(Host) Tomorrow there’s an Aging in Place Information Fair in South Burlington, in which non-profit and for-profit agencies that deal with questions that affect aging Vermonters, will be ready to answer those questions.
Scott Funk is the event’s chief organizer, and he says it’s a one-stop shopping spot for a vast number of people approaching their own retirement, who having living parents, and often have dependent children.
(Funk) “It’s so common it’s astonishing, I’d have to look it up to get the exact figure, but I think it’s something like 25% of us at sixty still have one parent alive. So I imagine that everyone you know at least has someone close to them that’s in that situation.”
(Host) Tomorrow’s information fair includes work-shops and discussions about such things as the link between driving and independence, how to make sure that financial issues are settled, and how to access sources of help in different fields.
Scott Funk says one of the hardest questions for aging Americans is, when, or whether, to leave the family home for other kinds of housing.
(Funk) “I had a neighbor who fought, fought , fought to stay in her home, and when she went into community living she blossomed. She was dying of loneliness in that home. She started playing the piano again. It literally took years off her appearance. The best place is where we do best. And that isn’t always the one we want most. We work so hard to help Mom and Dad stay in place because that means so much to them, that we lose sight of the real goal, which is to help them have a quality of life.”
(Host) Information about tomorrow’s Aging in Place Information Fair is available at a toll-free number: 866-342-2035.