New Horizons May 2018 by Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging

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A publication of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging

May 2018 VOL. 43 • NO. 5

ENOA 4780 South 131st Street Omaha, NE 68137-1822

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID OMAHA NE PERMIT NO. 389

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Jim Scholz is a former Catholic priest who as pastor, helped design the high-energy Sunday services at Omaha’s Sacred Heart Church. Today, Scholz is a photographer specializing in architecture, fine art, and portraiture. His work is included in corporate and private collections on three continents. Leo Adam Biga’s profile of Scholz begins on page 10.

WEAAD

Each year, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is observed around the world on June 15. See page 6.

Partners Ronnette Sailors, RN, co-coordinates CHI Health’s Faith Community Health Network, a program that addresses the community’s health needs by partnering with local religious congregations. See page 20.

Celebrate Older Americans Month during May Getting older doesn’t mean what it used to. For many aging Americans, it’s a phase of life where interests, goals, and dreams can get a new or a second start. Today, aging is about eliminating outdated perceptions and living the way that suits you best. Take Barbara Hillary, for example. A nurse for 55 years who dreamed of travel, at age 75 Hillary became the first African-American woman to set foot on the North Pole. In 2011, at age 79, she set another first when she stepped onto the South Pole. Former president George H.W. Bush celebrated his 90th birthday by skydiving. Actress Betty White, now 95 years old, became the oldest person to host Saturday Night Live in 2010, coincidentally during May— the same month recognized as Older Americans Month (OAM). Since 1963, OAM has been a time to celebrate older Americans, their stories, and their contributions. Led by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), the annual observance offers a special opportunity to learn about, sup-

port, and recognize our nation’s older citizens. This year’s theme, Engage at Every Age, emphasizes the ways older adults are living their lives with boldness, confidence, and passion while serving as an inspiration to people of all ages. The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging will use OAM 2018 to focus on how older adults are redefining aging— through work or family interests, by taking charge of their health and staying independent for as long as possible, and through their community and advocacy efforts. ENOA will also use this opportunity to learn how it can best support and learn from its communities’ oldest members. Throughout the month, ENOA will conduct activities and share information designed to highlight the agency’s programs and services. Join the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging and ACL as they Engage at Every Age this month.

Heartland Generations Center You’re invited to visit the Heartland Generations Center – 4318 Fort St. – for the following: • May 1: May Day Party with the Guild @ 11 a.m. • May 3: Kraft with Kina @ 10:30 a.m. • May 8: Show and Share @ 1 p.m. • May 10: Presentation on Medicare with Chris @ 11 a.m. • May 14: WhyArts? clay with Richard @ 10:30 a.m. • May 16: Cyber Seniors @ 10:30 a.m. @ Do Space, 7205 Dodge St. • May 16: Family Night Karaoke with Josh @ 6 p.m. • May 22: Birthday celebration with music sponsored by the Merrymakers during lunch. • May 24: Bid Whist tournament from 4 to 6 p.m. • May 29: Thrifty Days @ the Salvation Army @ 10:30 a.m. The center will be closed on Memorial Day. Play bingo on Wednesdays and Fridays @ 1 p.m. unless another event is planned. Enjoy Movement with Tisha Tuesday and Friday @ 10:45 a.m. unless another event is planned. The Heartland Generations Center is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lunch is normally served at noon. A $3.50 donation is suggested for the meal. Reservations are due by noon the business day prior to the lunch you wish to attend. Bus transportation is available within select neighborhoods for 50 cents each way. For meal reservations and more information, please call 402-553-5300.

Omaha Area Hearing Loss Association The Omaha Area Hearing Loss Association of America, a support group for hard of hearing adults, will next meet on Tuesday, May 8 at Dundee Presbyterian Church, 5312 Underwood Ave. Participants are asked to enter the church on the Happy Hollow Blvd. (east) side. The 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. meeting will feature social time and a speaker. For more information, please contact Beth Ellsworth at beth.ellsworth@ nebraska.gov or Verla Hamilton at 402-558-6449.

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May 2018

Discover how Alexa can make life easier

he Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing (FPCIW) recently announced the results of its six-month Amazon Alexa pilot with residents at San Diego’s Carlsbad By the Sea retirement community. The project demonstrates the potential benefits of applications and technologies controlled primarily by speaking – known as “Voice First” technologies – specifically for older adults. “The Amazon Alexa pilot was an enormous success as it promoted an increase in independence and engagement among residents,” said Davis Park, director of the FPCIW. “The value of Voice First technologies such as Amazon Alexa to address the needs of older adults is clear from the pilot’s results.” Launched in February 2017, the Amazon Alexa pilot started with 15 homes and aimed to better understand how voice assistance and home automation technology may help promote greater convenience, independence, and wellbeing in the lives of older adults. FPCIW designed the pilot based on initial focus group feedback and interest in Amazon Alexa and other Voice First technology. The retirement community residents’ responses to the post-pilot surveys reflected high satisfaction and engagement levels in using Amazon Alexa: • 75 percent used their smart devices at least once a day. • 100 percent of respondents felt their device helped make life easier. • 71 percent felt more connected to family, friends, and the community than before the start of the Alexa pilot. • 82 percent reported that using a smart plug/lamp with Alexa was “very easy”.

vide better care and improve communication with older adults.

mazon Alexa is a cloud-based voice service that powers devices like the Amazon Echo. Amazon Alexa performs a wide range of functions such as playing music, controlling smart home devices, calling and messaging, providing news and weather updates, as well as managing daily reminders, timers, or alarms. One objective of the pilot sought to determine whether Alexa devices facilitate effective and convenient solutions to help staff, family members, and caregivers pro-

uring the six-month pilot, the FPCIW organized twice a month Alexa 101 workshops for the retirement community residents, staff, and caregivers to understand and utilize Amazon Alexa. Older adults, ranging in age from 79 to 100, provided their feedback across three group sessions. These sessions produced a dialogue of older adults’ valuable questions, comments, and suggestions. Surveys were also distributed to residents that demonstrated the impact of Voice First technology and its capabilities. The Echo Dot devices were installed in 12 resident homes, with residents and staff receiving training on using Amazon Alexa. The retirement community’s technology committee played a key role in overseeing the installation of the Echo Dot devices for the residents, provided troubleshooting and technical assistance to the users, and helped expand the adoption of the technology to 90 homes in the community. According to surveys collected after Phase One, the following top uses of the devices were: • Weather and temperature (87 percent), alarm and timers (53 percent), music, date, and time (40 percent), news (27 percent), and searching for information (20 percent). “I have a genetic tremor, so entering data is a pain. The ability to speak a command and get something to happen is a wonderful thing,” a survey respondent said. “Yes, we have learned to write, how to type, how to use a computer, but voice is the first and will be there forever, and that’s what Alexa offers us – it’s a natural thing,” said another project participant. Phase Two began in June 2017 and introduced smart home integration including house lights, thermostats, and appliances connected to a smart outlet. As an outcome of the pilot’s findings, FPCIW believes that given appropriate program design, community participation, and leadership involvement, Voice First solutions such as Amazon Alexa have tremendous potential in facilitating the independence and wellbeing of older adults. (The Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing provided this information.)

Elder Access Line

Florence AARP chapter

Legal Aid of Nebraska operates a free telephone access line for Nebraskans age 60 and older. Information is offered to help the state’s older men and women with questions on topics like bankruptcy, homestead exemptions, collections, powers of attorney, Medicare, Medicaid, grandparent rights, and Section 8 housing. The telephone number for the Elder Access Line is 402-827-5656 in Omaha and 1-800-5277249 statewide. This service is available to Nebraskans age 60 and older regardless of income, race, or ethnicity. For more information, log on to http://www.legalaidofnebraska.com/EAL.

The Florence AARP chapter meets monthly at Mountview Presbyterian Church, 5308 Hartman Ave. The programs begin each month with a noon lunch followed by a speaker. For reservations, please call Gerry Goldsborough at 402-571-0971. Rides to the meeting are available by calling Ruth Kruse at 402-453-4825. Here are the programs through August:

• May 21 Mickey Wilroth & Water Garrow Impersonations • June 18 Theresa Jordan/CareMatrix • July 16 Dr. Gabriel Long AWAKEN Chiropractic • August 20: Johnny Ray Gomez Music with Humor

May 2018

New Horizons New Horizons is the official publication of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging. The paper is distributed free to people over age 60 in Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Washington, and Cass counties. Those living outside the 5-county region may subscribe for $5 annually. Address all correspondence to: Jeff Reinhardt, Editor, 4780 S. 131st Street, Omaha, NE 68137-1822. Phone 402-444-6654. FAX 402-444-3076. E-mail: jeff.reinhardt@nebraska.gov Advertisements appearing in New Horizons do not imply endorsement of the advertiser by the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging. However, complaints about advertisers will be reviewed and, if warranted, their advertising discontinued. Display and insert advertising rates available on request. Open rates are commissionable, with discounts for extended runs. Circulation is 20,000 through direct mail and freehand distribution.

Editor....................................................Jeff Reinhardt Ad Mgr................Mitch Laudenback, 402-444-4148 Contributing Writers......Nick Schinker, Leo Biga, & Lois Friedman ENOA Board of Governors: Mary Ann Borgeson, Douglas County, chairperson; Lisa Kramer, Washington County, vice-chairperson; Janet McCartney, Cass County, secretary; David Saalfeld, Dodge County, & Jim Warren, Sarpy County The New Horizons and the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging provide services without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, disability, or age.

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Fontenelle Tours

Omaha/Council Bluffs

712-366-9596

Quoted prices are per person, double occupancy. For more information about our tours, please call Ward or Kathy Kinney at Fontenelle Tours at the number listed above.

Motorcoach Missouri Wine Country. July 19 - 21. $559. Enjoy wine-tasting at four Missouri wineries including Stone Hill Winery and Vintage Restaurant in Hermann, Blumenhof Winery, Chez Trappeur Wine Bar & Bistro, Van Till Family Farm Winery, also Arrow Rock Historical Village, the musical “Footloose” at Arrow Rock’s Lyceum Theater, plus lunch and a tour at the historical Elms Hotel in Excelsior Springs. “Mamma Mia!” at the New Theater. July 28. $135. ($145 after 5/28/18). On the eve of her wedding, a daughter’s quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother’s past to the door of the church. Featuring the #1 hits of the legendary group ABBA including “Dancing Queen”, “Knowing Me-Knowing You”, “Take a Chance on Me”, and many more. Arrow Rock, Clydesdales, and Chuck Wagon Dinner Show. August 9 - 11. $535. ($565 after 5/15/18). See the Budweiser Clydesdales at Warm Springs Ranch, enjoy a Chuckwagon Wild West Dutch Oven Dinner Show, “The 39 Steps” play at Arrow Rock’s Lyceum Theater, lunch at Les Bourgeois Vineyards, Columbia’s Candy Factory, a Jamesport Amish Farm tour and lunch, and the village of Arrow Rock, an entire village designated a National Historic Landmark. Branson Christmas. November 5 – 8. $719. ($759 after 8/20/18). Enjoy the Legends in Concert (Elton John, Brooks & Dunn, Tina Turner, The Blues Brothers, and Elvis), Daniel O’Donnell, The Hughes Brothers, “Samson” at the Sight & Sound Theater, Hot Rods & High Heels, and Million Dollar Quartet.

Laughlin Laughlin in May. May 21 - 25. $339. Five days – four nights. Includes non-stop, round-trip airfare to Laughlin, Nevada, four nights lodging at the Riverside Resort and Casino on the banks of the Colorado River, and shuttle transportation to and from the airport. Entertainment during this trip includes Desperado – a Tribute to the Eagles at the Riverside Resort. Laughlin in July. July 9 - 13. $329. Five days – four nights. Includes non-stop, round-trip airfare to Laughlin, Nevada, four nights lodging at the Riverside Resort and Casino on the banks of the Colorado River, and shuttle transportation to and from the airport. Entertainment during this trip includes The Big Band Theory at the Riverside Resort.

