The Aging Report

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Home Delivered Meals and Community Dining for older adults.

“This golden anniversary is a milestone to celebrate and would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of our funded nutrition providers across the region.” – Marla Fronczak, CEO, AgeGuide 

The national Senior Nutrition Program is funded by the Older Americans Act (OAA) and administered through local senior nutrition sites. Not only do these services provide nutritious meals, but they also offer connections to other vital resources that strengthen social supports and promote health and wellbeing. 

To mark this golden anniversary, AgeGuide’s Nutrition Team visited each provider agency in our region to recognize their great work and the tremendous impact they have on older adults’ health and continued independence. 

We (AgeGuide) redesigned our website with you in mind! We set out to give you a better experience finding the services you may need for yourself or a loved one.

Our easy-to-use website now features resources & supports listed by service rather than by county. Here you will find detailed information about each service AgeGuide funds and which of our funded partners delivers the service in each county. You will also find new pages with information on the Age Guide Podcast, Emergency Preparedness tips, and a new blog design.

We have also moved the Senior Lifestyle Expo website to AgeGuide.org. Now you can find any information about the Expo, including dates, times and location at www.AgeGuide.org/SeniorLifestyleExpo

We wanted to give you a website where all the information and resources you need are right at your fingertips with a familiar look you are accustomed to.

Welcome to the Age Guide podcast highlighting perspectives on the aging journey. We are here to be your personal Age Guide and enhance your quality of life on the road ahead. This podcast is about putting a face on aging and giving a voice to older adults and caregivers by highlighting their experiences and stories. We want to provide a window into the struggles and joys of aging, to dispel myths and combat ageism.

The April episode features Margorie Logman, a long-time resident of Aurora, IL. At first glance she looks like the picture of successful aging in community, living in her own home and enjoying the freedom to get involved and give back to her community. But Marjorie’s path to community living wasn’t always smooth. At the age of 73, Marjorie is on a mission to disrupt long-term care because of her own harrowing experience living in a facility for several years where she experienced the failures of a broken system of care. Marjorie has become such a vocal advocate for older adults that she is somewhat of a local celebrity in her own right, participating in city council meetings, writing opinion pieces and speaking out about social justice issues. In this third podcast in our series on long-term care, we will hear Marjorie’s personal account of the state of long-term care and the plight of residents. This episode covers a time period just prior to the COVID-19 outbreak and helps explain how already existing problems in nursing homes set the stage for the deadly crisis that occurred when the pandemic hit. 

National Social Security Month is celebrated in April and is dedicated to educating you about Social Security programs and services. For more than 80 years, Social Security has worked to meet the changing needs of the American public. Whether it is programs that help support you through life’s journey, services that help give you control, or systems that help protect you and what’s important to you, Social Security is committed to helping you command your future. Visit https://www.ssa.gov/ to access your information, estimate or manage your benefits, request a replacement Social Security card, or read more information.

We encourage older adults to take control of their future with a personal My Social Security account. Create an account to check your earnings history, confirm your credits for retirement, estimate your future benefits, manage your monthly benefits, and more. 

While rain was in the forecast across the state for weeks, the Illinois Legislature was raining down bills with unprecedented speed. The session was shortened this year to allow legislators extra time to campaign in their newly redrawn districts. Half of Illinois legislators have a 50% turnover among their constituents due to the redistricting. To meet the earlier session deadline of April 8th, the General Assembly and Governor Pritzker reached a budget agreement in record time. On April 9th, just a few hours past the scheduled end of spring session, the Illinois legislature passed a final Fiscal Year 2023 state budget.  

The $46.5 billion spending plan sitting on the Governor’s desk awaiting signature contains some significant wins for older adults, including: 

• A new, $4 million appropriation for Caregiver Support Services; and  
• An increase of $14.2 million in the Home Delivered Meals allocation.  

Visit the blog for more state and federal budget updates.

Illinois Department on Aging’s Aging Healthfully Newsletter  (Need another language? Click here and scroll to the bottom). The Aging Healthfully newsletter provides information on healthy eating, physical activity and lifestyle changes to help older adults stay healthy and active.

Do you need a vaccine or booster against COVID-19? Do you know someone who is homebound who needs a vaccine? AgeGuide is here to help. Call us at (800) 528-2000 for more information.

National Donate Life Month, recognized in April of each year, is observed to honor those that have saved lives through the gift of donation and to help raise awareness about donation. This month encourages Americans to register as organ, eye, and tissue donors. In addition, this is a month to celebrate those who have received transplants, recognize those who still continue to wait, and give special gratitude to donors and their families. Read our blog post for more information on Donate Life Month.

At AgeGuide, we love getting social! Stay up to date with the latest news, updates and learn more about AgeGuide and our work advocating for older adults and the services they need on our social media pages!

27th Annual Senior Lifestyle Expo

August 23 & 24, 2022

We are excited to welcome back older adults to this two-day event at Drury Lane!

For more information, contact Kaitie Hauser at (630) 293-5990 or visit www.ageguide.org/seniorlifestyleexpo