Senior link is a partnership with the Anderson Police Department and Madison County Triad. Contrary to stories you may have heard, Senior Link had been in existence for over eight consecutive years in various modes. We are going through another change under Mayor Ockomon’s administration. This change could provide us with a program that could be very beneficial for our seniors.
The new Senior Link program could be the best model for programs that check on safety and security for seniors. The Anderson Police Department, instead of providing police officers to do the checks, is providing other resources. One example I will mention is that APD has fixed up an older police car with a new paint job, tune-up and Senior Link decals on the doors. Triad is providing the volunteers to make the house calls and phone calls.
Triad is strictly a non-paid volunteer program. We do not charge for people to attend our meetings, or have any kind of dues. Triad has a lot of volunteers who have donated their time, their expertise and sometimes their own money to help seniors. Not one volunteer has ever complained about needing reimbursement for their services. Some of these volunteers have donated countless hours serving seniors and their families. A few that I will mention is Bob Highsmith and his wife, Sally, who were calling over 300 Senior Link clients each month for the past seven years. Others like JoAnne Albea and Ludy Watkins have put in a lot of time creating documents for Triad among other things. Then there is Steve Weston, our webmaster for Triad, and Dan Skinner, who has donated more hours and resources than even I can imagine. Also, Jerry Yost is another valuable volunteer who spends his own money and time to help seniors in need. Our refreshment committee also puts in a lot of time helping us get ready for our meetings. We also have Patty Hamilton and Dellarose Gustin who help us plan future meetings and make phone calls.
These are all dedicated volunteers whose only reward is helping to protect seniors and trying to improve their quality of life. Their reward is in knowing that they made a contribution to those who are less fortunate. Our Triad volunteers are about giving something back to society. There is no room in our organization for those who think they need to be paid to do what our other Triad volunteers have been doing for free.
The most important ingredient in our relationships with law enforcement agencies, health care providers and other social agencies is mutual trust. Any negotiations on working conditions have to be done in the open with Triad. We will not tolerate maverick volunteers who have their own self-serving agendas who are trying to use Triad programs for their own personal or political gain. This would be a slap in the face to the many volunteers who have contributed so much and asked for nothing in return.
Psychology of scammers
The psychology of the scammers was one of the important issues that Irene Wegner discussed at last month’s Triad meeting. Irene gave a very informative talk that explained why so many of these scammers are so successful in stealing our money. First, they dangle the announcement that you can receive a lot of money for a small fee for taxes or bank fees or legal fees, etc. If you pay several thousand dollars they will send you millions of dollars. Once they have your attention and the first “fee,” they up the ante and try to get you to send more and more money till you are practically broke. They make promises they never intend to keep.
Dennis Lanane is chairman of Madison County Triad. He can be reached by e-mail at qparadigm@iquest.net.
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DENNIS LANANE: Senior Link program is a good model
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