Gray Matters Spring 2015

Gray Matters

Volunteer Opportunities 3 Senior Art Show 4 A1AA Says Thank You 5 Senior Information Guide 7 Health Decisions Center 8

A quarterly publication of Area 1 Agency on Aging

SPRING 2015

Zero Waste Humboldt Appeals to Gainer and 75 Volunteers Looking to Make a Difference

M

aggie Gainer is not your typical retiree.

For starters, she quit work to raise a daughter alone, the result of starting motherhood at the age of 47 and becoming a widow at 55.

For another, she’s devoting the bulk of her volunteer time to recycling and waste reduction, providing pro bono services that she used to do for a living at her consulting firm, Gainer & Associates.

“I don’t honestly think of it as volunteering; it’s community activism,” the Bayside resident said. “It’s hard to say no, and things need to be done.

It’s a way of life.”

Gainer, 63, volunteers with the career and college center at her daughter’s high school, serves on the board of directors for Bayside Pride and the Headwaters Fund, and recently resigned from the City of Arcata’s Economic Development Committee to concentrate on Zero Waste Humboldt.

She devotes five to eight hours

each week, sometimes twice that, to Zero Waste Humboldt, an allvolunteer nonprofit she co-founded in 2011.

Rather than a one-way materials management model from the earth to the dump, Zero Waste Humboldt seeks a cyclical system that eliminates wasteful practices, captures discarded materials, and uses them, instead of natural resources, to create new products.

“More and more people are getting clear in their minds that we emphasize waste prevention, not just recycling and clean-up,” Gainer said.

“When all you focus on is recycling, you focus on diverting materials from the landfill and incineration.

That’s good, but natural resources have already been extracted. We’re interested in natural resource conservation and we emphasize the highest and best use of the discarded material we collect.”

To that end, Zero Waste Humboldt (ZWH) provides technical assistance

to groups, businesses, government agencies and event managers seeking to reduce garbage, and garbage bills. Rather than carting in pallets of single use water bottles for example, ZWH helps people set-up water hydration systems that feature washable and reusable cups.

“There’s a hierarchy: prevention, reuse, recycling and composting, in

that order,” she said. “Our collected material is a secondary resource that can re-enter the manufacturing process locally through something like Fire & Light or J & T Plastics in Redway. Keeping it in our local economy rather than shipping it hundreds of miles away is when recycling begins to make the most sense.” 

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Labor Force Participation Rates Age 62+ All

2000 2007 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Q1* 2013 Q2*

17.2 21.6 23.3 23.8 24.2 24.5 24.8 25

Men 62+ Women 62+ Men 70+ Women 70+

22.6 26.7 28.7 29.1 29.4 30.1 29.9 30

13 17.6 19 19.6 20 20 20.6 21

11.9 14.3 15.1 15 15.4 16.2 16.3 16

5.7 7.7 8.4 8.4 8.4 8.4 9.2 9.1

Source: Urban Institute Program on Retirement Policy from Bureau of Labor Statistics * First and second quarters SPECIAL INSERT TO THE NORTH COAST JOURNAL • THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015

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ZWH also trains and provides quality control monitors at large outdoor events to help people correctly deposit different kinds of waste in the appropriate bin.

“It’s all about keeping different containers from becoming contaminated,” Gainer said. “Then we have the people who run around with hand trucks moving the bags, weighing them and keeping the material flowing to where it will be hauled away.’

Gainer said ZWH has “something for everyone, from the cerebral to the physically active. We have people on the phone, on the computer, doing research, writing stories, digging up information, updating the website, improving our presence on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and photographing good zero waste models.”

Last year, Gainer said 75 volunteers spent time with ZWH, including five interns from different disciplines at Humboldt State University and a contingent from RSVP, one of three national service programs offered to Americans age 55 and older

by Senior Corps.

“One of the fun parts is working with youth and youth projects,” she said. “It’s a sub-category of public education and we’re in the early stages of developing a cadre of Zero Waste zebras, green and white, to participate in parades. We need people to help make the zebra heads.”

Gainer said the fair and festival volunteers range in age from 14 to 74.

“I’ve met so many folks and made such great friendships through my

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volunteer work, people I would never have met if I hadn’t gotten involved,” she said. “I hear from folks older than me that our social circles can tend to get smaller and smaller as we age. Mine has expanded.”

Gainer’s mother would be proud. “‘Just pitch in and help out’ is what she always said. At this stage in my life, preparing younger people for leadership is my form of community activism. I don’t see that the boomers have done a particularly good job of passing the baton, and by that I mean recruiting, grooming, training and mentoring people to whom we can turn over leadership. That’s why I’m so active: I want to set the stage and help others who are in their 30’s and 40’s to take over.”