In Partnership with Collette Vacations Quoted prices are per person, double occupancy, and do include airfare. More destinations available! Canadian Rockies & Glacier National Park. Mid July 2018. Call for details. Spotlight London Holiday. December 2018. Call for details. Iceland’s Magical Northern Lights. Early March 2019. Call for details. Watch New Horizons and our website www.fontenelletours.com for our trip schedule. 11808 Mason Plaza, Omaha, NE 68154

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More information available online May 1

Elder Justice Training program set for June 12 via web streaming at locations across Nebraska

he State Unit on Aging within the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and the Nebraska State Bar Association’s Elder Law Section are co-sponsoring training on a variety of topics ranging from caregiving and respite to financial exploitation issues impacting guardianships and conservatorships. The training will also address the Medicaid eligibility process and the Nebraska Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention efforts. The 2018 Elder Justice Training will be held on Tuesday, June 12 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:55 p.m. at the NET studio in Lincoln. The training will also be offered via web streaming at 12 locations across the state and on personal computers.

his free training is open to staff from the state’s eight Area Agencies on Aging (including the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging), staff at longterm care facilities, Adult Protective Services staff, Senior Companion Program volunteers, Foster Grandparent Program volunteers, Ombudsman Advocate Program volunteers, attorneys, bankers, law enforcement officers, medical professionals, and personnel from other organizations across Nebraska. Continuing Education Credits for nursing will be provided upon request through Iowa Western Community College. Continuing Legal Education Credits are also available to attorneys through the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Commission. More information, including the agenda, registration form, and web streaming locations will be available online May 1 at www.dhhs.ne.gov/agingtraining.

Duke University researchers reviewing a new treatment for macular degeneration

uke University researchers have pinpointed a new therapeutic target for macular degeneration, an eye disease that affects over 10 million Americans. It’s the leading cause of blindness in men and women over age 60. Clinical trials have shown that injection of human umbilical stem cells, or hUTC, into the retina helps preserve and restore vision in macular degeneration patients. However, the underlying mechanisms behind the therapy remain unknown. The findings, published online in the Journal of Neuroscience, show hUTC treatment preserves the function of a retinal cell called the Müller glia in rats with degenerative vision loss. “This provides strong evidence that Müller glia are important therapeutic targets for treating degenerative eye diseases,” said Sehwon Koh, Ph.D., the paper’s lead author and a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Cagla Eroglu, Ph.D., an associate professor of cell biology and neurobiology at the Duke University Medical Center. Retinas are built of a stack of different types of neurons, each connected by synapses that transmit signals from photoreceptors to the brain. Long, tree-shaped cells called Müller glia span the entire thickness of the retina, wrapping their branches around neurons to support their health and encourage the development of synapses. Macular degeneration involves both the death of photoreceptor neurons – the classic rods and cones that capture light and convert it into an electric signal – and the loss of neural synapses within the retina. Though age is the biggest risk factor for macular degeneration, genetics, race, and lifestyle choices such as smoking also play a role. The Duke University scientists first examined the retinas of young rats that were genetically predisposed to an eye disease

May 2018

which causes progressive blindness similar to a disorder called retinitis pigmentosa in humans. They found the neural synapses within the retina began to deteriorate even before the photoreceptors started to die. As the number of neural synapses declined, the Müller glia also became sickly, pulling their branches away from neurons and dividing haphazardly. When the researchers injected human umbilical stem cells behind the retinas of these rats, the Müller glia remained healthy, as did the neural synapses. The treatment succeeded in preserving the majority of the rats’ vision and stopped the photoreceptors from dying. “Previous studies primarily focused on neurons and the retinal pigment epithelium cells as culprits in degeneration,” said Eroglu, who is also a member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences (DIBS). “Müller glia were not considered an important player in the early stages of retinal degeneration and were not thought to be an important target for hUTC treatment, but our findings suggested otherwise.” To test whether the Müller glia were truly the key players in the synaptic loss, the team used a gene-editing technique to remove a specific gene from Müller glia cells. Deleting this gene is known to cause retinal degeneration, but its function in Müller glia has never been explored. Without this gene, the Müller glia were defective and bore striking similarities to those in rats that had developed retinitis pigmentosa. In addition, the neural connections within retinas of these rats were malformed, mimicking the problems seen in early stages of retinal degeneration. “What we are seeing here is that Müller glia are important players in retinal health,” Eroglu said. “They are impaired in disease, and effective cellular therapies should target not only other retinal cell types but these cells as well.”

Policy brief urges nurses to increase role when promoting patients’ health literacy

he American Academy of Nursing released its policy brief recently urging nurses to have an increased role in enhancing health literacy for patients. Health literacy is a precursor to health and is broadly defined as an individual’s ability to have control over his or her health. It also includes a patient’s ability to access, comprehend, understand, and use health information for this purpose. Patients that have low health literacy are more likely to experience poorer overall health status, and health literacy is acknowledged as one of the social determinants of health. Lower health literacy is prevalent among older adults, the poor, the chronically sick, and ethnic minorities. Despite the linkages between low health literacy and poorer health outcomes, promoting health literacy for patients hasn’t been a priority. “The Academy publishes this timely policy brief to call on nurses to engage in health literacy activities for patient empowerment,” said Academy President Karen Cox, PhD, RN, FAAN. “Health literacy activities are well-aligned with the Academy’s mission and strategic plan, and aids in our work with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and others on creating a Culture of Health.” “Research into consequences of, and solutions to mitigate, low health literacy are widely available, but seriously underutilized,” said Lori A. Loan, PhD, RN, FAAN, a member of the Academy’s Expert Panel on Quality Health Care. “Nurses as leaders are uniquely positioned to minimize the gap that often exists between patient skills and abilities and the increasingly complex demands of health care systems by implementing a health literacy universal precau-

tions approach with every patient, every time, and in every health care encounter.” The Academy recommends focusing on three major domains to reduce health literacy disparities and to increase empowerment of patients: practice, systems of care, and partnerships.

Coping with ambiguous loss is topic of May 5 workshop

Saturday, May 5 workshop is designed to help family caregivers deal with a challenge that often faces those caring for loved ones. Participants will have an opportunity to discover ways to cope with “ambiguous loss” and deal with the feelings they experience when a loved one is physically present, but there’s a psychological absence. This can occur when a loved one has dementia or a traumatic brain injury. Ambiguous loss can also result when there’s a psychological presence but a physical absence, such as in an adoption or when grown children move away. The 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. session will explore topics such as what family means, how to develop resiliency, and how to become more comfortable dealing with the uncertainty associated with ambiguous loss. Nancy Flaherty, MS, president of Omaha’s Flaherty Senior Consulting and a certified dementia practitioner, will be the workshop’s presenter. The workshop will take place at the Servite Center of Compassion, 7400 Military Ave. To sign up for the session, please contact Sister Margaret Stratman at 402951-3026 or email scc@osms.org.

Paint-A-Thon Need your

Phone 211 for an application, or pick one up at any Wells Fargo Bank also at Connections Area Agency on Aging in Council Bluffs. For more information, call

Paint-A-Thon at 402-965-9169 Brush Up Nebraska is a privately funded program

You’re invited to visit the Dora Bingel Senior Center, 923 N. 38th St., this month for the following: • May 2, 4, 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 25, & 30: Ceramics @ 9 a.m. • May 2: Holy Communion served @ 10 a.m. • May 7, 14, 21, & 28: Al-Anon meeting @ 7 p.m. • May 14: Book Club @ 10 a.m. • May 16: Foot care clinic from 9 a.m. to noon. Make an appointment by calling 392-1818. • May 16: The Merrymakers present music by Michael Gurciullo @ 11:30 a.m. Lunch is $3. • May 25: Hard of Hearing Support group @ 10:30 a.m. • May 30: Birthday party luncheon @ noon. Eat free if you have a May birthday. A nutritious lunch is served on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. A $1 donation is suggested for the meals, other than $3 for Merrymakers. Round-trip transportation is available for $3. Reservations are required 24 hours in advance for all meals. Other activities offered at the facility include: Tuesday: Joy Club Devotions @ 10 a.m. and a matinee @ 12:30 p.m. Wednesday: Devotions @ 10:30 a.m.; Tai Chi @ 11 a.m., bingo @ 12:30 p.m., and Bible study at 12:30 p.m. Friday: Joy Club devotions @ 9:30 a.m. and bingo @ 12:30 p.m. For more information, please call 402-898-5854.

WHITMORE LAW OFFICE Wills • Trusts • Probate

Ask A Lawyer: Q — What is the difference between a Living Trust and a Living Will? A — A Living Trust is about your property and finances. It takes care of your assets, both while you’re alive and after your death, and makes sure your wishes are carried out. A trust can avoid the need for a court-appointed conservator if you are disabled and can help avoid probate if you die. A Living Will is a directive to healthcare providers about your medical wishes. It makes sure that if you are not capable of speaking for yourself, your wishes are known and will be carried out.

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You could have your home painted at absolutely no cost, by volunteers from area businesses, congregations, and service clubs. If you live in Douglas and Sarpy counties or Council Bluffs, are 60 or over, or are permanently disabled at any age, and meet financial guidelines, you could qualify.

Dora Bingel Senior Center

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Thursday, May 24

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Individuals asked to call APS hotline Some differences between Medicare, Medicaid hile the terms Medicare and will cover is dependent upon the benefiif they suspect cases of elder abuse Medicaid sound similar, there are ciary’s need for skilled care.

haron is an 83-year-old retired Omaha schoolteacher who lives alone, never married, and has no children. Recently, a man – claiming to be the educator’s son – accompanied Sharon to three local banks where she tried unsuccessfully each time to cash a $40,000 check. This fictitious scenario is an example of the type of elder abuse cases investigated by Adult Protective Services (APS), a program of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Adult Protective Services learned about Sharon when one of her friends placed a telephone call to the APS hotline (1-800-652-1999). The hotline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. Elder abuse refers to intentional or negligent acts by an individual that harms a vulnerable (has a mental and/or a functional impairment) older man or woman. The most common types of abuse are physical, financial, sexual, and self-neglect, according to Pam Moriarty, a supervisor in APS’ Omaha office. Each year, Adult Protective Services handles approximately 3,000 elder abuse cases across Nebraska, including 1,000 in the Douglas-Sarpy County area. Experts estimate as many as five million older Americans are abused each year. It’s believed, however, that only one in six of these men or women report the abuse. Gina Mack, an APS supervisor in the Omaha office, said in some cases, elder abuse victims don’t report the abuse because they’re afraid they might have to leave their home, may not want to turn in their relative or caregiver, and fear the possible loss of their civil rights (living independently, making financial decisions, voting, etc.). Adult Protective Services becomes involved when it receives a call to its hotline from a concerned citizen, a mandatory reporter, or a law enforcement officer about a potentially abusive situation. When appropriate, Moriarty said one of APS’ 31 investigators will look into the matter to determine if the alleged victim is vulnerable and if they’ve been abused, neglected, or exploited. During the course of an investigation APS will work with law enforcement officers and the court system, make referrals to community resources, and may arrange for food, clothing, and shelter for the elder abuse victim. APS encourages individuals to call its hotline or contact law enforcement if they suspect a vulnerable older adult has been abused, neglected, or exploited, according to Mack. “Don’t try to put the burden of proof on yourself,” she said. Warning signs of elder abuse may include unexplained injuries, not taking medications properly, withdrawal from normal activities, and sudden changes in a person’s financial situation. In January 2018, the APS hotline received 373 calls. Of that total, 65 led to an investigation. Moriarty said cases aren’t investigated for a variety of reasons, the most common being when it’s determined the older adult involved is able to understand the consequences of his or her actions and decisions. In addition to calling law enforcement or the APS hotline when they suspect elder abuse, individuals can fight back by staying in contact with older relatives, friends, and neighbors to build a social network that decreases social isolation, a major risk factor for elder abuse. Mack said an APS investigation is successful when the abuse victim is safe and living in the least restrictive environment possible.

n June 15, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) will be held around the world. WEADD – which began is 2006 – is designed to raise awareness of the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older adults. Locally, APS and the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging will hand out materials at area farmers markets, to Meals on Wheels recipients, and to Rural Transportation Program passengers. In addition, Moriarty will be featured on Radio Talking Book, and for the third consecutive year, the WoodmenLife building in downtown Omaha will be lit up in purple on June 15. For more information about World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, log on the Internet to dhhs.ne.gov/WEADD.

