Travel, Leisure & Fun for South Valley Adults
Travel, Leisure & Fun for South Valley Adults
Sorted by date Results 251 - 275 of 299
The State of California recently approved a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for the City of Farmersville that includes $150,000 for senior services for two years. About $140,000 is for "activity delivery" and about $10,000 for administration, according to Farmersville Mayor Paul Boyer. Seniors at the Farmersville Senior Center, however, don't want the money if it means allowing CSET to run their center. CSET (Community Services Employment Training) has been serving...
Hospice care is a compassionate and team-oriented approach to medical care for the terminally ill. A hospice house, such as the Open Arms House that will open in Visalia in 2017, is as close to home as possible while still supplying the necessary round-the-clock care. "Most hospice houses are operated by a single hospice agency and they have a license like a skilled nursing agency," said Open Arms House Board President Carol Nickel. "They cost millions of dollars to build and...
"We have our 'oldies but goodies' but they become new again during the holiday season," said Nicole Burnham, victim advocate with the Tulare County District Attorney's Office, about the scams and frauds seniors and others can expect during the holidays. "For example, charity fraud exists every day year round but during the holiday season, when people are feeling more generous, there is an upswing," she said. "I want to remind people it is never safe to give a donation over...
It's that time of year again. Time to buy gifts for those near and dear to you. If your Christmas gift list includes a hard-to-buy-for senior, we have a few ideas for you. Perhaps your loved one was a fan of "The Golden Girls." If so, you might want to consider the following two options. Funko offers a Golden Girls action figure four-pack featuring Rose, Dorothy, Blanche and Sophia. The figures, measure 3.75 inches high. The set is currently offered on Amazon for $268.65. As w...
The Tulare County District Attorney's Elder Abuse Task Force has been growing as it uses some of the $400,000 in grant funding it was awarded in July. The two-year funding from the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services allows the county to expand its efforts to protect seniors and broaden its community educational outreach. Elder abuse is defined as neglect, financial exploitation, physical abuse, sexual abuse or emotional abuse of an individual age 65 or older. I...
Visalia Transit's new bus fare prices went into effect on August 6. Three of the price changes affect seniors: the Fixed One-Way Fare for seniors is now 75¢, the Day Pass is $2.50, and the 7-Day Pass is $7.50. These new prices are the same for the military and the disabled. The midday/off peak discounted fares have been discontinued and all other fares will remain the same price. "We used to have two different rates for service on any given day," said Visalia Transit Manager...
More than eight out of 10 seniors are not aware they can sell their life insurance policy for an immediate cash payment. According to a survey of more than 600 people conducted by Coventry Direct, 86.1% of life insurance policy owners do not know they have the choice to sell their unwanted policy instead of lapsing it for nothing or surrendering it for its cash value. Even a term policy with no cash value can be sold. Consider this story: A car dealership owner originally...
The Kings County Sheriff's Department will be upgrading its RUOK ("Are You OK?") program in the near future. The decision was made to replace the system it has been using to serve the needs of its seniors for the past 18 years with a Call Reassurance (CARE) service. CARE is a telephone service that contacts the elderly and handicapped to ensure their well-being. The program can also be used to check in on latchkey children to make sure they are OK when their parents are at...
The Tulare County Board of Supervisors approved a request by the Tulare County District Attorney's Office to allow it to accept grant funding in the amount of $400,000 for a new Elder Abuse Program. The two-year funding from the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services allows the county to hire victim witness workers. "The grant allows for two full-time employees to get in their cars and go throughout Tulare County," said Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Underwood...
Senior citizens in 47 states and the District of Columbia aren't replacing enough of their pre-retirement incomes, according to a new Bankrate.com study. Many financial experts believe retirees need at least 70% of the income they earned in their working years, but only seniors in Hawaii, Alaska and South Carolina meet that threshold. Nationally, the median income for those who are 65 and older is just 60% of the median income among 45 to 64 year-olds. The 15 states with the largest retirement income gaps are all located in...
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York permanently barred eight individuals and entities from operating an alleged international multi-million-dollar mail fraud scheme in the name of alleged psychics Maria Duval and Patrick Guerin. Pursuant to a consent decree, the defendants were barred from using the U.S. mail to distribute any advertisements, solicitations or promotional materials on behalf of any psychics, clairvoyants or astrologers. The consent...
Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization, has joined with other national and local organizations to help strengthen food assistance for low-income, food-insecure seniors by closing the "Senior SNAP Gap." More than one in 12 older Americans in our nation are food insecure. Many may have worked low-income jobs for most of their careers and were unable to save or plan for their post-retirement years. Other seniors are retiring with fewer financial resources than they expected, due to the Great...
Financial fraudsters often attempt to evoke strong emotions in their victims to convince them to hand over money, and seniors may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of heightened emotions on decision making. With funding and research participation from the AARP Fraud Watch Network and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, psychologists at Stanford University found that inducing emotions in older adults increased their intention to buy falsely advertised items. The...
