There is still plenty of time to join the Senior Coalition of Washoe County’s Legislative Team of community volunteers to learn how easy it is to give your opinion on bills currently being heard in the Nevada Legislature that affect your life and the lives of other elders. See the legislative website at https://www.leg.state.nv.us/. Come to a hands-on legislative workshop at Sparks Senior Center (97 Richards Way, Sparks) at 2pm on April 11, and every Friday in May and June at 2pm. Once you do a workshop, join us for Senior Day at the Legislature on April 17 where we’ll talk with bill sponsors, learn more about senior affordable housing, increased penalties for crimes against seniors, restitution for investment fraud, better in-home care benefits, helping veterans and their spouses, and more. RTC will provide free transport to and from Carson for those who need it. Contact Marsy at [email protected] for more information.
Raise your voice in Congress
Your voice matters! If you are concerned about cutbacks to federal programs helping seniors, such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, call and email your federal representatives right now:
Come to Paradise Park Wednesday Walks and Community Garden
Our AARP Age-Friendly Reno Team walks every Wednesday at 10am in Paradise Park. We take an easy stroll around the park and breathe in some fresh air and good conversation. In April, in partnership with Reno Food Systems, City of Reno and Center for Healthy Aging, we are getting our own garden box at the community garden! We invite all walkers and anyone else interested to help us plant, water, cultivate and harvest our garden throughout the spring and summer. More information on the Nevada AARP website at https://local.aarp.org/reno-nv/aarp-events/
Join AARP Age-Friendly Community Engagement with Paradise Park Neighbors
Last fall our AARP Reno Age-Friendly action team met on zoom with experts from the international 880 Cities program, https://www.880cities.org/, to learn how to improve the safety, beauty and usage of one of Reno’s oldest and largest parks—Teglia’s Paradise Park. The park contains an activity center used daily by hundreds of seniors and is surrounded by thousands of seniors’ homes. In recent years, crime and homelessness there made the neighbors afraid to walk and bike in the park.
The 880 Cities advisers helped us create a survey that we used to measure who was using the park, when, and what activities they engaged in there. The data we collected showed us that walking is the most prominent activity in the park, and few bicycle there. Men outnumbered women at all times of day which means that women probably feel less safe and that the park is not as clean as it could be. Teens were severely underrepresented. Overall, the data showed that more and different programming could be offered to attract more and different users. The experts also produced some materials we can use to hold community engagement meetings with the neighbors to ask their input on what can be done to improve the park. The first meeting will be held in late March with Sierra Manor and Reno Housing Authority seniors who live across the street from Paradise Park. More neighbor meetings are being planned for April, May and June.
For more information on advocacy, Age-Friendly Paradise Park walks, the garden or the engagement meetings, please contact me at 775-240-2745 [email protected].