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distinct differences between the two, and depending on the setting where they’re used, there are distinct differences in how they’re used. For purposes of this article, we’ll focus on Medicare and Medicaid in the skilled nursing and long-term care settings. Before we jump into the differences between Medicare and Medicaid, let’s first define the differences between skilled nursing and long-term care. Skilled nursing means care in a nursing facility that meets federal criteria to provide Medicare benefits. Longterm care in a nursing facility refers to a continuum of medical and social services designed to support the needs of people living with chronic health problems. Medicare Part A is a federal benefit that people receive when they’re age 65 and older and have worked more than 30 quarters in their lifetime, are under age 65 and receiving Social Security disability benefits, or anyone diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease) or end-stage renal disease. Medicare Part A doesn’t cover long-term care in a nursing home. It will cover a qualified skilled nursing stay in a nursing home for up to 100 days per benefit period. A benefit period is based on the requirements determined by Medicare. To receive skilled nursing services, a person must have a three-night in-patient (not out-patient) qualifying hospital stay and have a skilled care need such as skilled nursing services, physical, or other types of therapy. A common misconception is that Medicare Part A will pay for 100 days in a skilled nursing facility. The days Medicare Part A

Medicare Part A pays 100 percent of the first 20 days of a qualified skilled nursing stay. For days 21 to 100, there’s a co-insurance charge of $167.50 per day. Medicare Part A co-insurance can change yearly. Coinsurance can be covered by supplemental insurance, secondary insurance, or private pay. A benefit period is up to 100 days. A new benefit period begins after the person has had 60 well days. That means they haven’t been in the hospital or in post-acute care for 60 consecutive days. Medicare Part A doesn’t pay the costs for days in a skilled nursing facility after day 100 or after there’s no longer a qualifying need for skilled nursing. The Nebraska Medicaid Program pays for covered medical services for persons unable to afford medically necessary services and who meet certain eligibility requirement such as being age 65 or older, receiving Social Security disability benefits, or who are blind. In addition, beneficiaries must meet certain other requirements such as: Being a U.S. citizen or meeting certain immigration rules, a resident of the state where they apply for Social Security, or they have a Social Security number. If eligible, Medicaid will pay for room and board in a nursing home and some of the care costs. Depending on how much income a beneficiary has, they may have to pay part of the cost of the care received. This is known as a share of cost. For more Medicaid information, call 402595-1178 or (toll free) 855-632-7633. (The Florence Home provided this information.)

UNO focus group finds assisted living facility residents want additional spiritual services By Timothy Terrell

pugnaro said there have been difficulties locating reRecently, master’s degree ligious organizations willing students from the University and able to hold religious services at the facility. of Nebraska at Omaha’s Residents said they’d Grace Abbott School of Social Work conducted a focus like more religious services group at Omaha’s St. Joseph held at the south Omaha site. Some of the residents Tower Assisted Living – 2205 S. 10th St. – to address would like to attend Baptist or Lutheran services. Other the needs of the facility’s residents would like the residents. Catholic rosary said every The residents expressed a critical need for improved morning. As the focus group’s spiritual services. Residents facilitators, the UNO social within the focus group work students suggested ranged from age 66 to 95 with a strong diversity com- using spiritual life maps, which are drawings telling ponent. the story of the individual Of the eight residents atcreating the map. Each tending the session, 90 percent were unhappy with the drawing represents a life changing event or traumatic limited number of spiritual services offered at the facil- experience. The maps are used to identify coping ity. St. Joseph Tower only offers Catholic and Jehovah skills used by that person. Each resident said the rest Witnesses services. The of his or her life would be Catholic services include Wednesday Mass and twice happier if they could have one of these spiritual needs a month, the rosary is said. Jehovah Witnesses represen- meant. According to the Huffingtatives visit once a week for ton Post, it’s important for bible study. older adults to look back on St. Joseph Tower Activilife as a spiritual journey to ties Director Maria Sam-

May 2018

appreciate paths taken and not taken, and for experiences gained and lost. The article said that while life eventually comes to an end, that end doesn’t have to be feared. St. Joseph Tower residents use the religious services to cope with depression and anxiety. One of the focus group’s undertones was that each resident had recently experienced a deep depression. Much of their depression was caused by the stresses of aging, family challenges, facility challenges, and/or world news. These men and women utilized their own religious and spiritual practices to maintain hope for a better tomorrow. The session with the UNO students ended with each older adult discussing the personal struggles his or her spiritual practices helped them conquer. (Terrell is a master’s degree student in the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Grace Abbott School of Social Work.)

Read it & eat By Lois Friedman readitandeat@yahoo.com

Recipes for Cinco de Mayo Everything for Cinco de Mayo! Recipes for celebrating this holiday. These cookbooks are for delicious treats. Buenos Nachos! By Gina Hamadey (Dovetail Press, $25) Celebrity chefs share more than 75 favorite recipes in this colorful, serape decorated cookbook. Use the Buenos Nachos! guide to celebrate delicious eating. From Ten Speed Press: Queso! By Lisa Fain ($15) Also called Chile con Queso. Tex-Mex Classics, On the Border, Quirky Queso and Wild Queso. Fifty-five recipes from this award-winning Texan. An unbelievable array. GuerrilLA Tacos By Wesley Avila ($30) From the streets of Los Angeles, capture the flavors, textures, and colors piled on five-inch tortillas. This food truck expert shares cooking taco tales with lots of colorful photographs. From Gibbs-Smith: Big Dips By James Bradford, ($14.99) Cheese, Salsa, Pesto, Hummus, and Sour Cream chapters. From Avocado Feta Hummus to Watermelon Salsa. One recipes to a page with a photo format for big treats. Eat More Tortillas By Donna Kelly & Stephanie Ashcraft. ($16.99) Baked, fried, rolled, folded, wrapped, stuffed, cheesy, messy, flour, corn, wheat, and even sweet tortillas. From Appetizers to Desserts. Try this crowd pleaser recipe for summertime fun.

Grow shade-tolerant plants in your garden By Melinda Myers A shady spot provides welcome relief from the summer heat; but it can make growing a beautiful garden a bit more challenging. Take heart, your landscape may receive more sunlight than you suspect and if not, there are many shade-tolerant plants you can grow. Evaluating the sun and shade patterns throughout the day, season, and year is a good place to start. Sun-loving bulbs need lots of sun early in the season before most trees leaf out, while other plants need sunlight throughout the growing season. If you work all day, you may assume those shady spots in the morning and evening never light up, so take some time to evaluate the sun and shade conditions throughout the season. Make a list of plants you have had success with and those that failed in the shady location. Use these to help select or avoid plants with similar light requirements. For example, if peonies bloom and tomatoes produce fruit this area receives quite a bit of sunlight, perhaps more than you thought. If your landscape is too shady to grow the plants you desire, try increasing the sunlight reaching ground

level plantings. Hire a certified arborist to thin the overhead tree canopy. They have the training and experience to do the job safely and correctly. You don’t want to damage the health and structure of established trees, so critical to the beauty of your landscape. If there’s too much shade to grow even shade-loving plants, consider mulch to keep the mud in place, permeable pavers, and a table or chair for relaxing, or a few steppers and moss to create a moss garden. Once you’ve made your selections and planted your garden, you need to adjust the care to compensate for the limited light conditions. Plants growing under large trees or overhangs need to be watered more often, especially the first year or two until they become established. The dense canopy of many trees and impervious overhangs prevent rainfall from reaching the ground below. Plus, the extensive root systems of trees and shrubs absorb much of the rainfall that makes it through, so check soil moisture several times a week and water thoroughly as needed. Tree and shrub roots can also compete with plantings for nutrients. Use a low nitrogen, slow release fertilizer like Milorganite (milorganite.com) that promotes steady above and below ground growth. The 85 percent organic material further helps improve the soil. Apply slow release fertilizers at planting and once again for annuals mid-season. Fertilize new and established perennials in early spring and again in mid-summer as needed. Avoid high nitrogen, quick release fertilizers that promote lush succulent growth that is more susceptible to insects and diseases. And with limited light as a potential plant stressor, this can increase the risk of problems. When planting under or near trees be careful not to kill them when creating your shade garden. Adding as little as an inch of soil over the roots can kill some tree species. Deep cultivation can damage the feeder roots critical for water and nutrient absorption since the majority grow within the top 12 inches of soil. (Myers has written more than 20 gardening books.)

Green Chile Turkey Tortilla Casserole (Makes 6-8 servings)

3 cups chopped cooked turkey 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles, with liquid 3/4 cup chicken broth 2 (10.75-ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup 1 medium onion, chopped 8 to 10 medium gordita-style flour tortillas 2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese, divided Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the turkey, chiles, broth, soup, and onion. Prepare a 9 x 13inch pan with nonstick cooking spray and cover the bottom with half of the tortillas. Spread half the turkey mixture over the tortilla layer. Sprinkle half the cheese over top. Repeat layers. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly and heated through.

The New Horizons is brought to you each month by the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging

NARFE

he National Active and Retired Federal Employees’ Chapter 144 meets the first Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. at the Amazing Pizza Machine, 13955 S Plz. For more information, please call 402-292-1156.

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees’ Aksarben Chapter 1370 meets the second Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. at the Amazing Pizza Machine, 13955 S Plz. For more information, please call 402-342-4351.

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Preserving life’s memories

Ombudsman program

ife is like a tapestry, woven from memories of people and events. Your unique tapestry reminds you of who you are, where you’ve been, and what you’ve done. In the early stages of the disease, individuals with Alzheimer’s disease have difficulty making new memories, but memories from early in life are often relatively preserved. Sadly, Alzheimer’s disease gradually takes these memories. If you’re caring for a loved one who has Alzheimer’s, you can help him or her manage the onset of memory loss by creating a tangible bank of memories. A memory box or bank might also help reduce feelings of depression which can occur with dementia. Memories can be preserved in many ways. You can: • Keep an electronic or online folder with photos and mementos from your loved one’s life, including photos of family members. • Write down descriptions of important events in your loved one’s life. • Create a scrapbook or special box with photos, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards, greeting cards, sketches, poetry, and musical verses. • Make a video or audio recording of personal stories. Another great way to preserve memories is to interview your loved one. Start by reminiscing with your loved one about his or her family history, traditions, and celebrations. Often, childhood games, homes, and pets are good opening topics — especially as Alzheimer’s progresses and your loved one has trouble remembering recent events. You might also talk about favorite sports, books, music, hobbies, as well as cultural or historical events. Depending on the status of your loved one’s memory, you might also want to interview neighbors, friends, and family members. Other sources of information might include important papers or personal letters. Consider making copies of anything precious for safekeeping. Keep these helpful hints in mind when adding photos and documents to a memory box: • Use a jar or a special box instead of a photo album. Photo albums that are closed or tucked away might be hard to find. Also, don’t use a generic plastic container with a lid. Your loved one might not remember what’s inside. • Older photos are often best. What age is your loved one living in his or her mind? You’ll want to include plenty of pictures from that time. One exception is photos of grandkids. • Every picture tells a story. Write that story as a caption for each photo. Include the names of anyone in the picture and the date, if possible. Once you create your loved one’s memory bank, use it. Pull out photos and other items throughout the day to remind the person of special relationships, events, and places. By documenting your loved one’s life story, you can affirm the positive things he or she has done and, possibly, can still do. Even after your loved one’s memories fade, creating this kind of treasury shows you value and respect his or her legacy — and it can help remind you who your loved one was before Alzheimer’s disease.

he Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging is looking for men and women age 18 and older to join its Long-term Care Ombudsman Program which is co-sponsored by the Nebraska State Ombudsman Program. ENOA’s Long-term Care Ombudsmen volunteer in local long-term care facilities and assisted living communities to protect the residents’ rights, well-being, and quality of life. Long-term Care Ombudsmen must complete 20 hours of initial classroom training and 12 hours of additional training every two years. During the training, the volunteers learn about the residents’ rights, aging issues, Medicare, Medicaid, communication skills, how to investigate the residents’ complaints, the importance of confidentiality, and about the federal and state rules, regulations, and laws regarding Nebraska’s long-term care facilities and assisted living communities. Before being assigned to a long-term care facility or an assisted living community, new volunteers will make four visits to a site with an experienced Ombudsman Advocate to learn more about what the program entails. After a three-month probationary period, the new volunteers are certified as Ombudsman Advocates. Certified Ombudsman Advocates will be assigned to a long-term care facility or an assisted living community where they’ll visit for two hours a week to meet with administrators, residents, and the residents’ family members to address concerns. For more information about ENOA’s Long-term Care Ombudsman Program, please call Beth Nodes at 402-444-6536.

