Support Specialist and Kim Hawkins, KTAAA Regional Ombudsman.

WARREN: Warren County will host an Elder Abuse Awareness and Prevention Drive-Thru event, tentatively scheduled for Friday, June 11, 2021 from 11:00 am-1:00 pm. Attendees are encouraged to arrive shortly before 11:00 am for further instructions.

June 15 is recognized as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and has been observed by the World Health Organization since 2011. Kim Hawkins, KTAAA Regional Ombudsman, is asking to help promote awareness by choosing a day during this season and wearing something purple (she likes to add a little gold or silver to represent seniors and the value of this population) in support of the victims of this crime and their family members. WE want to stop the hurting.

Billboards are currently on display in Person County on 501 N near Roby Barton Road, and in Franklin County on US-1 N to acknowledge and bring awareness to this under-reported crime. Please contact Kim Hawkins, KTAAA Regional Ombudsman at 252-436-2050 or khawkins@kerrtarcog.org if you have any ideas for outreach or would like more information on this topic.

The Council of Governments along with our Cooperative Extension Offices are still accepting applications for inclusion on the region's Visit NC Farms Mobile App. Since the pandemic, many of our region's farms and Farmers' Markets have adapted the ways they conduct business or offer products.

If you are a local farmer, local food producer, restaurant using local foods, or offer local goods, please contact your local Cooperative Extension Office or Council of Governments for details about being included onto the mobile app.

The app is available to download for free in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

Last month, the US Economic Development Administration (EDA) released seven new investment priorities to evaluate project applications. EDA's investment priorities provide an overarching framework to ensure its grant investment portfolio (ranging from planning to infrastructure construction) contributes to local efforts to build, improve, or better leverage economic assets that allow businesses to succeed and regional economies to prosper and become more resilient. Competitive grant applications will be responsive to the evaluation criteria listed under each individual funding announcement, including at least one of the following investment priorities:

To learn more about each investment priority, click HERE.

The NC Department of Transportation is accepting applications from communities for the 2021 Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Grant Initiative. The program provides funding for municipalities across the state to develop comprehensive bicycle or pedestrian plans. There are several plan options available to meet specific community needs. All North Carolina municipalities are eligible to apply for a standard bike or pedestrian plan (application). Additionally, the following options are available:

The deadline for the application to be submitted electronically is June 30, 2021. Award recipients will be notified by September 2021. Proposals are divided and judged in geographical groups to help establish equitable distribution of funding across the state. The selected awardees commonly incorporate a diverse mix of municipalities from large cities to small towns.

Plans funded are not for one specific project, but represent a comprehensive strategy for expanding bicycle and pedestrian opportunities within a given municipality. The plans may address facilities, programs, policies, and design guidelines that encourage safe walking and bicycling. If your community is interested in pursuing a Bicycle and Pedestrian Grant, please reach out to the KTRPO at 252-436-2040 ext 2004.

Join UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Professors Dr. James "Jim" Johnson & Jeanne Milliken Bonds for a series of Zoom Meetings entitled Lean In To 2021: More Equitable, More Resilient. The sessions will be held on May 21, and June 18 starting at 1:00 pm. Register for the series by clicking the button below.

There will be a regional virtual hiring event for high school seniors, "Triangle Career Expo: Gen Z Edition" on Wednesday, May 5 from 2:00-4:00 pm. The event is presented by NCWorks, Kerr-Tar Workforce Board, Durham Workforce Development Board, Capital Area Workforce Development Board, Career & Technical Education Coordinators, and Junior Achievement of Eastern North Carolina. There are about 50 employers from the Kerr-Tar and Triangle regions offering opportunities for graduates who are ready to enter the workforce. The Career Development Coordinators have been working closely with seniors to prepare them for this event and have been collaborating and sharing strategies and ideas. VGCC and NCWorks have also held trainings for seniors to assist in resume building, interview skills, etc. All partners have worked diligently to ensure a successful event. For more information, contact the NCWorks Career Center at 919-693-2686.

Vance-Granville Community College is hosting a Virtual Open House on Thursday, May 6, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm and Saturday, May 8 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. This year's open house might look a little different, but it will still be amazing. Join in and find out why thousands of families choose VGCC for programs that build degrees and launch careers. Additionally, participants will learn how to begin their journey. The 2021 Virtual Open House series allows prospective students and their families the opportunity to explore and hear from passionate faculty and staff about program areas and services available to students. Come get a glimpse of what VGCC has to offer and find out why students consistently say that their time at VGCC has changed their lives. To register for the event, click HERE.

The U.S. Census Bureau just released the first look at the results from the 2020 Census. The U.S. population is now 331,449,281. The nation grew by 22,703,743 or 7.4% since 2010. This represents the second slowest decade of growth on record, just after 1930 - 1940, when the nation grew by 7.3%.

To see these results, click HERE.

North Carolina's official population in the 2020 Census was 10,453,948. This is an increase of 903,905 or 9.5% since 2010. North Carolina had the 6th largest increase among the states and was the 15th fastest-growing state. As a result of this population increase, NC will gain one additional seat in the United States House of Representatives.

As North Carolina prepares for the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season from May 15, 2021 to November 30, 2021, USDA North Carolina Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is pleased to host an informational webinar on the agency's disaster recovery program, the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP). This program was established to provide cost-share assistance to eligible sponsors for recovery efforts that protect undamaged structures and infrastructure while addressing soil erosion, water, and debris hazards.

For your convenience, the session will be provided two times: Tuesday, May 18, 2021 and Tuesday, May 25, 2021 (2:00-3:00 pm Eastern Time), and will cover program history, objectives, and requirements to qualify for EWP assistance. To register, send an email to mary.waligora@usda.gov and sherri.krueger@usda.gov with:

An email invitation that includes the virtual meeting link will be sent to each requested attendee.

If you require special accommodation to participate, please contact Sherri Krueger at sherri.krueger@usda.gov, or by calling 919-873-2128. To learn more about USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Emergency Watershed Protection Program, please visit them on the web at www.nc.nrcs.usda.gov.

Stay up to date on everything that's happening at the COG by liking our Facebook page! We also ask that you share any posts you think might benefit your network. The best kind of advertising is word of mouth, and during these times, Facebook is definitely the way to get the word out. We welcome any and all feedback regarding the content of this page because we want it to be relevant information. Check it out HERE.

You can also find Kerr-Tar Area Agency on Aging on Facebook as well. Check them out HERE.