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Careers Education
November 9, 2005
Seniors Face Daunting Options
is going on regardless o f whether help them out.
people are paying attention or not,”
“As a baby boomer with parents
te e r by a p p o in tm e n t each she said.
or grandparents, they’re turning to
W ednesday. A group session is
More than 200 volunteers have us more and more for decision mak
also planned on Nov. 30. Call 503- been trained locally to discuss and ing. This is a tool to help us get more
280-2632 for more information.
compare plans. Those interested engaged and give us a greater un
“One thing I’ve really noticed need to bring insurance cards, a list derstanding on how to coordinate
is that people seem so over of prescriptions (most easily made with doctors and pharmacists. That
whelmed by this that it’s easy to by asking your pharm acy) and a list alone has made it my responsibility
say, ’Oh, forget about it.’ It’s re of pharmacies used.
as a caring child,” Cohen said.
ally important to know that they’re
not having to do this alone,” said
Janet Bowman, program coordi
nator for SHIBA. “There are an
awful lot o f people that want to
help. It’s better to go in with your
eyes open than to have nasty
surprises about your health care
because that's the one thing in
life where people really don’t need
any surprises.”
Bowman noted that for low-
income residents, it even more - Janet Bowman, program coordinator for Senior Health Insurance Benefit
important to research the options Assistance, on getting informed about the new Medicare Part D prescription
drug plans
available.
“This is the first time in 4 0 years
that Medicare has covered out
“The goal is to get people to take
The deadline to sign up before
patient prescriptions. W e’ve had a deep breath and say yes, there’s late fees kick in is May 15.
people on Medicare who have to a lot of fog in the air but using these
To order a free AARP booklet
choose between paying theirelec- tools can help you,” said Jerry explaining the Medicare Part Dpro-
tricity or paying for their medica Cohen, state director of AARP O r gram.call 1-888-687-2277. To find
tion, or even cutting their medica egon. “It’s brand new and anytime out about upcoming outreach work
tion in half,” Bowman said.
you have a new program or system, shops, as well as phone and online
She’s hoping that through out I don’t care what it is, it’s going to counseling, call 1-800-722-4134.
reach and education, people will be confusing.”
Websites like www.medicare.gov,
feel less intimidated.
Cohen has helped his own par w w w .a a rp .o rg /m e d ic a re x or
“Not deciding means you’ve ents who are their 90s figure out www.ssa.gov also offer online re
decided something. This system whether or not the new plan would sources.
continued
Aretha Franklin sings during the funeral for Rosa Parks at the Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, Mich.
R o s a P a r k s L a id to R e s t
Day of remembrance and call to action
(AP) — A seven-hour funeral
celebrating the life of civil rights
pioneer Rosa Parks was not only a
day of remembrance for the 4.000
mourners who gathered, but also a
call to action.
As more than three dozen people
spoke of how Parks’ historic act of
defiance on a Montgomery. Ala.,
bus in 1955 changed the course of
history, many urged Americans to
continue her legacy.
“You ought to make one commit
ment in her name to yourself. You
ought to resolve that you are going
to do something that makes adiffer-
ence because we’re here because
she made a difference,” said the
Rev. Al Sharpton.
Parks died Oct. 24 at the age of
92. Her funeral Nov. 2 followed a
week of remembrances during which
Parks’ coffin was brought from
Detroit to Montgomery, where she
sparked the civil rights movement
by refusing to give her bus seat to
a white man, to Washington, where
she became the first woman to lie in
honor in the Capitol Rotunda.
Members of Congress and na
tional civil rights leaders filled the
pews o f Greater Grace Temple
church in Detroit Nov. 2 for the
service, which featured songs by
Aretha Franklin and mezzo-soprano
Brenda Jackson, who sang a soar
ing version of the Lord’s Prayer.
“The world knows of Rosa Parks
because of a single, simple act of
dignity and courage that struck a
lethal blow to the foundations of
legal bigotry.” said former Presi
dent Clinton, who presented Parks
with the Presidential Medal of Free
dom in 1996.
• Parks was a 42-year-old tailor’s
Assistant at a Montgomery depart-
jnept store in December 1955 when
she was arrested for refusing to
Rosa Parks seated in the front of a Chicago bus on 1995.
give up her seat to a white man on
a city bus. Her act triggered a 381-
day boycott of the bus system led
by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Parks and her h u sb a n d ,
Raymond, movedto Detroit in 1957,
after they lost their jobs and faced
harassment and death threats in
Montgomery.
