Verona has always been a multi-generational town. Many of us who live here have parents and grandparents who also live here. That much we all know. Many of us also know that, over the years, Verona has added services for seniors. Some come out of the municipal budget, like the senior bus. Some not, like the many senior-friendly apartments and condos that have been built.
Early this year, Verona welcomed a new resource for seniors and the people who care for them. Called Verona LIVE (Lifelong Involvement For Vital Elders), it provides some traditional senior services, like social activities, and other things that have not been common, like employment counseling and home maintenance and repair services. It is also reaching out to the community at large, with a resource fair for those who care for seniors and counseling by social workers. Perhaps best of all in these tight budget times, Verona LIVE is not funded by the taxpayers of Verona. Support for Verona LIVE is provided by the U.S. Administration on Aging and United Jewish Appeal, and it is funded in part through a grant from Partners for Health. (You can download the June calendar for Verona LIVE here.)
In the 2000 Census, 19.3% of the population of Verona was 65 or older. We won’t know the percentage of seniors counted by the 2010 Census until later this year. But the Census only shows part of the picture of senior care and Verona. It doesn’t tell us how many of you are caring for seniors who live elsewhere in New Jersey, or beyond. It doesn’t tell us how many hours a week you spend on senior care, or what kind of issues you are facing, all of which weigh, in ways large and small, on your quality of life in Verona.
So this week’s Reinventing Verona Survey asks a few questions about the senior citizens that our readers are caring for. You can take the survey by clicking here.
