Senior Lobby Day saw a mixed result in the battle to retain funding for the Senior Citizens Services Act (SCSA). It was inspiring to see how advocates for older adults in our state got the message out! At right, Tekle Hagos, Rep. Eric Pettigrew, ADS Director Pamela Piering, Diane Snell and George Dicks presented a united front in red scarves, courtesy of AARP.

This month in Seniors Digest, we take a look at the Muckleshoot Senior Services Program, which serves tribal elders and family caregivers in a variety of ways. ADS planner Karen Winston tells us about a recent event which brought elders and youth together to learn about and enjoy traditional foods, prepared and served in traditional ways. 

The importance of healthy eating is especially relevant, as March is Nutrition Month. Meet our new food columnist, Katy Wilkens of Northwest Kidney Centers! Katy will be sharing healthy recipes with us from time to time. In this month's "Ban the Can," she shows us how to make delicious low-sodium soups. And this month's puzzle, "Let's Eat Healthy," also emphasizes nutritional health.

Also in this issue:

• The Memory Care and Wellness Services adult day program expands to a second location
  
  
• AARP Tax-Aide volunteers can help sort out those confusing tax forms.
  
  
• Chubby Checker helps seniors get a handle on the "new twists" in the Medicare Part D "Extra Help" program

For More Information....  

See "Links You Can Use" for local websites that can direct you to services for seniors. And check out SeniorsDigest.org, our national companion website, which includes the Online Information Center, where you will find resources and information about issues of interest to older adults and their families.

We hope you will refer to our electronic pages often—to obtain advice, to learn of new and exciting services, and to offer us your constructive feedback.

Read Seniors Digest and tell us what you think. We are here to help.

Timmie Faghin, Chair
Seattle-King County Advisory Council
on Aging and Disability Services

*More About Senior Lobby Day

On February 18, members of the ADS Advisory Council and the Mayor's Council for African American Elders, along with ADS client Tekle Haglos (who you might remember from last month's Seniors Digest), traveled to Olympia for Senior Lobby Day. They delivered a simple but powerful message to legislators on the need to preserve funding for the Senior Citizens Services Act (SCSA). A week later they received a mixed reply: the House passed a budget which includes no SCSA cuts, but the Senate cut the program by one million dollars. The Advisory Council is now eagerly supporting the House version, in hopes these cuts will be reversed when the two budgets are reconciled.

(Left to right) Dave Rogers, Don Moreland, Gwendolyn Coates, George Dicks, Tekle Hagos, Diane Snell and Pamela Piering.