The Senior Scene

Georgia Lomax is the new Pierce County Library System executive director. Lomax has served as the library’s deputy director since 2006. Lomax, 55, starts on Nov. 10, 2014, at a salary of $140,000. Neel Parikh, the library’s current executive director, retires Nov. 1, after 20 years at the helm.
Prior to joining Pierce County, Lomax worked for the King County Library System from 1993 to 2005 serving in a number of positions including cluster manager and managing librarian. Before that, she served as director of the Flathead County Library System in Montana from 1987 to 1992, and as the director of the Miles City Public Library and the Sagebrush Federation of Libraries from 1985 to 1987. She earned her master of library science degree from the University of Washington, Seattle, and her bachelor’s degree in communications and journalism from Washington State University.
Lomax sits on the executive board of Tacoma Community House and serves on the University of Washington iSchool Advisory Board. Nationally, she sits on the Public Library Association (PLA) Board of Directors and served as this year’s national conference program committee chair. She was named a “Mover and Shaker” by the “Library Journal” in 2010 and also won the Allie Beth Martin Award from PLA in 2006.
A Des Moines, Wash., native, Lomax is a 1977 graduate of Mt. Rainier High School in the Highline School District. Now a Sumner resident, Lomax is an avid sailor. She races regularly in Seattle aboard the 46-foot sailboat New Haven. In July, she and her New Haven teammates took third overall in the 2014 Vic-Maui race.
Lomax is the fourth director in Pierce County Library’s 68-year history. With faster Internet connections, more mobile devices and the rise of entertainment giants such as Amazon and Netflix, public libraries find themselves at a crossroads. Lomax’s goals for keeping Pierce County Library relevant include focusing on tech innovation, workforce development and finding ways to further support the military population. She also has a personal interest in further connecting the library with the Native American community.
“As libraries exit the recession, they can look back and try to rebuild what was, or they can look forward and ask what they must now become,” said Lomax. “We choose to move forward. We will determine our future using guidance from the community and the resources and creativity of our staff. I know for sure that includes providing much-needed services, great books for readers, and the library playing a major role in the community.”

Information from Pierce County and state officials will be presented in free public workshops this month on the subject of Medicare options for health insurance.
“Checking on Choices for Medicare” will be presented by the Pierce County Aging and Disability Resource Center and SHIBA – Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors, a service of the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner. The information-only event is for Medicare beneficiaries and anyone else interested in Medicare coverage.
The presentation will be held three times:
• Nov. 3 from 12:10 to 12:50 p.m. at the Pierce County Annex main meeting room at 2401 S. 35th St. in Tacoma.
• Nov. 5 from 12:10 to 12:50 p.m. at the County-City Building’s seventh-floor Rainier Conference Room in Tacoma
• Nov. 8 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Soundview Building at 3602 Pacific Ave. in Tacoma.
The sessions will include an overview of Original Medicare, Medicare Parts A, B and D, and Medicare Advantage, as well as wrap-around coverage options. Participants will learn about comparing plans and the basic elements to consider for coverage that will provide the best coverage for the least amount of money, said Aaron Van Valkenburg, manager of Aging and Disability Resources, an agency of Pierce County government.
“There’s good news and not-so-good news with Medicare,” said Van Valkenburg. “The good news is that consumers can now make choices for their coverage that will offer the best coverage based on their lifestyle, medical conditions and budget. The not-so-good-news is that if consumers do not take a close look each year, they could end up spending money needlessly.”

Disability is something most people do not like to think about. But the chances that you will become disabled probably are greater than you realize. Studies show that a 20-year-old worker has a 1-in-4 chance of becoming disabled before reaching age 67.

Perhaps the most misunderstood Social Security program is disability insurance, often referred to as SSDI. Some people mistakenly think that beneficiaries are “on the dole” and getting easy money for minor impairments. That’s not the case. There are two ways to understand the truth about disability. One is by looking at the facts. The other is by getting to know some of the people who make up the many faces of disability.

We have some of the strictest requirements in the world for disability benefits. The Social Security Act sets out a very strict definition of disability. To receive a disability benefit, a person must have an impairment expected to last at least one year or result in death. The impairment must be so severe that it renders the person unable to perform any substantial work in the national job market, not just their previous work. SSDI does not include temporary or partial disability benefits. Because the eligibility requirements are so strict, Social Security disability beneficiaries are among the most severely impaired people in the country and tend to have high death rates.

In addition, Social Security conducts a periodic review of people who receive disability benefits to ensure they remain eligible for disability. Social Security also aggressively works to prevent, detect, and prosecute fraud. Social Security often investigates suspicious disability claims before making a decision to award benefits—proactively stopping fraud before it happens. These steps help to ensure that only those eligible have access to disability benefits.
Americans place a high premium on self-sufficiency, but it is reassuring to know that Social Security disability insurance is there for those who need it the most.

Kirk Larson, who wrote this article, is a public affairs specialist for Senior Security in western Washington.

Tacoma Housing Authority will host its first Senior and Disabled Handmade Craft Fair on Oct. 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Salishan Family Investment Center.
Senior and disabled residents of Housing Authority (THA) homes will be selling their handmade crafts to the public, with 25 percent of vendor profits being donated to a local food bank. Vendors will be selling a variety of handmade merchandise, including: knitted items, recycled art, jewelry, wood carvings and Victorian finger purses. One resident will be selling copies of her self-published book of poetry.
The site of the craft fair is at: 1724 E. 44th St. in Tacoma.
Additional information is available from Caroline Cabellon, THA’s elderly and disabled program specialist, at 253-720-6784 and ccabellon@tacomahousing.org.