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Nebraska Farmers Market coupons During June, older Nebraskans meeting income and age guidelines are eligible to receive $48 in coupons that can be exchanged for fresh produce sold at Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) certified Nebraska farmers’ market stands. The SFMNP – administered by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services’ State Unit of Aging – provides fresh, nutritious, locally-grown fruits, vegetables, and herbs. The program also increases consumption of the state’s produce. To be eligible, coupon recipients must be age 60 or older and have an annual income less than $22,459 for a single person or less than $30, 451 for a two-person household. Recipients will be given 16 coupons worth $3 each (a total value of $48) that can be used through Oct. 31, 2018 at certified vendors for locally-grown produce. Only one set of coupons will be issued per household. The program’s appropriations are limited, therefore, not everyone requesting coupons will receive them. The produce coupons will be distributed on various days in June at the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s senior centers. Each center will distribute the coupons at a specific date and time. Most distributions will occur during the first two weeks of June, therefore it’s important to contact your senior center manager at the end of May or the beginning of June for information regarding the date and time your center has scheduled to distribute the coupons. More information is available at the ENOA senior centers. A complete list of these facilities can be found online at enoa.org by clicking on Programs and then the Senior Centers link.

Millard Senior Center You’re invited to visit the Millard Senior Center at Montclair, 2304 S. 135th Ave., this month for the following: • May 2: We’ll make little girl sun dresses to send to Africa @ 9 a.m. • May 3: Questions & Answers about ENOA’s programs and services @ 10:45 a.m. • May 7: Rich, a volunteer with the Henry Doorly Zoo, will discuss new additions at the zoo @ 11 a.m. • May 9: Board meeting @ 9:45 a.m. • May 11: Treat Day. Bring a treat to share. • May 11: Music with Michael Gurciullo @10 a.m. • May 14: Free zoo trip @ 9 a.m. Sign up by May 4. • May 16: P.A.W.S @ 10 a.m. • May 17: VNA program on Why do I worry about falling? @ 10:45 a.m. • May 22: Wear purple for Peace Day. • May 30: National Macaroon Day. The facility will be closed on Memorial Day. The center is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch is served @ 11:30 a.m. A $3.50 donation is suggested for the meal. Reservations are due by noon the business day prior to the meal the participant wishes to enjoy. For reservations or more information, call 402-546-1270.

Notre Dame Housing/Seven Oaks Center You’re invited to visit the Notre Dame Housing/Seven Oaks Senior Center, 3439 State St. for the following: • Second, third, & fourth Friday: Community Food Pantry @ 11 a.m. • Second & fourth Tuesday: Get banking help as a representative from American National Bank visits @ 10 a.m. • Third Wednesday: Community Food Pantry from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. • May 9: Cooking demonstration on Green Apples Nachos with No More Empty Pots. • May 10: Presentation on fire safety @ 1:30 p.m. • May 17: Expand Your Horizons program on Death Penalty Part II: Current Legal Challenges @ 7 p.m. • May 24: Presentation by the National Able Network on mature workers @ 1:30 p.m. Notre Dame Housing/Seven Oaks Senior Center is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Lunch is served at noon. A $3.50 contribution is suggested for the meal. Reservations are due by 11 a.m. the business day prior to the lunch. For meals reservations and more information, please call 402-451-4477, ext. 126.

Assistance for the visually impaired By Kimberly Schnitzer

mericans over age 55 represent the largest percentage of individuals in the blind and visually impaired community. The majority of individuals over age 55 are new to visual impairment. It can be difficult to go through this transition. The person experiencing vision loss may be unsure of how they will continue to perform the tasks of daily living. A person experiencing vision loss may feel their independence is limited because many of the activities they used to do become difficult. The individual may not be able to drive any longer or going to the grocery store can be uncomfortable because they’re no longer able to see the labels on the store items. Vision loss may inhibit the person’s ability to see colors, to match outfits, and to check for spots on clothing. The person new to vision impairment often limits their activities because they don’t know the nonvisual alternatives. The most common causes of vision loss among older people are cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. Although these conditions rarely cause total blindness, they can cause significant impairments to the person’s ability to perform daily tasks. If you have one of these conditions you may experience lack of depth perception, limited central vision, glare or sensitivity

to light, blurred or hazy eyesight, or insufficient available light. Initially this may be very frustrating, but many people receive training to learn ways to complete daily tasks in non-visual ways. If you find yourself experiencing a loss of vision, the American Foundation for the Blind’s website has a variety of resources listed with their associated contact information. The website address is www.afb.org. The Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired offers some training to individuals over age 55 that have experienced significant vision loss. Go online to https://ncbvi.nebraska.gov. The Weigel Williamson Center for Visual Rehabilitation at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha offers training in low vision alternatives. Its website is https://www.unmc.edu/lowvision. Help for persons dealing with vision loss is also available through Outlook Nebraska. Its website address is outlookne.org. Experiencing loss of vision can be scary, but it doesn’t have to stop you from doing many of the activities you’ve always enjoyed. You can maintain your independence, stay in your home, continue to live a full happy life, and participate in most activities you were involved in before your loss of vision by learning a few new skills and techniques to do things non-visually. (Schnitzer is a master’s student in the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Grace Abbott School of Social Work.)

Senate passes bill to help grandparents raising grandkids nited States Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Member Bob Casey (D-PA) recently celebrated the U.S. Senate’s passage of the Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act (S 1091), which would create a federal task force charged with supporting grandparents raising grandchildren as the opioid epidemic increases their numbers. The U.S. House of Representatives must pass the legislation before it becomes law. The bill is cosponsored by a bipartisan group of 15 senators and supported by a wide array of child welfare and aging organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics and AARP. Approximately 2.6 million children are being raised by their grandparents and experts say this number is rising as the opioid epidemic devastates communities across the country. Sens. Collins and Casey, who are both members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, introduced the Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act last year after an Aging

Committee hearing during which witnesses testified about the need for grandparents to have easy access to information about resources available to assist them. “Throughout history, grandparents have stepped in to provide safe and secure homes to their grandchildren, replacing traumatic pasts with loving and hopeful futures. With so many parents struggling with addiction, grandparents are increasingly coming to the rescue and assuming this role. It is essential that we do all that we can to help these families,” Sen. Collins said. “I am pleased the Senate unanimously passed our bipartisan legislation, which would help ensure grandparents who have taken on this caretaker role have access to the resources they need.” “The number of older Americans who are delaying their retirement in order to care for grandchildren is on the rise due to the opioid crisis,” Sen. Casey said. “I am pleased the Senate passed the Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act, which will help thousands of grandparents in Pennsylvania access the resources and support they need to raise their grandchildren. This is another tool we can use to combat the opioid crisis in our communities.”

he Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act would create a federal task force charged with identifying and disseminating information designed to help grandparents raising grandchildren address the challenges they face, which may include navigating the school system, planning for their families’ future, addressing mental health issues for themselves and their grandchildren, and building social and support networks. “This marks an important milestone in the lives of the 2.6 million grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. Thanks to the leadership of Sens. Collins and Casey the Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act will bring attention to the vital role these caregivers play in helping our nation’s children thrive,” said Donna Butts, executive director of Generations United. “The legislation will provide information and help coordinate federal resources during a time relatives are being called on in unprecedented numbers to step in and care for the children of the opioid crisis.” (Sen. Collins’ office provided this information.)

May 2018

Help feed the hungry

Donate some of that unused produce grown in your garden By Melinda Myers

o you always squeeze in an extra tomato plant, another row of beans, or an additional hill of zucchini? It seems like a good idea at the time, until they start to produce all at once. Your family, friends, and co-workers start to hide as you try to pawn off yet another bag of zucchini or tomatoes. Here’s a solution that satisfies your gardening obsession and feeds the hungry in your community. Designate some growing space to a Giving Garden and donate the harvest to your local food pantry. Feeding America reports 41 million Americans struggle with hunger. And many are children and older adults. Gardener’s Supply Company is inviting gardeners to lend a hand and take the “Garden to Give” pledge to grow food to give to those in need. Gardener’s Supply Company surveyed food pantries to find out what types of fruits and veggies people most enjoy eating, and those that store well. You’ll find a simple Giving Garden plan for beets, carrots, cabbage, Swiss chard, kale, and winter squash on their website at gardeners.com. Best of all these late maturing vegetables will be ready for harvest at about the same time, so you can make your donation in one trip. Don’t let a lack of space stop you from participating. Plant a row or container of one or more of these vegetables to share; join forces with a neighbor who may have the space, but only limited time to garden; or gather a few friends and rent a community garden plot. Together you can grow fresh produce and memories to share. Get the children in your life involved in growing and giving. Gardening increases focus, decreases stress, and elevates children’s moods. Giving helps children grow into caring well-rounded adults. Plus, if they grow the vegetables, they’re more likely to eat them. Be sure to capture a few photographs of your donation to inspire others to follow your lead. Starting in August, you can enter Gardener’s Supply’s online “Show What You Share,” photo contest for a chance to win a prize for you and your local food pantry. With the “Garden to Give,” program, everyone who participates is a winner. The real prize is making a difference while doing something you love. Once you’ve experienced the benefits of sharing fresh produce with the hungry in your community, you’re likely to find yourself making regular donations of garden fresh fruits and veggies to those in need and feeling great about it, too. (Myers has written more than 20 gardening books.)

REHAB, RENEW, AND RETURN

HOME

Transitional care at Florence Home Florence Home Healthcare specializes in rehabilitation to help you recover from an illness or injury so you can safely transition back home. To learn more about this service, please call 402-827-6000 and ask to speak to our Client Services Director. WWW.OMAHASENIORCARE.ORG

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Photographer Scholz discovers beauty wherever life takes him

Jim Scholz began making beautiful photographs while attending Omaha’s Cathedral High School.

