Recap Ambassadors Afternoon Meeting 4/9/18

In Memoriam. Richard Merrill struggled with esophageal cancer and his suffering ended on Friday, 4/6/18, leaving behind his beloved wife of 55 years, Sharron. Elva Roy opened the Ambassadors meeting with 60 seconds of silence in memory of Richard and in support of Sharron as she endures Richard's absence and tries to adjust to her life which will be very different. Many members at the Monday's meeting expressed their sadness that we will no longer see Richard's smiling face at our meetings. He was on the Ambassadors' Leadership Team and was always "there" to do any task and to offer cogent ideas about various topics. We will all miss him greatly and Elva said that Richard was always one of her biggest supporters and also a vocal supporter of our Ambassadors group. He always "showed up" and is irreplaceable in our meetings and in our hearts.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Request your attendance at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 24, 6:15 pm. Mayor Williams will present the Ambassadors a Proclamation where he proclaims the month of May as "Older Adults Month." Sponsored every May by the federal Administration on Aging. More info at this link https://bit.ly/2FHK9js​ 
Elva hopes for a good turnout  to receive the proclamation (red shirt if you have one, if not, no worries). It's your chance to see the new City Council chambers at 101 W. Abram St. (parking garage west of City Hall at 101 Center St., or along Front St). And...good news...proclamations are done at the beginning of the Council Meeting so you don't have to stay for the whole thing...you can be home before dark.

Reminder about change of meeting dates for May and June. Because the County needs the use of our regular Meeting Room on the 2nd Monday of May and June, our meeting schedule for those months was moved. In May, we will meet on the 1st Monday (5/7/18) and in June we will meet on the 3rd Monday (6/18/18). Same time (1:00-3:00 pm) and same 1st floor Meeting Room at the Tarrant County Sub-Courthouse, 700 E. Abram St. Mark your calendars now, please, so you won't waste a trip on the wrong date.

Tai Chi classes are on hold until a location is found. The Levitt Pavilion is not available due to their heavy entertainment schedule. More info to come.  

Stem Cell Therapy. Elva took a vote from the members present at the meeting about whether they wanted to hear a speaker from Neuropathy & Pain Centers of Texas at a future meeting. Elva said that on the company's website, they were promoting stem cell therapy by chiropractors and Elva has made it no secret that she is skeptical of stem cell therapy claims. The members voted that they were not interested in having a speaker from this company so Elva will let them know that they don't fit the educational profile that we seek for our meetings.

Think Positive Thoughts About Getting Older. Elva mentioned some new research coming out of Yale University showing that a positive attitude about growing older can help stave off dementia. Anyone interested in reading more about it can click on this link ​bit.ly/2BPN8bc  Elva reminded the group that one of the primary purposes of the Ambassadors is to reinforce the knowledge that growing older is both good and bad (just like every decade of human life). We need to keep a positive attitude about aging and it's not that hard to do because we can control our thoughts (regardless of what we see on television and magazines which try to convince us that aging is an unnatural thing that we must "fight"...how silly is that!). Every face is beautiful, with or without the newest anti-aging cream. We are made to look exactly how we look and it's good!

Smart Senior Series continues at the Bob Duncan Center, 2800 S. Center St., Arlington, 2:00 pm. No charge. On April 19 the program is "Be Smart About Downsizing" and this session will be led by John and Ingrid Sullivan, members of this Ambassadors group, and new authors of a book titled The Ultimate Guide to Downsizing: Downsize Your Life to Upsize Your Lifestyle. Available on Amazon. ​ 

Tips & Tricks

• Some members recently received their property tax statement from Tarrant County. Included in the envelope was a card entitled "Property Fraud Alert." The card said that according to the FBI, property and mortgage fraud is the fastest growing white-collar crime. Crooks are filing phony deeds saying someone bought your property (without your knowledge or consent). So the County Clerk is offering a free service to send you an alert any time a document concerning your property is filed with the County. Elva signed up and the only information she had to put on the form to sign up was her name and email address (so it was very easy and quick and she didn't have to disclose much info about herself).  More info available at Property Fraud Alert Hotline (844) 746-9164 or sign up online at www.propertyfraudalert.com/tarranttx 
• EyeOn App LLC for iPhone, iPAD, and Android smartphones. Free app which will "check in" on someone who lives alone with a frequency and time set by the elder. The app will call an elder once a week or 10x a day (decided by the elder). When the phone rings at the appointed time, the elder picks up the phone and pushes a button. If no answer, the app will call back in 15 minutes. If still no answer, will try one more time (total of 30 minutes trying to reach elder) before notifying up to 3 contacts set up by the elder. The app is free to use, except when a contact is notified. Each text message to a contact costs the elder 10 cents but mostly the elder will pick up the phone and no message will be sent to the contact. Elva signed up to try out the service and will report back. More info at this link  http://eyeonapp.com 

SPEAKERS
1. Kimberley Maxwell, Urban Development Specialist, Arlington Housing Authority, email kimberley.maxwell@arlingtonhousing.us or phone (817) 276-6742 . Kimberley spoke about programs for grants and/or "forgivable loans" for bringing homes of low-income residents up to City code compliance (central heat/air, plumbing, electrical, dilapidated fence, barrier removal for disabled persons including widening doorways, building ramps). Elderly and disabled persons receive priority on the wait list which currently is somewhere around 2.5 years. Exceptions may be available for "emergency repairs." To discuss a specific situation, reach out to Kimberley who will be glad to assist. Income limit examples are: Household size 1 person $40,000/year; 2 persons $45,700; 3 persons $51,400. "Income" is considered for qualification, not "assets."

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Kimberley Maxwell from Arlington Housing Authority

2. Celia Brannon and Sharon (  ) from WellBridge Healthcare spoke about their programs. Their facility is at 6200 Overton Ridge Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76132. Their inpatient mental health facility is limited to people aged 50+. The outpatient facility is available to those aged 18+. They treat substance use disorder (alcohol, opioids, illegal drugs) and they also treat depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and other disorders. A link to their website is here   http://www.wellbridgefortworth.com/     Celia spoke for a few minutes about how to tell when professional help is called for versus just having a "down in the dumps" day or week. For further information, Celia's email address is  Celia.Brannon@wellbridgehealthcare.com