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NO MORE PAIN LEARN ABOUT OUR REGENERATIVE TREATMENTS FOR CHRONIC JOINT CONDITIONS AND TAKE BACK CONTROL FROM PAIN www.trilogymedical.net Soquel: (831) 600-8117 4105 Soquel Drive Watsonville: (831) 724-1164 65 Aspen Way Choosing the right Medicare coverage can be confusing. I can help you find a plan that's right for YOU and YOUR BUDGET. Need affordable Medicare that's in step with your life? Call today for personalized service! 831-566-7573 Sheldon Parkinson Licensed Insurance Agent OF18960 This is an advertisement. Not all agents are licensed to sell all products. Service and product availability varies by state. HMIA001594 September 2021 edition Special Advertising Supplement to the Santa Cruz Sentinel Senior Network Services: Connecting Seniors to Community Resources for More Than 45 Years By Tara Fatemi Walker Senior Network Services, a nonprofit agency found- ed in 1974, has a wealth of information to help seniors in our community. It continues to serve people even though its doors are not currently "physically open for drop-in visitors" due to the pandemic. SNS staff encourage seniors, and/or family members of seniors, seeking informa- tion to call the office at 831-462-1433: hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m. SNS has an interesting history. Back in 1968, Santa Cruz County was chosen as one of only 12 pilot regions in the coun- try for a federal outreach program called Project FIND (Friendless, Iso- lated, Needy, Disabled). The program's goal was to identify seniors in need, especially ones that were isolated, and research what resources were most in demand. Our county had a high percentage of senior residents. As part of Project FIND, local vol- unteers and social work- ers surveyed many local seniors. As noted on SNS' website, Ansel Adams and a team of UC Santa Cruz Extension students put together a book with photos (published in 1969) that vividly supplement- ed these survey findings. "Those same volunteers and social workers later became involved in build- ing the strong foundation for what became Senior Network Services" (from seniornetworkservices.org/ about). SNS is comprised of eight main services: seven programs plus one product. These are all designed to either pro- vide seniors directly with information or services, including helping with filling out government forms, or to connect seniors with another community organization that can supply resources. The seven programs are Senior Housing; Home Help & Respite Care Registry; Family Care- giver Support Program; Case Management; Money Management; Information, Referral & Assistance; and HICAP (Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program-this relates to Medicare). The product SNS puts out is a Senior Network Directory. We'll provide some de- tails about some of these services; for information about the others, please visit seniornetworkser- vices.org. Please note: some program titles have recently changed and not all of the site's language has been updated. First, Senior Housing. It's important to note that this service doesn't find housing itself; it provides information and counseling. In addition to matching people who have homes with peo- ple seeking affordable housing, there is a housing directory available. This is downloadable directly from the website; it was last updated in March 2021. Visit seniornetwork- services.org/senior-hous- ing. Next, Home Help & Respite Care Registry: this program helps find domestic helpers for se- niors. Home maintenance and other tasks that these individuals may perform include housekeeping, laundry, cooking, trans- portation for shopping, and providing compan- ionship. Note that these helpers do not provide any type of medical assistance. Visit seniornetworkser- vices.org/home-help-ser- vices-respite. Now let's discuss the Senior Network Directory. One SNS staff member says that local seniors continuously remark— year after year—how useful this resource is. It's usually revised once a year; due to the pandem- ic it was last updated in early 2020. There is a $2 "suggested donation" for this hard copy booklet to help with printing costs, but no one is denied a copy for lack of funds. Lots of information from the booklet is currently online at seniornetworkservices. org/senior-resourc- es-directory. The online material is divided into more than 20 alphabet- ized easy-to-use cate- Young at Heart Young at Heart In Santa Cruz County Continue on page 2 courtesy of Senior Network Services website