By Leo Adam Biga Contributing Writer

hey say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Photographer Jim Scholz finds beauty wherever life takes him. The 73-year-old former Roman Catholic priest began making images growing up in Omaha’s St. Cecilia’s Cathedral neighborhood. “I started shooting pictures in high school for the yearbook, and ever since it’s been a real passion and interest for me,” Scholz said. He recalls “the magic of that first print when I put the white piece of (photo) paper in the developer and an image actually came up on it.” It happened in the Cathedral High School darkroom. From that moment on, “I was forever hooked by the magic that this is more than just reality. It’s a powerful thing,” Scholz said. “I started off with a 35-millimeter camera because everybody had one. You could buy the film pretty inexpensively. You could develop the

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film in your own darkroom. I shot with that for a long time.” Jim was born in Cheyenne, Wyo. during the Second World War. His father saw U.S. Army duty in the Pacific Theater. After the war, Scholz’s father took a job with an Omaha company. Jim was age 5 when his family moved here. His father worked management jobs at various Omaha firms. Scholz’s stayat-home mom eventually went back to work in her chosen field, dietetics, at area hospitals. Scholz kept right on developing his photographic eye at a seminary in Denver, Colo., doing graduate work at Creighton University, and serving Omaha parishes as an Archdiocesan priest. Jim doesn’t say it, but there’s a sacred dimension to capturing the essence of humanity and nature. As a priest ministering to his flock, he was called to mirror Christ’s unconditional love and to share the liturgy’s sublime peace. As a photographer, he reflects back what people project or see. Sometimes,

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he shows what they’ve never seen before. Surely, there’s something inspirational, perhaps even spiritual in that. Tom Sitzman, owner of Connect Gallery in Omaha, sees in Jim’s photography the same sensitivity and compassion that infused Scholz’s ministry. “I first knew Jim as my pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Omaha. His homilies were conversations, not lectures, filled with examples of everyday people living everyday lives. Those sitting in the pews could see themselves in those situations of the human condition – funny, sad, enlightening, tragic, and giving – knowing he understood. “His photography is deeply rooted and grounded in Jim the man and the priest. They depict everyday events we too often take for granted. A moonrise over the city. Dark, foreboding storm clouds moving across a still sun-lit hay meadow. An old timber building. Jim knows where to stand to get the feel of size and distance as well as where the light is coming from. They are the works of a well-trained eye that knows how to compose a scene with his camera the way he did with words in a homily.” Scholz ministered in Elgin, Neb. and at St. Bernard’s, St. Cecilia’s, and St. Leo’s parishes in Omaha. The congregation he served longest was at Sacred Heart in north Omaha, where he helped found the Heart Ministry which has grown to serve residents’ needs in the city’s most poverty-stricken neighborhood. “I feel lucky to have been not only in that space but other parishes where I served or other jobs that I worked at,” Scholz said. “When you’re around someplace for a while you’re hopefully going to make a contribution, and I feel good about it when I look back at something that helped people and continues to help people.” Scholz received the 1995 Omaha Archdiocese Sheehan Award (then called the Presidential Citation) recognizing clergy as outstanding leaders in their communities. During his 1981 to 1998 Sacred Heart tenure, he took over an integrated parish in decline, its ranks thinned by white flight from the neighborhood. Mass attendance was abysmal. Gospel music already had a hold there, thanks to Father Tom Furlong who introduced it in the late 1960s and early ’70s. “It was a very conservative, quiet little neighborhood parish,” Scholz recalled. “Most of the members were longtime parishioners, many of them quite elderly. Physically, the place was dilapidated. I felt we had to do something dramatic.” Jim got the idea for more spirited, gospel music-based “uplifting liturgies” from an inner-city parishes conference in Detroit. He was impressed by how churches in similar circumstances turned things around with the help of gospel. He saw the music as a homage to black heritage

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and as a magnet for new members. “What the music said was we are reaching out to your traditions and we’re trying to make you feel comfortable to come to our church,” Scholz said. Jim found a first-rate choir director in Glenn Burleigh, under whom the church’s full-blown entry into gospel began at the Saturday night Mass. Initially, the 10:30 a.m. Sunday liturgy remained ultra-traditional and sparsely attended. “Six months later we’d gone from a Saturday service with 30 to 35 people, with hardly any music, to standing in the aisles full of a wonderful ensemble,” Scholz said. “Glenn wrote special music almost weekly for the service. People started to come out of the woodwork once the word got out. It was such a refreshing thing. We didn’t grow exponentially in black membership, although we did grow some. What we grew in was white membership.” When Burleigh was hired away by a mega-Baptist church in Houston, Jim tapped Burleigh’s assistant, William Tate, to take over. Scholz recruited a new choir director, Mary Kay Mueller, to energize the 10:30 a.m. Sunday service. For inspiration, Jim referred her to The Blues Brothers movie. So, it came to pass the film’s Triple Rock Church became a model for the expressive Sacred Heart liturgy. No, Scholz wasn’t interested in people doing somersaults down the front aisle. But he wanted “to come up with that spirit.” Unbridled, joyous, and free. “We really need to come alive here,” he told Mueller. Thus, the Freedom Choir was born. The rest is history as that rollicking Sunday service packed the pews then and it continues three decades later. All the while as Sacred Heart grew its base, Scholz made photographs. “When I had a little time off, an afternoon, or before I’d go to bed at night, I’d probably spend the last half hour of my waking life that day by reading about photography or studying photographers like Ansel Adams and all these heroes of mine,” he said. “The more you get into it then you start studying other people’s work and you try to emulate what they do and improve what you do. Ansel Adams wrote a series of books on the camera, the lens, photo development, and so on. I checked them out of the library a number of times and studied these things to learn how he developed film and how he arrived at his vision.” Other photographers Scholz has admired and studied include Wynn Bullock and Edward Weston.

im followed his cleric calling for 27 years. After much deliberation and prayer, he shed the collar in 1999. He’s still Catholic and regularly attends Mass. Now, --Please turn to page 11.

Making photos has allowed Jim to see things in a different light

Jim’s photograph of a village by the sea in Vernazza, Italy. --Continued from page 10. he’s nearing 20 years in his second career as a full-time architecture, portrait, and fine art photographer. Scholz describes his own aesthetic this way: “Probably at the baseline is a sense of beauty, whether color, color harmony, composition, or subject. That would be the underlining thing. I love landscapes. I love abstracts, I love people, you name it.” He finds beauty in it all. “There are certain patterns hardwired into the fabric of our beings that produce pleasure, and we declare them beautiful. This is also true of music and other art forms. We are better because of what Michelangelo and Beethoven created and left to us.” For Scholz, ideas for projects are not hard to come by. “I probably have more imagination than time. Every now and then I’ll get cranked up about a certain theme or methodology. I started a project photographing Omaha and Nebraska artists a few years ago. I know a number of artists, and I started taking their pictures. I’m about half way through that and hopefully I’ll have a show.” Jim envisions an exhibition in which each Nebraska artist’s portrait is displayed next to a work by that artist, whether a sculpture, painting, or whatever it might be. “I’ve talked with a couple of gallery owners about it. It might also be a book. We’ll see what happens.” Catherine Ferguson is among the artists Scholz has photographed. He’s also photographed her work. “Jim and I worked together to produce photographs of my stacked glass series,” Ferguson said. “He is a generous artist ready to help another artist see their vision realized. Jim is a patient, calm, (and) gentle perfectionist. He gives me all the time necessary to have the prints exactly as I want them, no hurry, no pressure. I feel he is underrecognized as an artist in our community.” Another artist friend of Scholz’s is Shelly Bartek. “I’ve known Jim from the time he was a priest at Sacred Heart to now where he is a successful national photographer,” Bartek said. “He is an authentic, all-around photographer serving to bring his clients the best quality images that represent

their brand. His personal passion to create art in his work has inspired us all through his concept and technical perfection. “Best of all, he’s a great friend,” she added. About a decade ago, Scholz collaborated with writer Leslie Little on a museum quality book about Paris. “I made the Paris Icons book images during two short visits to the city in 2007,” Scholz said. “It then took several months to edit, lay out, and prepare for print. The result was well-received, and we were awarded three international awards for the publication. It’s always a joy to produce something of beauty that people appreciate.” By choice, Scholz has done little documentary work on the gritty margins of life. “That’s a whole

Scholz’s image of an autumn lake outside Boston, Mass. journalistic approach I respect greatly – it’s just not me. I like to show the best of people.” That includes showcasing the works of makers’ hands. Then there’s the joy he takes in picturing the natural splendor of God’s handiwork. Shooting Opera Omaha rehearsals and productions has deepened a long-held appreciation for music. “It’s really stretched me in terms of my knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the whole operatic canon,” Jim said. “My vision has been broadened.” Photography has opened new vistas for Scholz.

“If I never made another photograph, if I never went click again, I still think my life would be much richer because as I look at the world I see things that before I would never have noticed. The angle of the light, the color, or whatever. There’s a whole bunch of stuff I would never have paid attention to, but the discipline of seeing as a camera sees forces you to see these things,” he said “I can sit at an airport waiting for a plane for two hours and not be bored at all because I’m looking all around, seeing a grandma with little kids, the light coming in the windows, the big airplane rolling up on the tarmac outside. All this stuff.” Cultivating a vision of what he wants to shoot and executing that vision, he said, is a process. “It’s a lot more the work you put into it then the gizmo that goes click. The ultimate satisfaction is the process itself – getting to see things maybe in a unique way and presenting them so that people say, ‘Oh, look at that. I never noticed that. I walked by this every day and never saw it.’ It’s finding what’s interesting. “You’re expressing it from your perspective. You bring a whole life history and all kinds of things to color that,” Jim said.

In 1999, Jim left the Roman Catholic priesthood after 27 years.

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hotographers like Scholz prefer to say they “make” rather than “take” photos. “There’s a distinction, Scholz said. “You see something, and you have a vision of how you want to present it.” Jim saw in his mind’s eye what he wanted to achieve with his portrait of the late sculptor John Walz before ever shooting Walz. “I had a vision of what I wanted to present, so I exposed the film to achieve that, and I printed the print to achieve that.” Walz turned a former Burlington Railroad Station power plant into his home-studio. “I did the photo shoot with him part way through the remodel,” --Please turn to page 12.

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Scholz Images has developed a niche in the commercial photo world --Continued from page 11. Scholz said. “I wanted to show him in his art creation, but we wanted a little mystery, so that’s why his face is a little in shadow.” Contrasting elements can communicate mystery, energy, texture, whimsy, depth of perception, the passage of time, etc. “I like to work with the idea of the human figure and the natural world,” Scholz said. For an image Jim made of footprints in the sand at Canon Beach on the Oregon coast, he explained the experience this way: “I wanted it to convey the essence of nature and humanity. The ocean is kind of symbolic of the timeless and I had to wait for somebody to walk along the beach to produce footprints, which get washed out with the next wave or two. That’s a story about how nature is constantly washing over us. “As humans, we think we’re so important, but in the big picture we’re real new on the scene and we probably won’t last all that long either. We’re just a little part of that from the beginning-to-the-end scenario.” For a picture Scholz made of a nude young woman lying on a fallen redwood tree in a Big Sur Coast grove in California, he wanted the contrast of the old rugged, hardedged woods and the softness of the young human figure. “That was done very deliberately to hopefully make the image strong,” Jim said. On a trip to Chatterbox Falls, British Columbia, he captured for posterity a sublime setting he awoke to. “My friends, Ron and Judy Parks, rented a Nordic Tug for the summer to explore the coast and invited me to join them for a few days. We docked there for the night and in the morning, I liked the reflections from the rain on the dock and the movement of the water. I made the picture with the falls in the background.” During a Colorado sojourn Scholz set out to photograph one of the state’s most prominent mountains, Long’s Peak. “Since the Forest Service does not allow camping there we had to leave the parking lot at midnight and climb all night to get there just before dawn. It was cloudy at sunrise, but just for a moment the clouds partially broke and I was able to get the shot.” Sometimes, the opportunity for a picture appears as Jim’s driving to or from an assignment. “I was coming from Kansas City (to Omaha) and I took the back roads. Just about sunset I saw this partially plowed wheat field with terraced ridges in a pattern. I stopped and took a picture. But the sky was very dull – there was nothing. Driving back, I was thinking, what can I do with this? Then I decided to put (the image of) a woman’s flowing hair in the sky.”

