Aging Your Way: Scorecard for SE Seattle / Duwamish

RantWoman actually does not consider herself a Baby Boomer. RantWoman falls into the population segment at the end of the Baby Boom and RantWoman feels as if she is perpetually batting cleanup. Nevertheless, waves of hearing loss reaching past the generations ahead of her and a high school classmate's recurring interest in flatulence keep bringing the subject of AGING to RantWoman's mind.

To make matters worse, the forces of financial chicanery, underinvestment and general pecuniary vexation have been treating the ways people fund their retirement years like a big fat casino. Prospects for financial improvement anytime in the future just do not look good. All of this is reasons for us to start planning now and to think about what our community resources are and what we might like to see. RantWoman heartily commends the following opportunity:


Aging Your Way Senior Friendly Score Card for Southeast Seattle-Greater Duwamish

The Senior Friendly Score Card Action Team that formed after the Aging Your Way Gathering in June would like to share draft indicators that they developed for Southeast Seattle-Greater Duwamish. The purpose of the indicators is to measure whether the neighborhood is friendly to seniors andpeople with disabilities.

This is what they came up with:

* Time available to cross lighted intersections

* Number and type of transportation options for seniors and people with disabilities

* Is there a map of neighborhood assets and resources

* Number of community gardens with seniors gardening

* Number of intergenerational events and programs

* Number of people with disabilities using parks

* Number of meaningful jobs and volunteer opportunities for seniors andpeople with disabilities

Let them know what you think before the next meeting on December 6th.
Aging Your Way Conversations for Community Change
http://www.seniorservices.org/getting_assistance/all_programs/aging_your_way.aspx

In 2010, Senior Services began holding community gatherings around the issue of the rapidly aging Baby Boomer generation. Everyday, 10,000 Baby Boomers reach age 60, and current community resources will not be sufficient to meet the needs of Baby Boomers in the capacity that they have provided for today's senior citizens. The community gatherings have initiated conversations around the concerns of Baby Boomers and how they imagine themselves aging.

Mission:
Aging Your Way aims to help individuals understand the demographics of their community, create a new community vision that supports Baby Boomers in aging"their" way, identify the projects needed to realize the vision, identify and empower individual action teams that will implement the local projects,and engage government and non-profits to implement the larger or regional projects.

Each day, 10,000 Baby Boomers hit age 60. Their approach to life and toaging is quite different than that of preceding generations. They are more active, outspoken about their needs and expectations and believe they are invincible. Bottom line...

A) They don’t think about aging and don’t accept the stigma of the media’s stereotypes of seniors.

B) Most critically, they are not planning for their future.

Community resources, currently designed to meet the needs of today’s seniors, will not be sufficient in number, capacity or type to meet those of the Baby Boomer generation. Combine those two factors? Our communities and existing resources are headed for trouble unless we find a new way. Join us at a gathering in your neighborhood to develop a vision of a community that would support you as you age. Action teams are formed and people are empowered to use their skills, knowledge and passion to make their vision a reality.

Aging Your Way on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aging-Your-Way/161999563837755#!/pages/Aging-Your-Way/161999563837755
a facebook fan page for Aging Your Way. We hope to use this fan page as another way to distribute updates about Aging Your Way and to inform peopleabout all of the exciting things that we have accomplished and that we're working on. Here is the link to our facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Aging-Your-Way/161999563837755
.

If you're active on the facebook community, take a moment to become a fanof this page. The page is in the beginning stages, but we plan to startupdating it regularly with all of the happenings of the Aging Your WayInitiative.