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TTN
NEWS
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TTN RECEIVES
GRANT FOR ITS CARING COMMUNITY INITIATIVE Once again, TTN is on the cutting edge
of social change --- this time for demonstrating that informal communities
can be a powerful force in helping people handle health issues and emergencies.
The prestigious New York State Health Foundation, committed to strengthening
public and community health by educating New Yorkers about health care issues
and empowering communities to address them, has recognized the importance of
our initiatives. They are funding us
to model and test ways that friends,
neighbors and colleagues can be mobilized to intervene when one faces an
emerging issue of health or disability. The two year grant, totaling
$144,000, will enable us to hire a part time coordinator and consultants to
run the program and develop “how to” manuals to be used by other informal
communities. Under the program, we are: ¨
Creating a TTN Service
Corps where members volunteer to help each other get through a health problem
or any other crisis. The help will come from peer group members, newly formed
TTN friends and support groups organized geographically. A time bank
philosophy will inform the program where hours of service given are banked
for hours of help needed in return --- covering taking a member to a doctor
or home from the hospital, a home visit, a shared meal, a telephone call,
anything that makes recovery easier ¨
Building a Health
Information Exchange Program where members who have had a health problem will
share their experience with another member who is newly diagnosed and needs
info. Also we will share recommendations on doctors, other health
practitioners and health accessories and devices which work well. A
coordinator will ensure privacy and confidentiality in connecting people and
in addition, we will establish an open database of useful resources, with a
description and links to their websites ¨
Developing guidelines
to create a Caring Community where you live. Proximity is key to convenient
sharing of help and TTN will demonstrate in several buildings that boards, management, staff and residents
can join together to make a high rise building a small village where
residents look out for each other. ¨
Developing a manual on
how to help friends and family who are being discharged from a hospital or
who end up in an emergency room. We are fortunate to be
joined by a wonderful set of partners including Visiting Nurse Service of New
York, Roosevelt Hospital, NYC Department for the Aging and ReServe and we
will be looking at ways to connect informal and formal systems of health
care. Evaluation will assess the value of community support on hastening
recovery, relieving anxiety, and preventing hospitalization. “How to” manuals
will be written as they relate to utilizing and empowering informal
communities to help improve health care. Progress to date, even
prior to funding, is extraordinary. Over 100 people have already signed up to
participate in the program. There is a steering committee which meets
monthly, directing the development of the program, and subgroups are actively
looking at the service corps, time bank, member information exchange and the
creation of supportive programs in New York apartment buildings. Peer groups
are exploring ways they will help members who need it and many are collecting
emergency contacts as a first step.
If you are interested in participating in any phase of the program,
please send an email to Cathy@thetransitionnetwork.org.
We are also seeking
applicants for the 25 hours/week project coordinator job (click HERE to view full job description) and
anyone with knowledge of databases and information systems. Please send your
responses to Cathy at the above email. LONG ISLAND PEER GROUP SHARES IN THE
SPIRIT OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON TTN
Long Island Chapter’s The Originals Peer
Group (the first and for 2 years, the only, Long Island Peer Group) decided
at their December meeting to make a monetary donation to St. Martin of Tours,
Amityville Parish Outreach. One of
the group’s members volunteers there on a weekly basis, and they wanted to
help out the needy families during this holiday season. The group plans to make
this a yearly tradition – and suggests that other peer groups consider doing
something similar for a local charity or toy donation organization. Thank you to all the TTN members in The Originals - for your
kindness and sharing this holiday season.
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THE TRANSITION NETWORK IN AGING TODAY The current
issue of "Aging Today," a publication of the American Society on
Aging, features a front-page article on The Transition Network. It was
written by Janet Mandelstam, co-chair of the San Francisco/Bay Area Chapter,
and includes interviews with founders Christine Millen and Charlotte Frank
and TTN members Roberta Cohen and Betty Goessel. The article is available online at http://www.asaging.org/publications/dbase/AT/AT-286-Mandelstam.pdf.
MEMBER GAYLE PALMER FEATURED IN NEWSDAY ARTICLE ON
POSTPONING RETIREMENT TTN members are role models for many aspects of life after 50 -
including work-related issues. In an
article titled "Retirement on Hold - Many Older Women Need to
Work," Long Island member Gayle Palmer talked about the impact of her
divorce and a market downturn on her income.
Needing to keep earning and saving, at age 68 she is still working 12
hour shifts as a nurse, though she has been able to cut back from three days
a week to two days a week.