As involved as she is, she refuses to get trapped in the role of the irreplaceable head of any local effort.

“I’m happy to volunteer and be the key responsible person if we do a buddy system and create a checklist so that someone else can take the leadership role next year,” she said.

“It’s thoughtful strategizing about how you go about designing your volunteer responsibility.”

Gainer plans to return to the workforce part-time when her daughter finishes high school, but that won’t mean an end to volunteering.

“It will reduce, but I like the diversity of what I do,” she said. “When there are needs, I’ll jump in.”

For more information about ZWH volunteering, email: contact@zerowastehumboldt.org. 

Opportunities Abound for North Coast RSVP

N

ational Volunteer Week is April 12-18, and Zero Waste Humboldt is one of the many environmental stewardship volunteer opportunities available to people age 55 and older through RSVP. “Volunteers make a huge difference in getting things done,” said Maureen McGarry, program director for RSVP, a program of Area 1 Agency on Aging. “When a large group of people shows up to build trails or remove trash and invasive species in the forest, the results are visible and immediate.”

RSVP focuses on six areas identified in the Serve America Act: disaster services, economic opportunity, education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures, and veterans and military families.

McGarry said the environmental and health areas are particularly popular in Humboldt with older adults working on maintenance, restora-

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

For People. Not Profit.

— Winston Churchill

tion and trail development in local community forests, and helping take seniors to medical appointments and the grocery store.

Several volunteers also work in community gardens and food banks, as well as visitor centers in local wetland and forested areas.

“Many older adults — especially Boomers — want to volunteer outdoors or do something that promotes sustainable, healthy living,” McGarry said.

To volunteer in Humboldt or Del Norte counties, call 442-3763, fax 442-3714 or e-mail vcor@a1aa.org. 

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Membership Meeting • Full Wed., April 29

Noon-1:30 p.m., Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center, Eureka

OLLI members are invited to share what they like about OLLI and in what direction they would like to see the program develop.

• Open House: Sat., June 6

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3rd Annual Senior Art Show Accepts Entries on April 24

“G

et into the Act” is the theme for Older Americans Month 2015, and plenty of local artists age 60 years or better are hoping to comply.

Their goal: to display their creativity and depth of expression by showing their work in the third annual “Being Here Now Art Show” jointly sponsored by Area 1 Agency on Aging and the Ink People.

April 24 is the drop-off date for the juried exhibit. Entries will be judged by noted multimedia artist Lori Goodman. First, second and third place honorees receive $200, $150 and $100, respectively.

Following an artist reception at 5 p.m., the exhibit opens 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on May 2 at Arts Alive!

“What I look for is not necessarily something that is my personal taste, but something that can be the best it can be for what it is,” Goodman said. “There’s the vision, then the technical skills, then getting it all together in one piece as best you can. That comes through with an amateur or a practiced, experienced professional.”

Goodman, 72, is the latter. She started weav-

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ing around 1969, began to study fiber art, then slowly evolved into paper. Goodman uses kozo, the bark of the Japanese mulberry tree, as the primary substance for her mixed media sculptures and installations.

“It was difficult for me to make art with weaving,” she said. “It was expensive and time-consuming. But paper is a great medium, like clay, but lighter. If you make a mistake, you can throw it away or recycle. I love it, and I’ve been doing it a long time, almost 30 years.”

Goodman said she likes “experimental things,” which is part of the appeal of serving as the jurist.

“I like any good art, it doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’m assuming I’ll see a lot of art I’ve never seen before, some of which will be really amazing and surprising. People come out of the woodwork. Some have waited until they retire to do it and can be a bit intimidated, but are really quite wonderful.”

The show marks the 50th anniversary of the Older Americans Act and will run through June 26 at the Area 1 Agency on Aging office at 434 Seventh Street in Eureka, across the street from the Eureka Inn and Morris Graves Museum of Art.

More than 50 entries graced the walls and rooms last year.

“Some people had never been in a show before, and some had never been able to pursue their passion until they retired,” said Maggie Kraft, executive director of A1AA. “We were packed all night, and I think anyone there would agree: creativity doesn’t diminish with age.”

“I was thrilled with the quality and diversity of the artwork last year,” said Libby Maynard, executive director of the Ink People.

“Art is all about the artist expressing what they know and feel. It’s a way of processing your life experiences: the joys and the sorrows, the frustrations and the successes. A senior artist brings so much to that. They have this volume of life experiences, different expertise and skills, all of which comes out in their work.”

The juried exhibition is open to all artistic mediums. Each entry is $15.

Artists will reap 100 percent of sales during the two-month showing.

“The key to aging well is to stay fit, active and involved,” Kraft said.

“Sixty really isn’t old, and this exhibit reminds everyone that productivity, expression, and creativity can get better with age.”

