The Avenidas Rose Kleiner Adult Day Health Center in Mountain View hosted their 7th Annual Caregiver conference in their beautiful and brand-new center this past Saturday, August 21st.  Greg Yu, our Operations Manager and I were glad to be on hand to meet with seniors and community members and advise them that Home Sweet Home Care's Redwood City office is available whenever they need us to provide quality home care aide services.
 
Nine terrific and highly-relevant subjects were presented by experts in their field, including presentations on legal matters, medications, dealing with hoarders, coping skills for dementia care, etc.  Boxed lunches were distributed and enjoyed by the attendees in the main hall and in the sunny garden.  And lots of nice raffle prizes were presented to the attendee winners by the various agencies. Like ours that were involved to the delight of the gathered seniors.  The Mountain View community is blessed to have such a facility which offers them such access to great programs and caring staff members and managers.

Driving down Geary Boulevard the other day, I was surprised to see all the plastic and fabric removed from the new I.O.A. Senior Center. It's a fantastic accomplishment for our community. Congratulations to all the seniors who will be enjoying it and to all the visionaries and supporters who helped make it happen. The Institute of Aging in San Francisco celebrates 25 years of service with the development of this new senior campus for Bay area elders! The grand opening is scheduled for later this fall and will include affordable housing, affordable health care, senior services and a host of community programs-all under one roof.
 
The building is big and beautiful.  See the artist's rendering nearby.  For a complete list of services and amenities of the center, Google the I.O.A.'s new senior center at 3575 Geary Blvd.  You will be amazed!  If you know anyone who would like to donate to a worthy cause, this would be a really good place to choose.

Before you vote for a Governor in California this November, you may wish to review the following article, by Christine Jewett of California Watch, which appeared on page one of the August 23rd edition of the San Francisco Chronicle about Attorney General Jerry Brown's poor performance in the prosecution of elder abuse cases in California, despite steady budget increases in recent years.  

According to the article, Brown's defenders say that "past success in prosecuting nursing homes may be deterring the kind of abuses they saw in prior years."  The office has seen a marked drop in reports of physical abuse and significantly fewer referrals from local ombudsmen law enforcement and the public. The office also has seen an uptick in financial fraud cases and has applied more resources to prosecute health care providers who scam Medi-Cal, California's medical insurance for the needy." But opponents of the Attorney General point out that the elder abuse unit under Brown saw case referrals from local agencies and elder care ombudsmen drop from more than 2,300 in 2003 to 745 in 2009.

Read article here

Our inspirational senior of the month award this month would have to go to Ms. Hazel McCallion, the 89 year old Mayor of the Canadian city, Mississauga, Ontario one of the few debt-free cities in Canada.  On top of that distinction, under her management, the city has accumulated $700, 000 in reserves. Not bad for a city with a population of around 700,000 people! 

They say her political record is unmatched by anyone in Canada and, perhaps, the world.  She has won 11 consecutive elections and has a 92% approval rating.  And if that's not impressive enough, the 89 year-old "Hurricane Hazel" is an ice hockey player!  What a woman!!  Click the link below for the full interview: 

Terrific Video about Hazel "Hurricane" McCallion