Concerns about providing the best care for aging parents is something felt in cultures all over the world, including in India, the world's largest democracy. "Should we give up our well-paying jobs abroad and modern lifestyle to take care of our parents in the twilight of their life?" wonder many Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), professionals who left their native India for careers in other countries. "Or should we take our parents along with us and make their life difficult by...
With the 2016 election season in full swing, two of America's most admired seniors are front and center on opposing sides of the political fence and presidential campaigns. Americans say that Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman are the most admired public figures over age 75, according to a survey jointly undertaken by Hart Research Associates and McGinn and Company. That popularity has not gone unnoticed by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as they continue to pursue their...
Nearly 8 in 10 Americans (77%) are worried about the safety of their parent and/or grandparent living alone or with a spouse/partner, according to a new Caring.com report. Yet despite these concerns, the majority of children and grandchildren have not equipped their older loved one's home with safety features such as grab bars in the shower, raised toilet seats, an emergency response system and/or an entrance ramp. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...
The Kings/Tulare Area Agency on Aging (K/T AAA) recognizes that older adults are reinventing themselves through new work and passions, engaging their communities, and blazing trails of positive impact on other people's lives. To celebrate these trailblazers, the agency is sponsoring the 47th Annual Senior Day in the Park, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, May 6, at Mooney Grove Park, 2700 S. Mooney Blvd., Visalia. "Fiesta!" is the theme of this year's free event for event for...
Almost one in five Americans over the age of 65 – 17%, or nearly seven million seniors – have "been taken advantage of financially in terms of an inappropriate investment, unreasonably high fees for financial services, or outright fraud," according to a new survey conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP) for the Investor Protection Trust (IPT), a nonprofit organization devoted to investor education and protection. That level is down slightly from the 20% of seniors who reported in a 2010 IPT survey that they had been victimiz...
PlanBeyond, a Seattle-based company, has launched a new website to help seniors and their family members educate and prepare themselves for end-of-life healthcare, financial, legal and funeral decisions. With articles devoted to common end of life topics and a section with easy-to-download planning documents, PlanBeyond gives users a one-stop-shop to explore end of life decisions. PlanBeyond launches at a time when the Baby Boomer generation is starting to face end of life decisions. Today, nearly 15% of the US population is...
Hasbro, a company best known for manufacturing popular toys and games for a young audience, is now bringing joy, fun and happiness to an entirely new demographic this winter through an animatronic pet with soft fur, soothing purrs and pleasant meows: Hasbro's "Joy For All" Companion Pet Cat. The Joy For All brand, which launched November 13 with its first product line, "Companion Pets," is Hasbro's first foray into products designed specifically for seniors. The brand was...
The Kings/Tulare Area Agency on Aging expressed its gratitude to community members and Tulare County employees who donated items, large and small, to its recent "Stockings for Senior Citizens" project. More than 350 seniors received stockings filled with gifts because of those contributions. Stockings were stuffed with items such as hats, scarves, gloves, lap blankets and slippers. Senior citizens in the Home-Delivered Meal Program, Multi-Purpose Senior Services and Adult Prot...
The Third Annual Heart of Seniors "Resources & Rejuvenation for the Caregiver" Luncheon, hosted by Senior Care Organization, will be held on Thursday, February 11, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Wyndham Hotel, 9000 W. Airport Dr., Visalia. "Resources & Rejuvenation for the Caregiver" includes a vital resource fair and vendors, a clothing-appropriate fashion show and a filling lunch. The resource fair opens at 9:30 a.m. with the program starting at 11 a.m. Tickets are...
On October 1, local government leaders, community members, and the board and staff of Family HealthCare Network (FHCN) gathered to celebrate the opening of the organization's newest community health center. FHCN's Tulare Health Center marks the organization's 19th site, and 15th community health center in Tulare and Kings counties. Joined by Rudy Mendoza, field representative for Congressman Devin Nunes, Assemblyman Devon Mathis and City of Tulare Vice Mayor Carlton Jones,...
Last month, athletes from 50 California cities competed in the first Senior Games ever held in the Central Valley. A total of 237 athletes participated, including some traveling from as far as Oregon and Texas. The inaugural Visalia Senior Games started on Wednesday, October 21, with a resource fair and opening ceremonies at Riverway Sports Park, which included a parade of athletes and a tri-tip dinner. Over the following four days, 68 competitions were held in nine sports....
"Right now, the number of cons and scams are very high," said Nicole Burnham, elder abuse victim advocate for the Tulare County District Attorney's office, adding that telephone scams and those attempted through the mail are currently the most common. Many of these phone scams attempt to collect on a bill that is allegedly unpaid, according to Burnham. "We've seen a lot of utility bill scams. They may threaten to sue you or throw you in jail unless you pay. These things...