To learn more about Goodman’s background, go to loribgoodman.com.

Entry forms for the show are available online at a1aa.org or at two Eureka locations: Ink People at 23 Fifth Street or A1AA at 434 Seventh St. For more information, call A1AA at 442-3763. 

A1AA Says Thank You With Art Prints, Magnets

B

ring a burst of color and local art into your home, all while supporting seniors and people with disabilities with a donation to Area 1 Agency on Aging.

A1AA’s Honoring Seniors event is an opportunity for supporters of A1AA to make a donation and receive a piece of art as a thank-you.

From April 1 through June 26, A1AA donors of $200 or more will receive a signed print of artist Maureen McGarry’s watercolor, Humboldt at Home.

The print is 9 inches wide by 24 inches long.

A donation of $50 to $199 during that period earns a magnet of the same piece measuring 2.75 inches by 7.25 inches.

“It is our way of saying thank you,” said A1AA Executive Director Maggie Kraft. “Maureen’s art will brighten our donors’ lives in the way our donors brighten the lives of their neighbors by supporting the various projects we take on but are not funded to do.”

Kraft said projects that rely

primarily on grant and donor support include the volunteer driver program for people who need access to groceries or medical care; the behind-the-scenes work to bring the Village Movement to the North Coast; the Senior Information Guide; and various public education and outreach efforts.

McGarry is the RSVP and Volunteer Center of the Redwoods project director for A1AA. She said she has long hoped for a village on the North Coast and donated the chosen watercolor in honor of Redwood Coast Village.

The village effort had been operating under the name Humboldt at Home until a community vote settled on Redwood Coast Village. Volunteers are now in the planning stages for some type of membership organization designed to provide services that will help people stay where they want to live as long as possible.

“When you are an artist, you are not always called upon to do the traditional work of organiz

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Painting by Maureen McGarry

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ing and development, but we all have something to offer,” McGarry said.

“Maybe this will inspire someone to give of themselves with a talent they have to share.”

She said one inspiration for her painting is how a rural landscape will serve the needs of its aging population.

“Many of us want to stay living this lifestyle, but know it is highly dependent on our own mobility and access to services,” she said. “Rather than live in dense housing or assisted living, we want to remain living independently in our homes.”

The village movement seeks to help its members remain in their home by accessing services that address the needs of aging.

To participate in Honoring Seniors, contact Suzy Smith at Area 1 Agency on Aging at 442-3763, ssmith@a1aa. org or mail your donation to A1AA at 434 Seventh St., Eureka, CA, 95501.

Donations can also be made online at a1aa.org. Those who opt for a recurring donation of $15 a month for a year will also receive a print signed

by McGarry.

Redwoodcoastvillage.org web page

The production of this document was supported by a federal grant from the Administration for Community Living (ACL). Its contents are solely the responsibility of Area 1 Agency on Aging and do not necessarily represent the official views of ACL.

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is now the local resource for village information, but Kraft said people can still go to a1aa.org for information and a link to the village web page. For information about the national movement, go to vtvnetwork.org.

The next update on the local village effort is Wed., May 6 from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. at the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center. The presentation is open to the public and part of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute’s free brown bag lunch series. Membership in OLLI is not required to attend. 

Gray Matters is a quarterly publication of the Area 1 Agency on Aging.

Maggie Kraft Executive Director • mkraft@a1aa.org Carol Harrison Editor • cah5@humboldt.edu

A1AA is located at 434 Seventh Street in Eureka, 95501, across the street from Eureka Inn. Phone: 707-442-3763 Gray Matters is produced by the North Coast Journal and is available online at www.northcoastjournal.com under the Special Publications tab. The next edition of Gray Matters will be available Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015.

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Work Begins on Senior Information Guide 2016-17

D

ebbie Davenport uses her coverless, dog-eared edition of the Senior Information Guide at least 10 times a day.

Arcata’s Albert Drexel keeps his on the counter.

“There’s just a wealth of information in it,” said Davenport, the receptionist at Humboldt Senior Resource Center.

“I find myself thumbing through it every other day to see if there is anything I or a client need,” said Drexel, a professional caregiver for 37 years.

The SIG is a go-to, must-have reference for low or non-cost services available to people age 60 and older or those with disabilities in Humboldt and Del Norte counties. It directs people to an array of services that support an active, independent and healthy lifestyle.

The SIG is published every other year by Area 1 Agency on Aging, underwritten by community businesses and sponsors, and available for free at A1AA, county library branches and other local sites.

Work on the 2016-17 edition began March 23 with advertising sales.

For information about advertising or sponsoring, call A1AA at 707-4423763 or contact Carol Harrison at cah5@humboldt.edu “I had no idea Humboldt County was such a center for seniors, with so many resources I didn’t know ex-

isted,” Drexel said. “It even had an LGBT listing.”

