Senior-Living Lessons via AARP, Palos Verdes Sr Living

http://www.PalosVerdesSeniorLiving.com

Ritch Steven, volunteer AARP Advocacy Network presenter and 30-year retirement-community veteran administrator, provided a wealth of excellent handouts and information on senior living options at yesterday’s lunch-time presentation. The venue was one-year-old Palos Verdes Senior Living, in Peoria. What a beautiful place! I toured the facility after the presentation with JoAnn Greeney, the center’s outreach coordinator. I was especially impressed with the wing designed for folks with Alzheimer’s and dementia issues. It was bright, warm, and cheery, with a lovely outdoor enclosed patio, and an indoor look that gave me the feel of a stroll through a 50’s-error smalltown community. At first glance, I could see myself or a loved one here.

Steven took the time before his presentation to hear from the audience about their specific concerns and questions.

Here are the myriad things we learned:

Meet Meetup

If you’ve never visited Meetup.com, you’ve missed the opportunity to meet like-minded people in your local community for fun, companionship, networking, business training, sports, or perhaps even romance. The site allows you to search by locale and by interest, and to set up alerts for new groups whose hobbies or interests you share.

Over 50 Singles of Central Phoenix

In Phoenix alone there are 1,065 different Meetup groups. Within a 10 mile radius 61 hiking groups meet regularly. Of these the 126 metro-area dance groups vary from ballroom to country, disco and hustle to swing. There’s even a Swingin’ Out Gay and Lesbian Swing Dancing Meetup Group. Entrepreneur groups include the Phoenix Young Enrepreneurs Incubator, Real Estate Investing and Marketing Entrepreneurs, The Mom-e Club in nearby Gilbert, and the Phoenix Affiliate Marketing Group. There’s a group for Senior Healthcare Professionals and even one specifically designed for NASCAR fans. Groups for those of us in the 50+ age bracket abound. Snowbird Connection was founded by a Michigan resident who resides here half the year, to meet others who do the same. The Family Caregiver and Support Group of Tempe welcomes anyone caring for family members, while Solo Seniors of the East Valley plans group events for boomer and senior singles.