Elaine Eason Steele, Parks’ long
tim e. personal assistant, said the
civil rights pioneer would have
loved W ednesday’s ceremony.
“Rosa Parks has enjoyed it,”
Steele said. “ She loved good
preaching. She loved good politi
cal talk.”
After the funeral, Parks’ casket
was put on an antique gold-trimmed
black wooden horse-drawn carriage
for the seven-mile procession to
Detroit’s Woodlawn Cemetery.
But because of the late hour and
the time it would take for the pro
cession to reach the cemetery by
horse, the casket was removed from
the carriage about a block into the
trip and placed in a white antique
hearse for the rest of the journey.
The crowd of onlookers clapped
and yelled “Rosa!” as the hearse
continued down the street, es
corted by riders on galloping
horses.
Two sets of doves were released,
a U.S. Marine in a dress uniform
played the bagpipes and there was
a 21-gun salute, before Parks’ flag
draped coffin was taken into the
mausoleum.
Rodney Brown, 12, of Detroit
stood w ith family members singing
“We Shall Overcome” and holding
lit candles as the hearse passed by.
As Sharon King, 49, of Chicago,
watched the procession, she made
what she called a “Rosa pledge.”
“I’m going back home and join
ing somebody’s organization to
make a difference in our commu
nity,” she said. “I’m definitely not
going to let her legacy die.”
from Front
It’s better to go in with
your eyes open than to
have nasty surprises
about your health care.
Are you
or
someone
you know
pregnant
?
from Front
erful civil rights leader Rosa Parks.
T hrough D ew -A ngee, s h e 's
been involved in Juneteenth Com
munity Unity 2005, First Steps
Sports Academy, Oregon Action,
Project Clean Slate. Broadous En
tertainment. Mrs. Allie Kilpatrick's
“Hats,” Vernon Elementary School
PTA, C om er Stone Community
C hurch, Portlar.d Tem ple and
HBI offers:
• Transportation to medical and social
service appointm ents
• H om e Visits
• Incentives
• H ealth education classes (free childcare and
transportation when attending any HBI
group or class)
• Information and referrals to com m unity services
Health Department
Healthy Birth Initiative
5.329 NE Martin Luther Kingjr. Blvd.
Portland, Oregon 97211
503-988-3387 *22242
Get the Flu Shot, (
Not the Flu.
The community is invited to join
with others foraThanksgiving Din
ner at one of these locations be
tween 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Thurs
day, Nov. 24:
Beaverton Loaves & Fishes
Center, Elsie StuhrCenter,555OS.W.
Hall Blvd; Belmont Loaves&Fishes
Center, Southeast Multiculutural
Center, 46I0S.E . Belmont; Cherry
Blossom Loaves & Fishes Center,
Eastside Community Center, 740
S.E. 106lh Ave.;
Elm Court Loaves & Fishes Cen
ter, YWCA, 1111 S.W. 10"'Ave.;
Tigard Loaves & Fishes Center,
8 8 15 S.W. O’ Mara.
THE BREAD LADY
continued
Healthy Birth Initiative (HBI) is a program
African American women anti their families li
in N /N E Portland.
For more information contact:
Loaves & Fishes
Thanksgiving
Loaves & Fishes Centers, The
Meals-On-Wheels People will de
liver more than 1,000 hot turkey
dinners to homebound seniors on
Thanksgiving Day. The organiza
tion will also host com m unity
Thanksgiving Dinners.
“A traditional holiday meal with
turkey and all the trimmings will be
delivered by volunteers to our most
frail and iso lated sen io rs on
Thanksgiving Day,” said Loaves
& Fishes Executive Director Joan
Smith. “We are so grateful for the
community volunteers who spend
part oftheir holiday making the day
brighter for these seniors.”
H ealthy Birth Initiative can help.
Dew’s Hauling and Yard Mainte
nance, to name a few.
“We should spread joy, not only
through the holidays, but sow our
seed of love everyday. Our means
of upholding the value of life is
what we put in it. Each person has
a unique quality," Williams said.
For more information on how to
be involved in or provide support
to Dew-Angie Services, call 503-
249-3283.
f