Davenport discovered SIG when she started at HSRC in June 2012.

“I got calls day in and day out from people looking for help, usually because some situation had arisen and they didn’t know where to go,” she said. “I needed to be able to help them, so I read through the whole thing when I started so I could know what’s out there and where to find it.”

The 2016-17 SIG will be available in February.

“With a two-year shelf life and a targeted audience, it is the place to be for advertisers,” said A1AA Executive Director Maggie Kraft. “It’s an essential resource that helps neighbors when the unexpected happens and they are overwhelmed.”

The guide is color-coded and organized by topic. Transportation, finance, food and nutrition, caregiving, housing, health and wellness, and legal matters are a sampling of what’s covered in the current, 88page directory.

Hard copies of SIG 2014-15 are available for free from A1AA at 434 Seventh Street, Eureka, CA, across from the Eureka Inn and Morris Graves Museum.

It can also be accessed at a1aa.org under publications, which is part of the drop-down menu under Resources. 

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Health Decisions Center Offers Free Guidance for Seniors Facing Health Choices

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ruce Cotherman and Nathalie Richcreek know surgery comes with risks, but it wasn’t until each visited the Health Decisions Center in Eureka that they found some peace of mind and neutral information as they considered hip replacements.

“I had so many questions,” the 65-year-old Richcreek said. “Do I need another surgery? Do I want it? When? Where?”

“They helped me with the terminology and answered questions about other treatments and what kind of surgery it was going to be,” the 57-year-old Cotherman said. “A lot of times, we’re confused or afraid about which way to go. With their help, I was way more informed when I went in to see the specialist.”

The Humboldt Independent Practice Association houses the center and its staff of four Priority Care wellness coaches or registered nurses at 2662 Harris, across from Safeway, (443-4563). Cotherman visited the center last fall; Richcreek about two months ago.

Services are available free of charge. Insurance is not required.

Patients may be referred by their provider or

self-refer with questions about so called “preference sensitive conditions,” generally non-urgent, for which there are multiple treatment options that are roughly equivalent.

The center opened in October with the goal of getting its clients current, neutral and easily understood information about treatment and outcomes for a variety of conditions that include: peripheral artery disease, heart tests, carotid artery disease, stable chest discomfort, torn meniscus, knee or hip osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis, herniated lumbar disc, acute or chronic low back pain, and symptoms of depression. End-of-life decisions and peace of mind are also covered.

Richcreek and Cotherman received a pamphlet and CD about knee osteoarthritis as part of the pilot project that is expanding this spring. The material – “easy to read,” Richcreek said – is prepared and updated by Health Dialog in collaboration with the Informed Medical Decision Foundation in Boston, Mass.

Richcreek and Cotherman then met with a coach to go over a series of questions designed to gauge understanding of the disease process or conditions, available treatment options, steps taken to date, and patient preferences, concerns and desires.

“We try to elicit from them why they might be afraid of surgery, what they are worried about, and what they want to be able to do,” said Geri Heyne, a registered nurse and one of the coaches. “We are neutral participants who listen and help them reach a decision that is best for them, regardless as to what it is.”

The coach also fills out a form that details the client’s concerns, fears, and questions and sends it to the physician prior to the next appointment.

“Instead of going in and having a doctor spout

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about all these procedures you don’t have a clue about, the meeting is much more efficient,” Cotherman said. “And he seemed more certain that I knew what I was getting involved in.”

To remind himself, Cotherman looked again at the CD in February and expects to review it another time or two before surgery.

The center may be especially helpful to older adults who live alone, suffer from multiple health issues and/or are hesitant to share their worries and concerns with friends or family.

“I don’t want to talk to my daughter or a friend too much about aches and pains,” Cotherman said. “And how do you find a doctor, therapist or other professional entity who knows what they’re doing and can spend an hour talking back and forth with you?”

“From the minute I walked in, I was welcome,” said Shelli Davis, a Eureka resident who used the center for guidance about back surgery. She suffers from multiple medical issues that leave her feeling overwhelmed at times and confused by what symptom to attribute to what condition.

“I talked to my doctor about a spine institute in Arizona last year. She was quickly against it, but then this year was for it. It baffled me. I didn’t know what to make of it. Was the change because it was worth doing or it didn’t matter to her? Or was it because she didn’t want to or couldn’t help me anymore?”

Davis said her trip the Health Decisions Center left her feeling validated “for the first time in years.

They were actually listening. I felt I got heard and they’re going to help me make this body as healthy as possible.”

“Speak to these people before you go to a surgeon,” Richcreek said. “It’s a new thing and it’s wonderful.” 