The Senior Scene

Free public workshops to help seniors deal with vision loss and long-term healthcare will be hosted in April by Pierce County Aging and Disability Resource Center.

“Living with Vision Loss” will provide information and local resources to help people who experience vision limitations. The one-hour workshop will provide help and hints on living at home, developing hobbies, participating in sports, travel, work and career, and leisure activities.

Vision loss “is not the end of the world,” said Aaron Van Valkenburg, manager of Aging and Disability Resources. “The good news is there is help available to enable people to remain independent and active.  The key is knowing how to tap into those resources and integrate them into daily life.”

“Living with Vision Loss” will be offered three times:

• April 20, from 12:10 to 12:50 p.m. at the County-City Building in Tacoma (Rainier Conference Room on the seventh floor).
• April 22 from 12:10 to 12:50 p.m. at the Pierce County Annex, 2401 S. 35th St. in Tacoma.
• April 23 from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Soundview Building, Suite 200, 3602 Pacific Ave. in Tacoma.

The workshops will be presented by Hongda Sao, case manager with the Aging and Disability Resource Center; Tyler Kaye of the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library; Linda Wilder of the Washington State Department of Services for the Blind; and Jane Elliott and Jeffrey Gerhardstein from SightConnection.

The other workshop this month, titled “Options for the Future: Living Choices for Older Adults and People with Disabilities,” is an information-only opportunity to learn about services and resources in Pierce County. A panel of local experts will address in-home care, adult day programs, geriatric care management, elder law, adult family homes, assisted living, skilled-nursing homes, memory care, Medicare, Medicaid and community resources.

“Options for the Future” will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 12 at the Parkland-Spanaway branch of Pierce County Library System, located at 13718 Pacific Ave. S.

Long term care includes medical and non-medical services, including personal needs, at home or in a facility for people with a chronic illness or disabilities.

Did you know you have until Monday, April 18th to file your taxes this year? And that there is still time to have your 2015 income taxes done for free? The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program offers free tax help to people who generally make $54,000 or less, persons with disabilities, seniors, and limited English speaking taxpayers who need assistance in preparing their own tax returns. Here are a few locations:

• Tacoma Housing Authority at Salishan, Saturdays 9 am-1 pm through April 9th, 1724 E 44th St, Tacoma.
• Bethel Family Center, Fridays 10 am-1 pm through April 15th, 18020 B St E, Bldg. P, Spanaway.
• Sound Outreach, Saturdays 9 am-3 pm through April 16th at locations in Tacoma (1101 MLK Jr. Way) and Graham, both by appointment (253-593-2111).
• Rainbow Center, Mondays 9 am-1 pm through April 18th, 2215 Pacific Ave, Tacoma.

To learn more about these or other free tax sites, please call 2-1-1. Can’t visit an in-person site? File your taxes online for free by visiting www.MyFreeTaxes.com (for households with income up to $62,000).

“Social Security: What You Need to Know” is the title of a free, one-hour public workshop April 19 in the Tacoma area for anyone anticipating or currently receiving Social Security benefits.

Presented by representatives of Social Security and Pierce County Community Connections Aging and Disability Resource Center, the workshop is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. at Pierce County Library System’s Summit branch, located at 5107 112th St. E.

Workshop participants are encouraged to open an online Social Security account at socialsecurity.gov/my account and print and bring their statement as part of learning about changes in benefits. The workshop, led by Social Security public affairs specialist Kirk Larson, will cover strategies that can maximize benefits, including when to begin receiving benefits and the advantages of making claims based on spousal work history. Participants will also learn the rules about working while receiving benefits.

“Congress made significant changes to the Social Security program starting in 2016. “Current and future beneficiaries need to know what’s coming,” said Aaron Van Valkenburg, manager of Aging and Disability Resources for the county.

Bill Looney brightened the lives of seniors by dressing as Santa Claus and visiting them in nursing homes. After he died last September, his family kept his legacy alive by donating $10,000 through the William A. Looney Family Foundation to pay for 165 holiday-season gifts from Lutheran Community Services Northwest (LCSNW) to senior clients in its home care and Meals on Wheels programs.

LCSNW officials said the recipients, many of them moved to tears, “were so grateful for being remembered.”

The result of the first year of giving through Santa for Seniors, which he founded, would have warmed her husband’s heart, said Trudy Looney.

“Making this organization happen was definitely Bill’s passion, and he worked on it practically up to the time of his death,” she said.

The inspiration for Santa for Seniors began when Looney volunteered to play the role of Santa for a Christmas party at his mother’s nursing home. He bought a Santa outfit and later wrote about the experience of interacting with the residents and handing out gifts that the home provided.

“The joy on their faces” was unforgettable for him, he wrote.

Believing that “thousands of elderly people, either home-bound or in small adult-care facilities, were being forgotten at Christmas,” he began “establishing an organization whose main goal wouuld be to make sure that anyone that wanted a visit from Santa Claus could be accommodated.” The visits and gifts will be coordinated through churches, senior centers and other organizations and businesses.

“At least one day a year, we can make (seniors) feel special,” Looney wrote.