Free ‘Welcome to Medicare’ Class Held on April 19 & 26
April 10th, 2012

Are you confused about Medicare and approaching retirement age? This month, the Tennessee State Health Insurance Assistance Program will offer a free “Welcome to Medicare” class at Eastgate Town Center on April 19 and 26. Both classes will be held from 2-5 p.m.

“This class is intended for people unfamiliar with Medicare and need to learn the basics,” said Steve Witt, Director of the Southeast Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability. “We hope people throughout the region will attend and use this opportunity to have their questions and concerns about Medicare addressed.”

Topics covered in the class will include enrollment, selection of supplemental insurance and Part D prescription insurance, and managing your benefits online.

“Welcome to Medicare" is led by Katherlyn Geter, the Regional SHIP Coordinator at the Southeast Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability. The class is free, but registration is required. Please RSVP at 1-877-801-0044. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, please visit www.setaaad.org or email Katherlyn Geter at kgeter@sedev.org.

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Celebrating Literacy at Mary Walker Towers
February 23rd, 2012

This week, Hamilton County students and seniors are celebrating literacy and Black History Month at Mary Walker Towers. 

Named for a Chattanooga woman who learned to read at 100, participants at the week-long event are reading through this guide.

Nooga.com explains:

Walker, a Chattanooga resident, was the oldest living former African-American slave who died at the dear old age of 121.

Five short years before her death, she enrolled in a class with the Chattanooga Area Literacy Movement(CALM), now Tennessee's oldest adult literacy program, and learned to read for the first time in her life at the age of 116.

According to transcribed news reports on Rootsweb.com, the first book Walker owned was a Bible, a gift from the American Bible Society, although she wasn't able to read it for many decades. 

Walker's story is the inspiration for the weeklong Celebrate Literacy activities planned this week for the senior residents of the Mary Walker Towers and students of neighboring Howard High School.

Each afternoon from Feb. 20 through Feb. 24, students from Howard will come over to the Mary Walker Towers for a variety of informal exchanges between area youth and older adults through intergenerational readings, speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. and talks and storytelling from residents and local leaders.

In addition to Nooga, WDEF and WRCB also did stories on Celebrating Literacy. You can also view photos of the partnership on Facebook.   

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SETAAAD Celebrates Literacy, Black History Month at Mary Walker Towers
February 9th, 2012

This month, the Southeast Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability will be participating in Black History Month events at Mary Walker Towers. 

From Chattanoogan.com:

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Better Choices Better Health Dates for Winter 2012
January 13th, 2012

The Better Choices, Better Health workshop (formerly the Living Well with Chronic Conditions program) recently announced dates for winter and spring 2012.

The Better Choices, Better Health workshop is a 6-week program designed by the Stanford University School of Medicine. The program will meet for 2.5 hours each week at locations in Grundy, McMinn, Hamilton and Polk Counties.

“The Better Choices, Better Health workshop teaches participants how to manage their health better,” said Richie Johnson, who coordinates Better Choices, Better Health.  “The workshop teaches participants practical strategies and tools in dealing with pain and fatigue, learning better nutrition and exercise choices, understanding different treatment options, and how to discuss health issues with family members and health care providers.”

The Better Choices, Better Health workshop is free and open to both caregivers and those with chronic conditions such as heart disease, cancer, arthritis, asthma, diabetes, COPD, chronic pain, depression or any other chronic condition.

The winter/spring schedule is below:

• Mary Walker Apartments- Wednesdays at 1:30PM January 11 to February 15
• Mount Canaan Baptist Church- Tuesdays at 9:30AM February 7 to March 13
• Grundy County UT Extension Office- Mondays at 1PM February 20 to March 26
• Copper Basin Senior Center- Wednesdays at 12:30PM March 7 to April 11
• McMinn Senior Activity Center- Wednesdays at 1PM March 28 to May 2

If you are interested in participating in this program, please contact Richie Johnson at 423-424-4205.

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Meals on Wheels Program Featured in Cleveland Daily Banner
January 10th, 2012

Over the weekend, the Cleveland Daily Banner profiled the Meals on Wheels program at the Southeast Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability coordinates:

The local Meals on Wheels program continued to provide meals to the elderly (over 60), handicapped and disabled until the early 1990s, when it was taken over by the Southeast Tennessee Development District — the Area Agency on Aging and Disability (AAAD).

Coordinating deliveries over a 10-county area is Stacie Smith of AAAD. Goldston coordinates the effort in Cleveland and Bradley County, preparing daily routes for four drivers Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and five drivers on Tuesdays and Thursday.

If you would like more information on the Meals on Wheels program or other services provided by SETAAAD, please click here.

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