Fortunately she enjoys her job, and given the critical shortage of
nurses, her employer offers her the flexibility she wants. Thanks, Gayle, for putting a face on a
challenge that many of our members will face in the coming years. To read the whole story, go to http://www.newsday.com/business/custom/retirement/ny-act2spd5472926nov24,0,5697251.story.
UTILIZING THE
INTERNET TO MAXIMIZE YOUR BUSINESS OR ORGANIZATION’S POTENTIAL From a friend of TTN:
Submitted courtesy of Lin Schreiber, www.RevolutionizeRetirement.com As I learned at the We Built It and They Came
session at the 2007 Positive Aging Conference, there are many of us out there
working in the trenches and loving it. However, there are many people who are not using the internet for
their business or organization. If you’re one of these people,
reconsider. It is the most powerful and cost effective tool for marketing
today. I was a complete techno-phobe when I started 6 years ago.
Now, while I don't necessarily understand how it works, I do
understand its power. It has brought me amazing media requests,
speaking engagements and clients. Don't allow yourself to be overwhelmed by
the amount of technology or marketing strategies that you might
implement. Check out the possibilities, then create a plan for yourself
that has you building one new thing at a time…over time. Make it
doable, and most importantly, enjoyable. Following are various resources to
aid in this process. To your success!! WEBSITES www.classythemes.com : where
I bought my website template for $50. It came with a very cool animation
on the home page that we have since replaced with some video from the Boomers
TV segment. It made the website look incredibly professional right from
the start. www.kickstartcart.com :
there are plenty of shopping carts out there, but my genius VA Donna swears
by this one. It's not perfect, but it has more features that we want
and need than any of the others. BTW, if you can avoid using PayPal, I
highly recommend that you do. www.123stat.com
: this service lets me know 24/7 everything I want to know about the
traffic going to my website…location, return visitor, click-throughs, what
page they entered, what page they departed, how long they were there,
keywords they used to find me, etc. INTERNET MARKETING www.submityourarticle.com: $37/month will blast as many
as 8 of your articles a month all over the internet. I'm still getting
Google alerts of pick ups of articles I submitted 2 years ago! This is
a great way to drive traffic to your website and increase your rankings. www.PRWeb.com
: like the article blaster above, PRWeb blasts your press releases on the
web. There are varying levels of service starting at $80 per
blast. I spent a fortune last year on PR locally; in 2008 I plan
to spend a fraction of that fortune at PRWeb. www.FullCalendar.com :
this is a relatively new resource started on the West Coast with about 18
locations around the country where they'll blast your event
announcement. It's $19.95 per event, per location. We got ours in
late for our November Boot Camp this year, but it went everywhere from Boston
to NYC, including the Berkshires where the event was located. Missing
your mid month newsletter? No, there’s nothing
wrong with your mail delivery. We recently made the decision to eliminate the
mid-month national newsletter in favor of chapter-generated individual,
smaller updates on activities, meetings and events. In the coming year, there
will be additional improvements in the way we communicate with our members.
We’re interested in what you think: do you have suggestions on how to improve
the newsletter in the coming year? Please contact us at info@thetransitionnetwork.org
and tell us what you think. We welcome your feedback. |
When the mid-winter blues
are at your door, chase them away with a TTN 3-night spa vacation! We will gather on March 10 – 13 in the new year at New Age Health Spa
in Neversink, New York (approximately 2 hours from New York City, in the
Catskills). Fitness classes, yoga,
pilates, meditation, spa cuisine, a compatible group of friends and special
TTN evening programs will make this a unique getaway. The trip is limited to
20 members, so reserve now to save your place! Cost: $842.00 for 3
nights (taxes included, double occupancy room; reserve with a friend if you
want a specific roommate.) One night
deposit ($280) due with your reservation, with final payment ($562) due by
February 1, 2008. To reserve your place,
email rsvp@thetransitionnetwork.org.
Send deposit check – and final payment - to The Transition Network, P O Box
231240, Ansonia Station, New York, New York, 10023. Transportation is
arranged on your own - for travel
information, visit the New Age Health Spa website at www.newagehealthspa.com. Questions? Email info@thetransitionnetwork.org. * * * * * *
* * * *
Do you have suggestions?
