Welcome to the November 2008 Seniors Digest!

Michael Miller, Advisory Council Chair

Governor Gregoire presents the 2008 Excellence in Action Award to the Age 55+ Employment Resource Center. Read on to learn more about the ERC.*

As November is National Family Caregivers Month, we would like to begin by paying special tribute to the thousands of local families who are currently providing care for an elderly or disabled loved one. The aging of the Baby Boomers means that more and more area families are challenged by balancing caregiving duties with work, family and other responsibilities. See this month’s “Balancing Work and Caregiving” to learn more about resources that can help.

November is also National Alzheimer’s Disease Month. See “New Tools for Alzheimer’s Awareness” to access four short animated Alzheimer’s education “pocket films.” And read about El Portal Northwest, a program to help the Latino community better understand and respond to the impacts of dementia.

Also in this issue…

• Utility Discount Program Helps Seattle Families Make Ends Meet
• Announcements: Caregiver Counseling, Flu Shots, Adopt a Senior Pet Month
• Save the Date for the Early-Stage Alzheimer’s Town Hall Meeting, Home Sweet Home, and more
• Family Caregivers Trivia Quiz

For More Information

Check out SeniorsDigest.org, our national companion website. The Seniors Digest Resource Center is a great place to begin your search for information about issues of interest to seniors 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.

Michael Miller, Chair
Seattle-King County Advisory Council
on Aging and Disability Services

* More About the Age 55+ Employment Resource Center

Age 55+ Employment Resource Center staff display the 2008 Excellence in Action Award _________________________________

The Washington State Council on Aging has named Seattle’s Age 55+ Employment Resource Center as a recipient of the 2008 Excellence in Action Award for their work and service to senior citizens. 

The Age 55+ Employment Resource Center (ERC), a program of  Seattle’s Mayor’s Office for Senior Citizens, provides job search assistance, resume workshops and related support to those who are 55 years and older. A strategy using peer support enlists job counselors and staff who are also 55 years and older. Each year, the Age 55+ ERC helps more than 1,000 clients with their job searches, and has a waiting list. The influx of aging boomers shows the need for the ERC, and this year the center has been successful in helping more than 350 people enter employment.

Uniquely, the center combines federal and local funding to meet its mission. “No comparable program exists in this state and there are very few senior employment programs that exist nationally,” said Robert Stevenson, chair of the State Council on Aging. “Aging boomers and older adults have a lot of wisdom and energy to give in the workplace and the Center provides an employment model not only for other communities in Washington but for the rest of the nation.”

Gov. Gregoire presented the award on October 17 at the Senior Citizens’ Foundation Fall Conference at SeaTac.  Accepting the award on behalf of the ERC were Alana McAlwain, ERC Program Manager; Irene Stewart, Director, Mayor’s Office for Senior Citizens; and Pamela Piering, Director of Aging & Disability Services, Seattle-King County Area Agency on Aging.