I was excited to tell you about CLC’s presentation at the Aging in America Conference – “Seniors, Social Media and the Art of Building Community” – which gave us the opportunity to share stories, pictures, and lessons learned about our work. Judy Auda, Deloris McGee, Marcia Peterzell and I did a one hour presentation highlighting a community-organizing approach that includes neighborhood networks, personal networks, a local time bank, and other tools to engage and to empower seniors and persons with disabilities. Experienced “Community Connectors” organize these networks in the spirit of mutual assistance, supported by a range of social media. We were excited about the opportunity and in awe of the room we were assigned (see below). While we didn’t fill every seat, we had 35 people (who stayed!) at a conference where many of the workshops had only a handful of folks. We would welcome the opportunity to share some of our presentation with groups locally if you are interested.
And we were inspired by the organizations honored with the Rosalinde Gilbert Innovations in Alzheimer’s Disease Caregiving Legacy Awards, at a lovely reception organized by Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA). Learn more about the award winners at http://blog.caregiver.org/?p=1655. San Francisco was honored in several years ago for their planning work in San Francisco – learn more at http://www.sfhealthyaging.org/city-hall-summits/14-2/. Kudos to Kathy Kelly and colleagues for another wonderful event.
Then I wanted to share how much we are going to miss Susan Mizner, who is leaving her post as the Director of the Mayor’s Office on Disability. Her friends and colleagues gathered to show their admiration and appreciation for her years of service and to wish her well in her great new position with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Thanks, Susan, for your vision, leadership and graceful persistance on so many issues of substance in San Francisco and beyond. Welcome, Carla Johnson, who will be continuing Mizner’s good work and I’m sure, after meeting her, initiating some great things of her own. Learn more about the work of this important Office at http://www.sfgov2.org/index.aspx?page=386 .
And while we’re at it, we want to remind folks what a great opportunity the monthly meetings of the San Francisco Long Term Care Coordinating Council are for keeping up on the quickly changing budget and policy issues that impact seniors, persons with disabilities and their care providers. You will get to meet Carla, as well as get an update on Managed Care in California and learn more about services and support for persons with developmental disabilities from Joanne Rolle of the ARC. Last month’s meeting included a detailed update from and Greg Wagner from the San Francisco Health Department, Melissa Howard of the Mayor’s Budget Office, and Martha Peterson from the Dept. of Aging and Adult Services. The Council generally meets the 2nd Thursday of every month at One South Van Ness Avenue, 2nd Floor. The next meeting will be May 10th at 1:00 p.m.
Well, I’m feeling better now that I’ve had a chance to catch up on a few things. I’m going to work really hard on do shorter posts, and on a more frequent basis. And I’m looking forward to learning more from other bloggers at the Aging and Disability Technology Summit on May 15th. At the Meet A Blogger, Be a Blogger corner, starting at 12:30 on May 15th, we will meet Amber DiPietra (SFILRC Blog & Write to Connect) Linda Post (San Francisco FYI net – political events), Susanne Standler, Architect (At Home with Growing Older), Paul Hendrickson, resident of Laguna Honda (Consider This Resident blogspot), Linda Leu (Health Access) and hosted by my favorite Food Blogger (and daughter) Amy Fazio (Do You Know The Muffin Pan?)