You Are Invited to Join THE CAR

You Are Invited to Join

THE CARING FOR YOUR PARENTS COMMUNITY INITIATIVE

During the month of April 2008, a number of community organizations will join forces with WMHT to provide critical information, tangible tools and resources to individuals and families caring for aging and ailing parents. WMHT is pleased to invite you to join in with other community partners in this month-long initiative by presenting a workshop, panel discussion, screening or other outreach event.

As you know, American families are in the midst of an unprecedented social, cultural, economic and personal transformation as more and more individuals navigate the challenging road of growing older and adult children face the profoundly difficult questions about how to care for their aging parents.

WMHT will kick-off the month’s events by airing three important television programs. On April 2 at 9 pm, WMHT will broadcast the national television program Caring for Your Parents, an eye opening, deeply personal look at five families facing head on issues related to caring for aging parents. A special edition of the local program It’s An Age Thing co-produced by the Albany Guardian Society and WMHT will follow the national program at 10:30 pm. On April 3 from 8 to 9 pm, WMHT will broadcast a live call-in edition of Health Link on the topic of Caring for Your Parents. Viewers will be invited to call in and speak to volunteers from Initiative partners. These programs will receive repeat airings throughout the month of April and DVD copies can be made available for community screenings and panel discussions.

The rest of the month of April will be devoted to outreach events throughout the region to address local concerns, provide critical information and equip individuals in our communities to navigate their own situations with confidence. The Initiative will culminate on April 26 at Hudson Valley Community College. The day-long event will include a keynote speaker, lunch and several break-out sessions.

Here is where your participation is essential to the impact this initiative can have. Please identify a date in April on which you would like to host an outreach event. Perhaps you already have something planned that could benefit from the umbrella promotion WMHT and other partners will be providing. We ask that you notify us as soon as possible of your interest in participating and that you provide us with the following information: name, date, time and location of the event (include the county); sponsoring organization(s); who to contact for further information; and a paragraph-long description of your event. WMHT will be coordinating all of these activities and is developing a calendar that will be published and can be inserted into newsletters. In order for your event to receive promotion in the calendar, you will need to provide all pertinent details to jpierce@wmht.org by the end of business on February 15, 2008.

To support your effort, WMHT can provide a number of resources including participant surveys, take-away tool kits, and customizable event posters for promotion and more. DVD copies of the national and local TV programs on Caring For Your Parents described earlier will also be available for local screenings, workshops and community discussions. In addition, WMHT is actively pursuing local philanthropic support. If successful, WMHT may be able to assist organizations who want to participate but are unable to due to lack of funds. Please do not hesitate to let us know of your interest in participating even if funding may be an issue.

So far, participating organizations include the Albany Guardian Society, Capital Region Caregivers Coalition, the NorthEast New York Caregivers Consortium, Capital District Senior Issues Forum, the New York State Office of the Aging and the Rensselaer County Office of the Aging.

Other events planned to date include Alzheimer’s Association Coping Keys in Amsterdam on March 25, April 2 and April 9; Catholic Charities Caregivers Support Service on April 9th at Christ the King Church in Guilderland, NY; Alzheimer’s Association and Long Term Care Council of Fulton/Montgomery County Conference on Caring for those with Alzheimer’s on April 17; Catholic Charities Caregivers Support Service on April 17th at Rensselaer County Department of Health; Catholic Charities Caregivers Support Service on April 24th in Colonie NY.

This initiative won’t be a success without the broadest possible involvement so that every individual confronting the daunting challenges of caring for an aging parent can find a time and place convenient to them to connect to the resources they need. And you are the experts in your community in connecting those individuals to critical resources.

We thank you for your consideration and look forward to your participation in the initiative.

Contact: Jacqueline Pierce, WMHT, Tel: 518.880.3462, email: jpierce@wmht.org