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Jim Scholz’s photograph of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. Scholz secured a model for the shoot at his studio. He made the image and overlaid it in the picture of the field. “That was fun. I think that sort of thing makes the image richer.”

anipulating images on a computer or in the darkroom, he said, “is just a creative tool.” “People have the idea that in an earlier era of photography, working in the darkroom was somehow pure. OK, it wasn’t, it never was. As long as I can darken this part and lighten that part, it’s a subjective, editorial process,” Scholz said. “Just the act of making a picture, you choose what to include in the frame and what not. My act of putting a frame around that image begins to edit right there.” Jim embraces today’s digital photography tools. “What I love about PhotoShop is that now I can do things that even in my wildest dreams in the darkroom I couldn’t achieve. For instance, I have an image of an abandoned ore processing plant high in the Colorado back country that’s been a favorite in galleries. I made it with an 8 x 10 camera and black and white film. I worked and worked in the darkroom to get all the various tonalities, but it was hard because the inside of the building was kind of dark.” Jim recalled an Omaha art show in the early 1990s. “One of the prints was very successful in terms of sales. It also happened to be a print that involved six different negatives at various exposures in the enlarger. The original print probably took me six evenings from 7 to midnight, and now I suddenly had orders for 10 more. By the time

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I got done with that whole thing, I was spent, and none of the prints were exactly the same because you couldn’t get it exactly the same.” Scholz depends on what he earns photographing for his living. He started his own business, Scholz Images, in 1999. He works from a downtown Omaha studio with ample natural light. It’s outfitted with lights, tents, screens, filters, cases, and framed prints. Most of his time is spent not on making photographs but scheduling, marketing, billing, and other business matters. Finding and juggling projects isn’t easy. “If you’re doing it on your own, you’re always kind of dancing between jobs. It’s a constant changing,” Scholz said. “When I started the business, I wanted to go in the fine art direction. I found in order to really make a living, I had to have an additional niche. Architecture became the thing I gravitated toward. I realized it was something I could do and it’s a good market. The architecture puts bread on the table and allows me to pay the mortgage and that sort of thing.” He’s shot photos for several area architecture firms. Traveling for his work brings its own challenges. “When you travel a lot, you get to sleep on airport floors, have bears come into your camp in the middle of the night, have flat tires on cactus in the back country, be in the center of a bison herd, have foreign police order you to not use your tripod. Just the usual stuff.” Scholz said. When not flying, he travels to assignments via his trusty Chevy Silverado. “I find I make my best photos when I have my camera and tripod with me. It can be anywhere the

May 2018

moment presents itself.” For most clients, Scholz captures objective reality, though he sometimes heightens things via filters and strobes. “With the commercial work I do, I’m called to record what’s there. Architects like to see all the bricks and everything the way it is. I then like to think of it the way a filmmaker does – how’s this going to look when the sun goes down and there’s still some light in the sky. You’re always working with light.” Another major commercial client for Jim is J & J Flooring Group, which has sent him on various assignments. “It’s very challenging to get really interesting pictures of carpet,” Scholz said. Buildings are easier. For his architectural work, he used to shoot with large format film. “In those days if you could get eight pictures a day you were doing really good, especially with color because you had to use several different filters,” Jim said. Though there’s little call for it now, Scholz is fond of large format film photography because he can attain certain qualities with it he can’t in smaller formats or digitally. What the large format offers in quality it sacrifices in efficiency. “The tradeoff is, if you get the image perfectly you’ve got great quality to work with, but you can only make a small number of images. Whereas with a smaller camera you might be able to get 100 images in the same amount of time. So, you have to pick your tool for what you want to do.” Old habits die hard. “I sometimes think about getting rid of the 4 x 5 and 8 x 10 (camera --Please turn to page 13.

Camera provides Jim access to a variety of places, faces --Continued from page 12. formats) but occasionally I do have a client that comes along that wants something in large format film and I’m one of the few guys left that can do it.” In order to stay current, Scholz has adapted to digital cameras. He’s remained true to certain brands. “I settled in on Nikon for whatever reason and have stayed with it because once you invest in a bunch of lenses, then you can use them forever. I can still shoot with the Nikon lenses I got back in the 1960s. I don’t use them all that often anymore, but I can still use them on the camera because they never changed the lens body.” For portraits, Scholz uses whatever equipment best serves the subject. A favorite portrait is of a corporate CEO whom Scholz wisely took out of the stuffed shirt, sterile office setting for something more fun and authentic. Jim took the businessman and his new motorcycle to Iowa. “We drove maybe 30 to 40 miles down the highway with his hair blowing in the wind. I made lots of pictures in black and white. The whole thing was stronger to me in black and white,” Scholz said. After decades of making pictures for public display, Scholz is a fixture on the local photographic scene. “In general, I think the photographic community here is pretty open and receptive. Most people like each other and get along.” “One of the local people I really admire is Vera Mercer,” Jim said. “Her work to me is outstanding. I really love what she does.” Scholz’s work has shown at Gallery 1516 and Connect in Omaha, at the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney, and at galleries in Kansas City, Mo., Santa Fe, N. M, and other locales. His photos are in public and private collections on three continents.

have access to. For instance, maybe 15 years ago I got a call from a company here in town sponsoring expresident Bill Clinton who was giving a keynote talk at an event in Aspen, Colo. They wanted a lot of pictures of Bill involved with people, so they flew me out to Aspen to do that. I spent three days with Bill. Hilary (Clinton) was there. This repeated itself in Miami, once here in Omaha, and several times in Aspen. “That’s not a world I would normally have access to at all, but it was really fun,” Scholz said. Being a photographer also means forever chasing perfection that often can’t be attained. “My photographer friends and I all know there are certain images meant to tease us into spending a lot of time and effort, but

we never quite get them. They’re always just a little beyond us,” Jim said. Scholz feels it’s good to have something to chase just beyond your grasp in order to stay sharp, hungry, and focused. “If you could roll a 300 game every time you bowl, you wouldn’t bowl. It wouldn’t be any fun. It’s the same thing with golf and shooting par.” The same is true when making pictures. “Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Hits and misses come with any creative art. There are times where from start to finish you work it right through and, boy, the whole thing just comes out great.” To see Jim’s photos, visit scholzimages.com. Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work online at leoadambiga.com.

See Jim’s photos online at scholzimages.com

cholz makes images to be seen. Naturally, he likes it when people respond favorably to his work. Another fringe benefit of shooting for hire is gaining entree to people and places he’d otherwise not get. “Being a photographer often times opens doors to things. You get admitted to a lot of places and things you wouldn’t otherwise

For Jim Scholz, being a photographer means forever chasing perfection that often can’t be attained.

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CMS establishes a program to help Survey asked Baby Boomers financial security Medicare patients who have cancer about their fter a year of budget cuts to various federal The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently took action to advance innovative personalized medicine for Medicare patients with cancer. CMS finalized a National Coverage Determination that covers diagnostic laboratory tests using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) for patients with advanced cancer. CMS believes when these tests are used as a companion diagnostic to identify patients with certain genetic mutations that may benefit from U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments, these tests can assist patients and their oncologists in making more informed treatment decisions. Additionally, when a known cancer mutation can’t be matched to a treatment, results from the diagnostic lab

test using NGS can help determine a patient’s candidacy for cancer clinical trials. This decision was made following the parallel review with the FDA, which granted its approval of the FoundationOne CDx (F1CDx™) test. F1CDx is the first NGS-based in vitro diagnostic test that’s a companion diagnostic for 15 targeted therapies. It can also detect genetic mutations in 324 genes and two genomic signatures in any solid tumor. CMS is also covering FDAapproved or cleared companion in vitro diagnostics when the test has an FDA-approved or cleared indication for use in that patient’s cancer and results are provided to the treating physician for management of the patient using a report template to specify treatment options. “We want cancer patients to have enhanced access and expanded coverage when it comes to innovative diagnostics that can help them in new and better ways,” said CMS administrator Seema Verma. “That is why we are establishing clear pathways to coverage, while at the same time supporting laboratories that furnish tests to the people we serve.” (CMS provided this information.)

government programs and the potential for entitlement reforms on the horizon, an already weakened social safety net for older Americans could become even weaker. As a result, the NHP Foundation – a not-forprofit provider of service-enriched affordable housing – asked Baby Boomers how financially confident they were as retirement approached. This survey of 1,000 non-retired Americans aged 50+ identified a serious disconnect between saving, planning for retirement, and affording a desirable lifestyle. Of the estimated 78 million American Baby Boomers, the survey showed 73 percent of them expect to delay retirement. Compounding these findings, 31percent said they haven’t prepared a retirement budget, and 62 percent of those who have budgeted said Social Security income will contribute to at least half their monthly income. While roughly three-quarters of Baby Boomers expect to delay retirement and continue working, an anticipated decline in health often cuts those plans short. However, 65 percent of those surveyed said they haven’t budgeted for unforeseen health-related expenses. Of those without a retirement budget and planning on Social Security for at least half their income, 72 percent said they haven’t accounted for unforeseen health-related expenses. “Although this generation is statistically healthier and living longer, it’s startling to see people taking such a laissezfaire attitude to long-term health and retirement planning,” said tax consultant and financial advisor Paul Shapiro. Seventy percent of those surveyed are at least somewhat confident they’ll experience the retirement they want. Of those that expect to delay retirement, 63 percent believe they’ll achieve their desired retirement goals. “There’s a disconnect between Baby Boomers’ financial status and where they perceive themselves in retirement,” said NHP Foundation President Richard Burns. “This ‘wishful thinking’ carries potential consequences that will likely have a large impact throughout all areas of the economy.” Data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau substantiates this. Today, more older homeowners owe almost double their mortgage than the same age group did a decade ago. This is likely a driving force for why many Baby Boomers expect to delay retirement, and why “affordability” is the most essential housing aspect of retirement according to 60 percent of the respondents. In order of importance, the three outcomes that worry prospective retirees the most are an inability to afford quality healthcare (36 percent), dependency on children (28 percent), and being forced to choose a living situation inferior to their preference (22 percent). Eight-five percent of those surveyed want to continue living at home. Of the two-thirds of those surveyed that rent or have a mortgage, 76 percent either have no retirement budget or will rely on Social Security. Of that group, 83 percent believe they’ll be able to age in-place. Along with these findings, only 17 percent of those who have no retirement budget and will rely on Social Security for at least half their income, think they’ll have to relocate. The evidence shows many Baby Boomers will have to consider alternatives to aging in-place. These include everything from renting out a room (less than 17 percent) to seeking affordable housing. “Renting quality affordable senior housing may be the best answer for many older Americans,” Burns said. “NHPF and the affordable housing industry have made it a priority to create an adequate supply of affordable rental housing for boomers entering the market now and in the future.” (The NHP Foundation provided this information.)

Widowed Persons Group of Omaha

he Widowed Persons Group of Omaha hosts a luncheon the third Monday of each month at 11:30 a.m. at Jericho’s Restaurant, 11732 W. Dodge Rd. For more information, please call 402-426-9690 or 402-493-0452.

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Fremont Friendship Center You’re invited to visit the Fremont Friendship Center, 1730 W. 16th St. (Christensen Field), for the following: • May 1: Bring a small May Day basket filled with treats to share with your friends. • May 7: Wii bowling @ 10:30 a.m. • May 9: Birthday party featuring music by Kim Eames @ 10:30 a.m. • May 10: Chris Wormuth from Excel Physical Therapy will talk about the need to keep moving @ 10 a.m. • May 14: Listen to Rich share stories about his Caribbean cruise @ 10:30 a.m. • May 16: Music by Bill Chrastil @ 10:30 a.m. • May 17: Garage and bake sale from 1 to 7 p.m. Please sign up to volunteer for the set-up and clean-up, and to work during the sale. • May 18: Garage and bake sale from 8 a.m. to noon. • May 23: Music by George and the Juniors @ 10:30 a.m. • May 30: Music by Tim Javorsky @ 10:30 a.m. The facility will be closed on Memorial Day. Walking in the main arena Tuesday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. is encouraged. Keep track of your miles in our walking book. The Fremont Friendship Center is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lunch is served at 11:30 a.m. A $3.50 contribution is suggested for lunch. Reservations must be made by noon the business day prior to the meal you wish to enjoy. For meal reservations and more information, please call Laurie at 402-727-2815.

