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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Cynthia Maurer, Executive Director of Visiting Neighbors
5:38:27
·
135 sec
Cynthia Maurer, Executive Director of Visiting Neighbors, testified about their organization's work with older adults, particularly those over 85 years old. She highlighted the importance of their services in alleviating loneliness, providing health advocacy, and ensuring safety for seniors.
- Visiting Neighbors has been operating for 53 years and serves many centenarians, with their oldest client being 107 years old.
- The organization offers various services including friendly visiting, shop and escort, therapeutic walking, and fall prevention.
- Maurer emphasized the need for continued support to keep older adults safe, independent, and in their own homes as long as possible.
Cynthia Maurer
5:38:27
Hey.
5:38:28
First of all, thank you for this opportunity to once again come before you and testify on behalf of our older adults.
5:38:34
Visiting Neighbors has been around for fifty three years.
5:38:37
We celebrated, this spring, and we couldn't have done it without all of the support of our city council.
5:38:43
Thank you for being our champions.
5:38:45
I first have to say that we work with the city's oldest old.
5:38:49
I mean, we help people from 60 on up, but usually when people are 60, or seventies, they are actually rather frail or they have an incident, where they had an accident and they need us temporarily, or they are dealing with cancer or something serious.
5:39:03
Most of our clients are over the age of 85, and we have 33 seniors who have hit the 100 mark this year.
5:39:11
So we are really working with the oldest, our eldest is 107.
5:39:15
Through programs of neighbors helping neighbors, visiting neighbors, professional staff, helps alleviate loneliness and isolation, provides mental stimulation, emotional security, shares information on wellness and health related, concerns.
5:39:29
That's physical, emotional, mental, and has important conversations.
5:39:34
Every conceivable thing that you can think of that we need to talk to our seniors about, do, including the concept of the term seniors.
5:39:42
We actually just had a session on what's in a name and do they how do they feel about seniors versus older adults.
5:39:50
Quite interesting.
5:39:51
When they get a lot older, that is less of a concern than actually the services available to them, and they love senior discounts.
5:39:59
So no matter what, that's gonna stay in the in the in the play.
5:40:03
We are here about health advocacy, friendly visiting, shop and escort, therapeutic walking, that's getting out and moving, just having that arm to safely hold on to, as you cross the city streets.
5:40:17
A lot of people are not paying attention.
5:40:18
They're on the ebikes.
5:40:19
They're, in in a rush on their cell phone, and we wanna keep our seniors safe.
5:40:25
Fall prevention is
5:40:28
Oh, okay.
5:40:30
But thank you very much.
5:40:31
I just you know, we need you to continue to do what we do so that we can keep our older adults as safe as independent and in their own cherished homes as long as possible.
5:40:41
Thank you very much.
Justin Brannan
5:40:25
safe.
Zhikang Ling
5:40:26
You.
5:40:26
Time's expired.