Wednesday, September 30, 2009

H1N1 Virus Information

Do you have questions about the H1N1 (swine) flu?

The PA Dept of Health has a website where you can get answers and learn about how to help control the spread of H1N1 flu.

Located at www.H1N1inPA.com, the site provides the latest news about the virus such as:

What are the symptoms of the disease?

How should you care for sick family members?

When will the vaccine become available and how it will be distributed?

For other questions about H1N1, call the Department of Health at 1-877-PA-HEALTH
(1-877-724-3258).

Have a healthy autumn season!

7 Steps to Make Computers More Accessible for the Elderly

Check out this link for information on changing different aspects of your computers operation to better suit the elderly.

Click Here For More Information

Information for Recipiants of Medicare & Medicaid

The 2009/2010 Guide to Mailings from CMS, Social Security and Plans is now available. This chart explains the mailings that beneficiaries will receive. It also details the action, if any, the beneficiary should take.

You can access the chart at the following link: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/LimitedIncomeandResources/Downloads/2009Mailings.pdf

Ellen Whitlinger Crawford Autobiography

An exciting read about a 102 year old local woman who wrote her own autobiography, "Faith and a Sense of Humor." Check out the article.

Put Your Best Foot Forward

STEELERS KICKER JEFF REED ISSUES CHALLENGE TO
“PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD”
BY DONATING SOCKS TO THOSE IN NEED

“Reed Challenge” encourages individuals, groups and organizations to
“step up for a good cause” in October

While the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) of Allegheny County and the Allegheny County Library Association are busy encouraging individuals to PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD by donating socks to those in need, Steelers Kicker Jeff Reed is encouraging individuals, groups and organizations to make it a team effort by issuing a special challenge of his own.

The campaign’s honorary chairman – who has proudly worn a black and gold uniform for the past eight years – has issued the following challenge to groups and organizations: collect and donate black…gold…and black/gold socks in particular.

“Black and gold are very lucky colors for me, so I’m asking Steelers fans to go out of their way to donate colorful socks in October,” said Reed. “Ask your co-workers or members of a community group to donate socks. Talk it up at the office water cooler, at your neighborhood bus stop or at your kid’s soccer games. Steelers fans are generous people who care about the people of Pittsburgh, so I’m positive they’ll step up for this very good cause.”

Throughout the month of October, drop off new socks at any participating Allegheny County public library or American Red Cross building, 225 Blvd. of the Allies, downtown Pittsburgh. Just look for the specially marked box and drop in new socks…any size, color or style.

“People often donate clothes and shoes to those in need…but rarely socks,” according to RSVP Project Director Linda Soldressen. “With the cold weather approaching, many children and adults in the area are in need of new socks. We’ll collect the socks at the end of October and quickly distribute the socks to individuals at homeless shelters and other local agencies.”

Last year’s successful campaign resulted in more than 4,200 pairs of new socks benefiting those in need.

Call your local library to ask if it’s participating. For a list of Allegheny County libraries’ locations and phone numbers, visit www.aclalibraries.org and click on the member libraries link.

For more information concerning the PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD effort, call the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program at 412-263-3184.
Get the downloadable poster here!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Senior Living Links

Here are some helpful links to information to help keep your family healthy from the Summer 2009 issue of NIH MedlinePlus Magazine.

Caregiving and Decision-Making For Seniors: How You Can Help
Dr. Nancy Snyderman's Parents, Staying Close to Family Is Key
There's No Place Like Home
Assisted Living
Long Distance Caregiving
Staying Positive and Moving Forward
Former WWII Fighter Pilot Finds New Home Near Family
Near-Centenarian Makes Friends Quickly in New Home

Allegheny County APPRISE Program

Attention!

Below is a list of the Medicare/Health Care Information and Counseling events for the upcoming enrollment season to date. If anyone or any organization is interested or could possibly benefit from the programs listed please contact Bill McKendree for further information. Here is a brief outline of the services provided at the Medicare/Health Care Information and Counseling events:

Each event anticipates a turn out of 75 to 200 people. Between 6 and 12 our agency's counselors (APPRISE--The Pennsylvania State Health Insurance Assistance Program) will be present to answer Medicare and related questions, do Medicare insurance plan comparisons on site, do plan enrollments on site, and provide assistance enrolling in such medical benefit programs as Medicaid, PACE/PACENET, and LIS/Extra Help. Other programs that will be present to provide counseling will include (but not limited to) Social Security Administration, Allegheny County Veterans Affairs, PDA-Waiver, and DPW. In addition each event will provide prescription drug counseling by pharmacists, and health screenings by health professionals.