ENOA has been providing programs and services for older adults in Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Cass, and Washington counties since 1974.

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May 2018

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Omaha facilities not affiliated Girl Scouts donate cards, placemats to ENOA’s Meals on Wheels recipients with Cottonwood Healthcare Arlis Smidt (left), who coordinates the Meals on Wheels Program for the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging, accepted Girl Scouts Troop 45325’s donation of placemats and greeting cards from Sara Jones, one of the troop’s leaders.

s part of their activities during a campout on a cool, early spring weekend last month, 43 members of Girl Scouts Troop 45325 made placemats and greeting cards which were donated to older men and women who receive Meals on Wheels through the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging.

The colorful placemats and cards were designed to bring smiles to the faces of the home-delivered meals recipients, according to Sara Jones, one of the troop’s leaders. “I’d like to thank the Girl Scouts and their troop leaders for these wonderful placemats and greeting cards,” said Arlis Smidt, who coordinates the Meals on Wheels Program for ENOA. “I know the men and women who receive them will appreciate the Scouts’ hard work and thoughtfulness.”

he management of Bridgestone Living, owners of Omaha’s Skyline Assisted and Independent Living, and Ensign Services, owners of Omaha’s Skyline Nursing and Rehabilitation, want area residents to know these facilities are not affiliated with Cottonwood Healthcare, also known as “Skyline”, a New Jersey company that operates skilled nursing facilities in Kansas and Nebraska. Cottonwood Healthcare was recently placed in receivership by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. “We understand, because the names are similar, there might be some concern about this community’s operation,” said Danielle Swanda, operations manager for Skyline Assisted and Independent Living. “In order to avoid any additional confusion, we are in the process of changing our name.”

AARP offering driving course AARP is offering a new four-hour, research-based Smart Driver Course for older adults. By completing the course, participants will learn research-based driving safety strategies that can reduce the likelihood of having an accident; understand the links between the driver, the vehicle, and the road environment, and how this awareness encourages safer driving; learn how aging, medications, alcohol, and health-related issues affect driving ability and ways to allow for these changes; increase confidence; know how to share the road safely with other drivers, and learn the newest safety and advance features in vehicles. The fee is $15 for AARP members and $20 for nonAARP members. No tests or examinations are involved, course completion certificates are provided, and auto insurance discounts may apply. Here’s this month’s schedule: May 12 @ noon AARP Information Center 1941 S. 42nd St #220 Call 402-398-9568 to register

May 18 @ 11:30 a.m. Metro Comm College 2709 Babe Gomez Ave. Call 531-622-2620 to register

May 22 @ 9:30 a.m. Sunridge Village Retirement Community 13410 Blondo St. Call 402-496-0116 to register

See the ad on page 3

New Horizons Club membership roll rises $15 Gerald Curren $10 Doris Allendorfer Dolores Wolsleben $5 Marcia McKean Beverly Armstead Sharon Davis Reflects donations received through April 20, 2018.

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ENOA is recruiting older adults to become Senior Companions, Foster Grandparents

en and women age 55 and older who want to earn a tax-free stipend while making an impact in their community are encouraged to join the Senior Companion Program and the Foster Grandparent Program. Sponsored locally by the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging, the SCP and FGP are national programs of the Corporation for National and Community Service through the Senior Service Corps. Senior Companions help other older adults maintain their independence by visiting them at home to discuss the news, read mail, play cards, run errands, etc. Foster Grandparents serve as positive role models for children who need special attention with education, healthcare, and social development in schools, Head Start programs, and child development centers. SCP and FGP volunteers must meet income guidelines and complete an enrollment process that includes references and background checks. In exchange for volunteering 15 hours or more per week, Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions receive a $2.65 an hour tax-free stipend, mileage reimbursement, an annual physical examination, supplemental accident insurance coverage, and other benefits including an annual recognition luncheon. The stipend does not interfere with rent, disability, Medicaid, or other benefits. For more information on the FGP and SCP, please call 402-444-6536.

Eclectic Book Review Club The Eclectic Book Review Club’s 2018 Winter/ Spring schedule ends on May 15 as Emily Getzschman will review Kathleen Rooney’s book, Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk. The meeting, which includes lunch and the book review, is held at noon at the Field Club, 3615 Woolworth Ave. The cost is $13. To reserve a seat, please call Rita at 402-553-3147 by Monday, May 14.

Omaha Computer Users Group The Omaha Computer Users Group – which is dedicated to helping people over age 50 learn about their computers – meets the the third Saturday of each month from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Abrahams Library, 5011 N. 90th St. For more information, please call Phill Sherbon at 402-333-6529.

THEOS meets monthly at New Cassel THEOS, a social organization for singles age 60 and older, meets at 1:30 p.m. on the second Monday of each month at New Cassel, 900 N. 90th St. Older men and women are encouraged to meet for a fun afternoon and to sign up for other activities throughout the month. On Monday, May 14, participants will have an opportunity to play bingo. Please bring $4. For more information, please call Dorothy at 402-3990759 or Mary at 402-393-3052. Law Offices of Charles E. Dorwart, J.D. 36 years of legal experience • Wills • Living Trusts • Probate • Healthcare and Financial Powers of Attorney • In-home consultations • Free Initial consultation 10404 Essex Court • Suite 100 Omaha, NE 68114 Office: (402) 558-1404 • Fax: (402) 779-7498 cdorwartjd@dorwartlaw.com

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Return homestead exemption applications by June 30

pplicants whose names are on file in the assessor’s office in Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Cass, and Washington counties should have a homestead exemption form mailed to them by early March. New applicants must contact their county assessor’s office to receive the application. The 2018 forms and a household income statement must be completed and returned to the county assessor’s office by June 30, 2018. A homestead exemption provides property tax relief by exempting all or part of the homestead’s valuation from taxation. The state of Nebraska reimburses the counties and other government subdivisions for the lost tax revenue. To qualify for a homestead exemption, a Nebraska homeowner must be age 65 by Jan. 1, 2018, the home’s owner/occupant through Aug. 15, 2018, and fall within the income guidelines shown below. Certain homeowners who have a disability, are developmentally disabled, are totally disabled war veterans, or the widow(er) of a totally disabled war veteran – including those who have remarried after age 57 – may also be eligible for this

annual tax break. When determining household income, applicants must include Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits plus any income for which they receive a Form 1099. The homestead exemption amount is based on the homeowner’s marital status and income level (see below). Maximum exemptions are based on the average assessed value for residential property in each Nebraska county.

he Douglas County Assessor/Register of Deeds’ office (1819 Farnam St.) is sending volunteers into the community to help older adults complete the application form. The volunteers will be located at sites throughout the county. A list of these locations will be included with your application. Assistance is also available by calling Volunteers Assisting Seniors (see page 6) at 402-444-6617. Here are the numbers for the local assessor’s offices: Douglas: 402-444-7060, option #2; Sarpy: 402-593-2122; Dodge: 402-727-3915; Cass: 402-296-9310; and Washington: 402-426-6800.

49th & Q Street • 402-731-2118 www.southviewheightsomaha.com

Household income table Over age 65 married income

Over age 65 single income

Exemption %

0 - $33,100.99 $33,101 - $34,900.99 $34,901 - $36,700.99 $36,701 - $38,400.99 $38,401 - $40,200.99 $40,201 - $42,000.99 $42,001 - $43,800.99 $43,801 - $45,600.99 $45,601 - $47,400.99 $47,401 - $49,100.99 $49,101 and over

0 to $28,200.99 $28,201 - $29,600.99 $29,601 - $31,100.99 $31,101 - $32,600.99 $32,601 - $34,000.99 $34,001 - $35,500.99 $35,501 - $37,000.99 $37,001 - $38,400.99 $38,401 - $39,900.99 $39,901 - $41,400.99 $41,401 and over

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

May 2018

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Alzheimer’s support groups The Alzheimer’s Association Nebraska Chapter offers several caregiver support groups and specialty support groups in Cass, Douglas, Washington, Dodge, and Sarpy counties. These support groups offer valuable space and educational opportunities for families impacted by Alzheimer’s disease or a related form of dementia to engage and learn. For more information about any of the groups listed below, please call 800-272-3900. DODGE COUNTY

First Thursday @ 6:45 p.m. King of Kings Lutheran Church CORE Conference Room 11615 I St. Call Karen @ 402-584-9088 to arrange for adult day services.

• FREMONT Second Tuesday @ 5:30 p.m. The Heritage at Shalimar Gardens 749 E. 29th St. DOUGLAS COUNTY • OMAHA Second Thursday @ 10 a.m. Second Thursday @ 5:30 p.m. Country House Residences 5030 S. 155th St. Call Christina @ 402-980-4995 for free adult day services. Every other Monday @ 7 p.m. Brighton Gardens 9220 Western Ave. First & third Monday @ 1:30 p.m. New Cassel’s Franciscan Centre 900 N. 90th St. Call Melanie @ 402-393-2113 for free adult day services. Third Tuesday @ 5 p.m. Immanuel Fontenelle First floor classroom 6809 N 68th Plz.

Third Tuesday @ 6 p.m. Temple Israel 13111 Sterling Ridge Dr.

free, six-week series of classes designed to help older adults learn more about living a healthy life with diabetes will be offered on Tuesday afternoons from July 10 through Aug. 14 at the Corrigan Senior Center, 3819 X St. The Living Well with Diabetes Self-Management workshops will be held each week from 1 to 3:30 p.m.

Developed at Stanford University, the Living Well with Diabetes Self-Management workshops will show participants how to manage diabetes symptoms including fatigue and depression, use relaxation techniques, eat healthy, improve communication skills, use medications effectively, monitor blood sugars, solve problems, set goals, increase self-confidence, feel better, and take charge. To register (by the end of June) or for more information, please contact Michelle Jolley at 402731-7210 or michelle.jolley@nebraska.gov. A minimum number of participants will be required.

VAS can help file your Homestead Exemption applications

he Nebraska Homestead Exemption program can provide relief from property taxes by exempting all or part of the home’s valuation from taxation (see page 17 for more information). Volunteers Assisting Seniors (VAS) is

SARPY COUNTY • BELLEVUE Third Monday @ 7 p.m. Bellevue Senior Center 109 W. 22nd Ave.

May 3 10 a.m. to noon IBEW Hall 8943 L St.

First Wednesday @ 1 p.m. Eastern Nebraska Vets Home (Vets and non-vets welcome) 12505 S. 40th St.

May 4 10 a.m. to noon Benson Baptist Church 6319 Maple St.

• PAPILLION Fourth Thursday @ 6 p.m. Hillcrest Grand Lodge 6021 Grand Lodge Ave. WASHINGTON COUNTY

Second Tuesday @ 6:45 p.m. For caregivers of individuals with an intellectual disabilty/dementia. Barbara Weitz Center 6001 Dodge St. (UNO campus)

‘Living Well with Diabetes’ workshops on Tuesdays July 10 through Aug. 14 at Corrigan Senior Center

May 8 10 a.m. to noon Northwest Hills Church 9334 Fort St.

• BLAIR Third Wednesday @ 6 p.m. Memorial Community Hospital Howard Conference Room 810 N. 22nd St.

May 10 10 a.m. to noon Ralston Senior Center 7301 Q St.

The New Horizons is brought to you each month by the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging.

May 14 10 a.m to noon Disabled American Vets 4515 F St.

May 29 10 a.m. to noon Intercultural Senior Center 3010 R St.

May 17 10 a.m. to noon Florence Rec Center 2920 Bondesson St.

June 1 10 a.m. to noon Iron Workers Union Hall 14515 Industrial Rd.

May 19 10 a.m. to noon VAS (Center Mall) 1941 S. 42nd St #312 May 23 10 a.m. to noon Goodwill Industries 4805 N. 72nd St.

