September 2025

Spotlight on VOLUNTEERING

Volunteering acts as a powerful catalyst for human connection by creating opportunities for individuals to come together for a common purpose. This shared activity naturally fosters interaction, empathy, and understanding.

The Neighbor Helping Neighbor program allows volunteers to be part of a care team that offers wrap-around support to an individual to help maintain their independence. The support team’s assistance can either be provided on a one-time basis, be offered episodically, or be coordinated on an ongoing basis.

Life can be a turbulent journey, filled with triumphs and challenges alike. While individual resilience is important, it is widely acknowledged that no one thrives in isolation. The adage "it takes a village" encapsulates this truth perfectly: we all need a community, a network of support, to navigate the complexities of life. The following story illustrates how you can become a vital part of someone's "village", offering the kind of compassionate and practical assistance that strengthens resilience and fosters well-being.

When Fran found herself in the hospital, she never expected to have to undergo three surgeries and then spend several weeks in rehab. Thankfully, with the comforting support of her Neighbor Helping Neighbor volunteers, Linda and Coco, Fran was able to connect with them and share the many challenges of hospital and rehab life.

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CHOICES Corner

One question that is asked of CHOICES counselors is: “What is a

medigap policy?”

Medigaps insurance policies work with Original Medicare to pay some of the remaining costs after Medicare pays its portion of a health care charge. As you know, Medicare doesn’t cover all the costs of health care. There are deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments that you are responsible for after Medicare pays its portion of covered expenses. The policies are standardized policies, sold by private insurance companies. Remember, Medigaps only work with Original Medicare. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, you cannot buy a Medigap and you may not need one, depending on your individual needs and the coverage of your Medicare Advantage Plan.

There are 10 different Medigap policies you can purchase. Each is standardized meaning that each one in a particular category provides the exact same coverage no matter which insurance company you select. The companies are different but each policy in the same standardized category is exactly the same across companies. That means that as a consumer, you need to determine what you need and want from an insurance policy and then examine the materials from each company to see which company that provides the services you need offers the best deal for that policy. You will find premiums across plans can vary significantly.

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This newsletter is supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $555,853 with 100 percent funding by ACL/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.    

CAREGIVER Corner

On September 17, 2025, the Agency on Aging of South Central CT will host its annual caregiver conference. I hope we’ll see you there. For so many years we have been gathering with caregivers and sharing our combined wisdom and experiences. It is always an important day in my life: reconnecting with old friends and making new friends. A day with caregivers is an opportunity to learn from each other and to talk with people who are traveling along similar journeys. I have yet to be at our conference when we didn’t share at a tear and a laugh.

Caregiving is an experience that includes all people. It cuts across ethnicities, socio-economic status, diseases, relationships, cultures, physical and mental abilities. Each one of us at some point in life will be a caregiver or will need caregiving and for many of us, at different points in our lives, we wear both hats. We have been getting together for so many years that people I met, who were caring for their parents, are now being cared for by their children. At one time I was caring for my mom and my adolescent son. Now my son is helping care for me and his friends are talking about caring for their parents with dementia.

Caregiving truly captures the circle of life. If you’ve been with us in the past, come back into the circle. If you’re new to caregiving and would like to spend a day with other people who understand what caregiving entails, please join a circle of friends.

As always, the conference is provided at no charge to caregivers. Attendees will all be caregivers. This isn’t a professional development opportunity for people working in the field. This is an opportunity for family caregivers to come together to share experiences, meet other caregivers. Learn about resources that might be helpful to you as a caregiver and, most importantly, receive heartfelt appreciation for all you do as a caregiver to enable others to have a better quality of life.  Thank you for that.

Information about the conference and registration is on our website. There is no fee, but registration is required to make sure there’s lunch for everyone. I can’t wait to see you!

-Beverly Kidder, Vice President of Community Affairs

Click here to learn more about the event and register