If you have any additional questions please feel free to contact Bill McKendree by email (mckendreew@fswp.org) or by phone (412-661-1670 x645).

List of Events:

11/10/09 10am to 3pm
Alle-Kiski Medical Center
1301 Carlisle Street
Natrona Hts. 15065

11/12/09 10am to 2pm
St. Brendan’s Episcopal Church
2365 McAleer Road
Sewickley 15143

11/17/09 10am to 2pm
6th Mt. Zion Baptist Church
6556 Shetland Street
Pittsburgh (East Liberty)15206

11/18/09 10am to 3pm
Riverview Manor
1500 Letort Street
Pittsburgh (Brighton)15212

11/19/09 10am to 2pm
Rankin Christian Center
230 3rd Ave
Rankin 15104

12/01/09 10am to 3pm
Jefferson Regional Medical Center
565 Coal Valley Road
Jefferson Hills 15236

12/03/09 12noon to 4pm
Benedictine Center
4530 Perrysville Ave.
Pittsburgh (North Hills) 15229

Reading, Grants, and Fundraising Ideas

For your reading pleasure. Take a look at these:

"The Sustainability Factor: How Nonprofit Organizations Can Thrive in the Emerging Economy"
(at least read pages 8-13)

"How to Strike Effective Alliances and Partnerships"
(Harvard Business Review) Eight factors that make alliances work.

Grants and Contests:

American Masterpieces: Chamber Music (National Endowment for the Arts) Grants area available for chamber music performances in conjunction with educational activities (must have a 3 year history of programming that includes the production or presentation of chamber music performance and educational activities prior to the application deadline)
Amount: $5,000 to $75,000 (requires a non federal match of at least 1 to 1)
Deadline: October 8, 2009
More Info: Click HERE

America's Historical and Cultural Organizations and Interpreting America's Historic Places grant (National Endowment for the Arts' Division of Public Programs)
Grants support interpretive exhibitions, reading or film discussion series, historic site interpretation, lecture series and symposia, and digital projects. NEH especially encourages projects that offer multiple formats and make creative use of new technology to deliver humanities content.
For application guidelines: Click HERE
Application document: Click HERE

Libraries in Action:

Sharing what we have and what we know is a library attribute that any other entity would have a difficult time duplicating. Washington District has a great District newsletter
-here's a gem on fund raising: Click HERE

Some Districts also have newsletters targeting board members! What a great place to include fund raising expectations and tips!

Online Money:
New and inventive ways to raise funds for your library!
Tweetraising: The Potential For Charities On Twitter: Click HERE

Volunteer Help:
In this economic downturn utilizing all your resources is key. Are you a small library without a development office? Is the library director doing it all-as well as researching and writing grants? Think about getting some free help if you can't afford to hire a grant writer! Or, perhaps several libraries can go together and share someone. Put out a call in your community for someone who could assist in writing grants.

It should be seen as a high-prestige volunteer position and advertised as such (word of mouth or put an ad in the paper!). A job description is essential (all volunteers should have one) and you can be selective! They have the satisfaction of helping the library and personal publicity when the grants start rolling in!

This volunteer can be on the look out for appropriate grants and do most of the legwork.The librarian will still need to give input and do some work but it will cut down on missed opportunities and passing up grants due to too little time.

Also, many grants ask for the same things-they want a copy of your 990 or your mission statement, demographics, etc. When time or a volunteer's availability allows, gather multiple copies of these items in one place for ready accessibility when a grant opportunity presents itself.

Special thanks to Diana Megdad of Commonwealth Libraries for providing such a wealth of information.

H1N1 Virus Posters

The Allegheny County Health Department has provided us with two black-and-white printable posters with easy to read steps concerning the H1N1 Virus more commonly know as Swine Flu. The first poster describes the H1N1 Virus 'Must Haves' which include a thermometer, facial tissue, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, and of course the H1N1 vaccination. The second poster provides similar information about how to protect yourself and others from the spread of the H1N1 Virus. Please feel free to print and display!

Thank you to Beth Mellor of ACLA for sharing this information.