RSVP is recruiting men and women age 55 and older for a variety of volunteer opportunities. For more information in Douglas, Sarpy, and Cass counties, please call 402-444-6536, ext. 1024. In Dodge and Washington counties, please call 402-721-7780. • The Corrigan Senior Center is looking for volunteers. • The Boys Town Hall of History needs volunteers. • Together Inc. wants

WARNING

he Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging wants its Meals on Wheels Program recipients to know about a potential scam in which a caller – claiming to be from the meals program – asks for a debit or credit card number. “We never call our clients asking for this type of information, so please don’t provide your debit or credit card number to anyone claiming to be from Meals on Wheels,” said Arlis Smidt, who coordinates the homedelivered meals program for ENOA.

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May 2018

June 5 10 a.m. to noon Elkhorn Eagles 20276 Wirt St. June 8 10 a.m. to noon Faith Westwood Church 4814 Oaks Ln.

RSVP

Driving class The National Safety Council of Nebraska is offering a driving assessment class for older adults. The Senior Driving Program is designed to keep older adults driving safely on Nebraska’s roads for as long as possible. The classes are held at the National Safety Council of Nebraska’s office, 11620 M Cir. To register for the Senior Driving Program, please call 402-898-7371.

available to help older Nebraskans file their 2018 homestead exemption applications at several Omaha-area sites. See below for a list of the sites, dates, and times VAS representatives are available. Please call 402-444-6617 to schedule an appointment.

volunteers for its food pantry.

• The VA Medical Center is looking for volunteers. • The YWCA’s Reach and Rise Mentoring Program wants volunteers to work with children ages 8 to 15. • The Heartland Hope Mission needs volunteers for its food pantry. • The Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital is looking for volunteers for a variety of assignments. • The Low-Income Ministry wants volunteers for its food pantry. • The Blair and Fremont Car-Go Program needs volunteers to drive older adults to their appointments once or twice a week. • ENOA’s senior centers want volunteers for a variety of assignments.

NEW LOWER RATES Graceland Senior Apartments

Participants needed for UNO study

he University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Department of Gerontology is looking for healthy adults and caregivers for patients with dementia to participate in a research study about social decision making, perception, and hormones. Participants must be between ages 19 and 110, able to comprehend written and spoken English, have the mobility to travel to the UNO campus, and have completed a minimum of two years of high school. Compensation is available for participants and complementary parking will be available a short walk from the building where the study will take place.

Men and women won’t be eligible to be part of the study if they’ve received a diagnosis of neurological or psychiatric disease (stroke, depression, etc.), are taking antidepressant medication, have vision, hearing, or motor difficulties, or are pregnant. Study participants will be asked to make a one-time, three-hour visit to a lab on UNO’s Dodge Street campus. The experiment will involve paper and pencil questionnaires, computer tasks, and saliva collection for hormone analyses. For more information, please contact Janelle Beadle, Ph.D. at 402-5545961 or online at ABELabUNO@gmail.com.

55+ Apartments

• All utilities included • Free laundry facilities • On bus line • Secure building • Club & fitness room Studios at $595 1 BR’s at $695 2 BR’s at $795

The Sierra Group, LLC FREE Book & CD Call Us: (800) 309-0753

Camelot Friendship Center You’re invited to visit the Camelot Friendship Center inside the Camelot Community Center, 9270 Cady Ave., for the following: • May 9: May tea luncheon featuring music by Tom Lucas. • May 10: Book Club @ 10:15 a.m. • May 11: Senior Council meeting @ 12:15 p.m. • May 14: Day at the zoo. Bus leaves the center @ 9:15 a.m. No lunch served at the center today. • May 17: Jackpot bingo @ 12:15 p.m. • May 18: Music by Michael “Gooch” Gurciullo from the Merrymakers. • May 24: VNA program @ 11:45 a.m. The facility will be closed on Memorial Day. Other activities include Tai Chi (Friday @ 10:30 a.m.), bingo, pinochle, card games, other games, crafts, candy making, and scrapbooking. The Camelot Friendship Center is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lunch is served at 11:30 a.m. A $3.50 contribution is suggested for the meal. Reservations are due by noon the business day prior to the lunch you wish to enjoy. For reservations or more information, please call Nathan Kramer @ 402-444-3091.

Corrigan Senior Center You’re invited to visit the Corrigan Senior Center, 3819 X St., this month for: • May 9: John Denver DVD series @ 11 a.m. • May 11: Mother’s Day celebration @ 11 a.m. • May 14: VNA presenta-tion on Keeping your Bones Healthy: An Overview of Osteoporosis @ 11 a.m. • May 15: Health clinic with free blood pressure checks and $10 toe nail clippings from 10 a.m. to noon. Space is limited, so call 402-731-7210 to reserve your time. • May 17: Bob Ford performs @ 11 a.m. Third Thursday special dinner. Reservations are due by May 11 @ noon. • May 24: Music by Joe Taylor sponsored by the Merrymakers @ 11 a.m. Celebrate the May birthdays. • May 28: Volunteers Assisting Seniors (VAS) informational session with Charlie Graham @ 11:30. We play Bingo Mondays and Thursdays @ 1 p.m. The Corrigan Senior Center is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lunch is served at noon. A $3.50 contribution is normally suggested for the meal. Reservations are normally due by noon the business day prior to the meal you wish to enjoy. For meal reservations or more information, please contact Michelle Jolley @ 402-731-7210.

CLASSIFIEDS Call 402-444-4148 or 402-444-6654 to place your ad. Lamplighter II

WE BUY HOUSES

Some of the nicest, newer 1 & 2 bedroom apartments. Elevator, w & d, heated parking garage. Small complex. By bus & shopping. No pets or smoking. 93rd & Maple • 402-397-6921

402-639-8891

www.sellyouromahahousenow.com

Lonergan Lawns

Mow, fertilize, aerate. Trim trees & bushes. Clean gutters. Build walls. Haul junk. Call Tim @ 402-612-3576

iPhone lessons for older adults Customized to meet your goals. Bill Wood 402-979-2033 Smart Phone Learning Zone

APPLICATION AND APPROVAL IS REQUIRED NO COMMUNITY FEE IF MOVED IN BY JUNE 15 CALL TODAY

402-557-6643

7350 Graceland Drive Omaha, NE 68134 Cartagena Painting Service

Commercial/Residential Interior/Exterior/Insured Free estimates/BBB member 402-714-6063 cartagenapainting@yahoo.com

FREE

Pickup and haul away books, records, tapes, clothes, and small items. For more information, call

402-620-8486

A+ Heartland Concrete Const.

Driveways, garage floors, sidewalks, retaining walls. patio specialists since 1985. Insured/references.

23-year BBB member

402-731-2094

A.L.M. & Design Gardening and landscaping services. Large and small contracts welcome. Weeding, pruning, planting, mulching, and much more.

402-686-6702

OLD STUFF WANTED

RICK’S

(before 1975)

Military, political, toys, jewelry, fountain pens, pottery, kitchen ware, postcards, photos, books, and other old paper, old clothes, garden stuff, tools, old household, etc. Call anytime 402-397-0254 or 402-250-9389

HANDYMAN SERVICES

Big jobs or small, I’ll do them all! [Bonded & insured]

See ad on page 4

402-658-1245

GET RID OF IT!

Senior Citizens (62+)

rickfitzlerhomeimprovement.com

Haul away, garage, basement, rental clean out…

Accepting applications for HUD-subsidized apartments in Papillion & Bellevue.

Bellewood Courts

Johansen Brothers Call Frank

402-312-4000 TOP CASH PAID

Best & honest prices paid for: Vintage, Sterling, Turquoise, & Costume jewelry, old watches, old quilts, vintage toys, old postcards, advertising items, military items, pottery, and antique buttons. Also buying estates & partial estates. Call Bev at 402-339-2856

May 2018

deFreese Manor

Subsidized housing for those age 62 and over with incomes under $26,250 (1 person) or $30,000 (two persons) 2669 Dodge Omaha, NE 402-345-0622

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1002 Bellewood Court Bellevue (402) 292-3300 Bellewood@KimballMgmt.com

Monarch Villas

201 Cedar Dale Road Papillion (402) 331-6882 Monarch@KimballMgmt.com

Managed by Kimball Management, Inc. PO Box 460967 Papillion, NE 68046 www.kimballmgmt.com

New Horizons

We do business in accordance with the Fair Housing Law.

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Call 402-343-4395 for more information

CHI, area congregations partnering to promote healthy living

s a way to help promote and improve the wellbeing of people living in the communities in which it serves, in 2005 CHI Health established its Faith Community Health Network, an effort to establish and support health ministries by partnering with local religious congregations. “We leverage the resources of CHI Health with the strength of faith communities to promote body, mind, and spiritual health in congregations and communities,” said Ronnette Sailors, RN, who along with Nicki Ayer, RN, coordinates the program for CHI Health. During the last 13 years, CHI Health’s Faith Community Health Network has grown from five to 65 congregations in a variety of denominations including Catholic, United Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist, Presbyterian, Seventh Day Adventist, and the Church of God in Christ. In 2017, 77 faith community nurses (FCN) and health minister (HM) members provided nearly 3,000 hours of service to 792 males and 1,726 females. Of that total, 91 percent were age 50 and older with 49 percent being age 80 and older. In addition, these unpaid professionals gave 13,000 hours of service during more than 86,000 group interactions featuring education, screenings, physical activities, and support groups. The assistance resulted in an estimated healthcare cost savings of $455,812. Faith community nurses are specialized registered nurses who strive to promote health and prevent or minimize illness within a congregation and the community it serves. Sailors said FCN meet with members of their congregation to integrate faith and health at a variety of venues including in the church, at home, in hospitals, at assisted living communities, as well as at informal settings like grocery stores and parks. “They educate and motivate people to take positive action regarding

wellness, prevention, and appropriate treatment of illness,” she said. Lay health ministers also promote health, healing, and wholeness within a congregation by providing healthcare information, coordinating volunteers and health programs, and visiting the sick. FCN and HM members must complete web-based training, give at least eight hours a month to their ministry, attend four of eight network meetings annually, document their services, and participate in continuing education. “Faith community nurses and health ministers help build a culture of wholeness in their congregations,” Sailors said.

HI Health’s Faith Community Health Network wants to add supportive congregations of all faiths and is also recruiting more FCN and HM. “CHI Health will provide training and resources to build a health ministry based on the congregation’s unique strengths and gifts,” Sailors said. “We offer tools and assistance as needed to move your ministry forward.” To learn more about CHI Health’s Faith Community Health Network, go to chihealth.com/faithandhealth, call 402-343-4395, or send an email to faithandhealth@alegent.org.

Prayer shawls, lap blankets needed for local veterans CHI Health at Home Hospice is seeking donations of red, white, and blue prayer shawls and lap blankets to give to military veterans as part of its We Honor Veterans program. “We want to wrap these men and women in prayers and love,” said Ronnette Sailors, RN, cocoordinator of CHI Health’s Faith Community Health Network. To make a donation or for more information, please call Sailors or Nicki Ayer, RN, at 402-343-4395.

Ronnette Sailors, RN, has coordinated CHI Health’s Faith Community Health Network since the program began in 2005.

Let’s go on a surfin’ safari! The one and only Beach Boys return with the world’s favorite soundtrack to summer. Surf’s up!

“Good Vibrations” “California Girls” “I Get Around” “Surfin’ USA” “Fun, Fun, Fun”

Symphony Pops Series Sponsor

Presenting Sponsor

FRIDAY, JUNE 1  7:30 PM SATURDAY, JUNE 2  7:30 PM SUNDAY, JUNE 3  2 PM HOLLAND CENTER ERNEST RICHARDSON, CONDUCTOR

Concert Sponsor

Great seats still available!

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New Horizons

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May 2018

402.345.0606 | OMAHASYMPHONY.ORG