Hilltowns Senior News for Friday, January 15, 2016
By Phyllis Johnson
Free legal consultations will soon be available in the Hilltowns. Attorney Brittany Sergent, of Senior Legal Services at the Legal Aid Society, spoke at the Hilltown Seniors meeting on Jan. 9 to describe the new service.
Private, personal sessions with a lawyer will be offered at the Knox Town Hall on the second Wednesday of every month. Questions about health care, bills, landlord disputes, contractors, wills, and many other civil issues can be discussed free of charge for anyone over 60 years of age.
This service is for civil law issues only; so if you just robbed a liquor store, you need more help than we can provide. An appointment is necessary, so call Pat Lightbody at 872-9400 to schedule your visit. You may make a contribution to Legal Aid if you wish, but it is not required.
Help for vets
Veterans living alone can get assistance with snow shoveling, repairs, and other chores. Call Charlotte Fuss at 861- 8960 for more info.
CARE
Governor Andrew Cuomo recently signed the Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable (CARE) Act, which will require hospitals to allow patients to formally designate a caregiver before they leave the hospital, or are transferred to another facility. It will also require hospital workers to provide the caregiver with instruction or training on how to perform tasks for the patient at home, such as changing bandages or administering medication.
The new law requires hospitals to record the name, phone number, and address of the caregiver in the patient's medical record. The hospital must then notify the caregiver of the patient's upcoming discharge at least 24 hours in advance, and offer instruction in the after-care tasks designated in the patient's discharge plan.
We hope this will make it less likely that anyone gets discharged with no way to take care of themselves once they get home.
Advocacy Day
There is a Statewide Legislative Conference and Advocacy Day planned for Feb. 2 to encourage passage of a proposed $177 million New York State aging services budget. Supporters will be coming from around the state to meet with legislators in the halls of the State Capitol and Legislative Office Building.
Join the statewide advocacy effort, and call or write your legislator. More information can be found online at HYPERLINK "http://www.agingny.org/EducationEvents/"http://www.agingny.org/EducationEvents/, or from your county Department for Aging.
Difficult people
Another opportunity offered by the Aging Alliance is a webinar on “Dealing Effectively with Difficult People.” It will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 20, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. This Internet session will provide practical tips and strategies when working with those difficult people (and we all know some of those).
Speaker Alan Krieger, of Krieger Solutions, LLC will give useful tips to help defuse tensions and improve the way we work with others. Pre-register at HYPERLINK "http://www.agingny.org/EducationEvents/"http://www.agingny.org/EducationEvents/.
Internet access
On the subject of who gets to watch Internet movies at home, we may be getting some much-needed relief here in the rural wasteland, as a result of the Public Service Commission’s approval of the merger between Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications.
Under the terms of the agreement, Charter Communications will improve high-speed broadband access in rural and urban communities, provide more low and moderately priced Internet service packages to consumers, and deliver free broadband Internet access to community centers in underserved areas.
These conditions are supposed to make service available to virtually all customers in Time Warner’s and Charter's current franchise areas, make service more affordable for consumers, and offer free broadband connections community centers in underserved areas.
We hope some of this will trickle down to rural Albany County. Municipalities will be asked to submit proposals this spring to Regional Economic Development Councils; the councils will then recommend funding. Every REDC will have money to spend, so we have a fighting chance. Thanks to State Senator George Amedore for pushing this initiative.
Menu
The lunchtime menu for next week at the Hilltown Senior Center is here. Swap tales with friends, and enjoy a lunch that you don’t have to cook. Doors open at 11 a.m., and lunch is served promptly at noon. Mondays and Tuesdays, we have games and cards, and on Fridays, Nancy Frueh serenades us with live music.
Speaking of lunch, please remember to call in your reservations. We use the reservations to order the correct number of dinners, so that there is enough for everyone.
— Monday, Jan. 18: Because it’s Martin Luther King Day, there is no lunch.
— Tuesday, Jan. 19: Meatloaf with gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli, whole-wheat bread, milk, and peaches.
— Friday, Jan. 22: Potato-crunch fish, grren beans, mashed sweet potatoes, whole-wheat roll, milk, and mandarin oranges.
Please call 24 hours in advance to 872-9400 to reserve lunch. Email HYPERLINK "mailto:[email protected]" , or sign up when you come in. Tell us how many are coming, your name, and your telephone number. If you’d just like to come and help out, give Mary Moller a call at 861-6253, or email her at HYPERLINK "mailto:[email protected]" , and put “volunteer” in the subject line.
Lunches are provided by Helderberg Senior Services, the Albany County Department of Aging, and Senior Services of Albany. The Hilltown Senior Center is located at 1360 Helderberg Trail (Route 443) in Berne.