Contact info@thetransitionnetwork.org
with your ideas...and join our next meeting on Wednesday January 16, 1 to 3
PM. FEGS NEW START PROGRAM
To receive an
application, call or e-mail the New Start Fund directly at (212) 524-1758 or
newstartfund@fegs.org. To download a printable flyer on this program, click here: http://www.fegs.org/fegsenews/enews2007/1101/ TALBOTS TO AWARD $100,000 TO WOMEN ATTENDING COLLEGE
LATER IN LIFE
Sponsored by
the Talbots Charitable Foundation, this unique Scholarship Fund has awarded
five $10,000 scholarships and fifty $1,000 scholarships each year since its
inception in 1997. The Fund was created to fill a void in scholarship
programs which are typically awarded to traditional college students. To
date, the Fund has awarded one million dollars in college scholarships to
over 500 women primarily in their 40's and 50's. The Talbots
Charitable Foundation serves the community through its support of the arts,
education, health and civic services. Founded in 1947, Talbots is a leading
specialty retailer, cataloger and e-tailer. Applications for the 2008 Talbots Women's Scholarship can be
downloaded online at http://www.talbots.com/about/scholar/scholar.asp.
Eligible applicants must be women currently residing in the United States who
earned a high school diploma or GED at least 10 years ago; are currently
seeking a degree from an accredited 2- or 4-year college, university or
vocational-technical school; and have at least two full-time semesters or 24
credits remaining to complete their undergraduate degree. |
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MEMBER PROFILE
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Introducing DC/Capital
Area Chapter Member Judith McGuire Welcome,
tell us about yourself.
I'm 57, married,
with two daughters, 21 and 24 years old.
My original career was in international nutrition including work for
UN organizations, USAID, and World Bank.
Since retiring in 2001, I have continued this work as a freelance
consultant. I concentrated on developing,
supervising, and evaluating programs to prevent malnutrition in children and
women. I have a Ph.D. in Nutritional
Biochemistry and Metabolism from MIT, which was essentially a card to carry
since I rarely needed the biochemistry for my work. I have worked in Latin America, Africa and South Asia. I lived for two years in Guatemala and 6
months in Kenya along the way. After retiring,
I went back to school and got a MS in Social and Organizational Learning and
a certificate in Non-Profit Management.
I thought of starting an NGO but never really put the wheels in
motion. I love
gardening and am in the process of converting my front lawn into a
garden. I particularly like scent so
I'm hoping to be able to cultivate primarily plants with fragrant flowers or
leaves. My passion these days is global warming. I chair my town's climate protection committee and I am active
in promotion, education, legislation, and regulations to reduce unnecessary
energy and water use. Tell us
about another passion - for the outdoors and hiking. I have always
loved being outdoors. When I was in
college, I joined a mountain club and those friends became my entire social
support system for college and graduate school. Even today, they are some of my dearest friends. At the mountain club, I did lots of
backpacking, hiking, rock climbing, canoeing, etc. I met my husband there.
In the intervening 30 odd years, I continued to go hiking. We took our kids out a few times
backpacking but they weren't too excited about it. Arthur and I have taken many hiking vacations and done
wonderful long distance trails: the
Tour du Mont Blanc, the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt, the Coast to
Coast Walk in Britain, and the Queen Charlotte Track in New Zealand, to name
a few. Plus I've climbed various
peaks in Africa, Latin America, and Asia in my work travels. But this year I
achieved one of my hiking dreams: I
hiked the Appalachian Trail, all 2174 miles of it! I started March 25 in Springer Mountain, Georgia and finished
on Mt. Katahdin, Maine on September 6.
It was the experience of a lifetime.
We have
heard that each AT (Appalachian Trail) hiker has a nickname – what (and why)
was yours? My trail name
is “Judo”. It’s the name my old
hiking club buddies called me so I thought I’d use it again. Also, it isn’t gendered and sounds like I
know self-defense. I, like most
through hikers, signed in at all the shelters I visited and I didn’t want
strangers to know I was a defenseless female walking alone. Tell us what
you like, enjoy about the DC Area. I have to say
that I live in DC only because it was the only place where my husband and I
could find jobs after we got married.
We moved here from Seattle and I wish we could move back. I'm not wild about DC, mostly because
there are no real mountains nearby.
I'm not a city person and don't take advantage of the great things DC
has to offer. I enjoy the world's
greatest bookstore here (Politics and Prose), great friends, an excellent
newspaper, and having everything I want within walking distance (including by
Metro). What was
your most significant transition in the past few years? Leaving the
hustle and bustle of a stressful job
(deadlines, frequent international travel, bureaucratic red tape,
reorganizations, etc. etc.). Another,
smaller, transition has been coming back from my AT hike and trying to live a
normal life. I'm still not operating
like a normal person. Any
transitions ahead? I'm hoping to
start a new career in science writing.
I've had some freelance work, which I enjoy tremendously, and I'm
writing many articles, both on my Appalachian Trail adventure and on global
warming. I really need a job or some deadline-driven work to jolt me out of
my current malaise. When
and why did you join TTN? I joined last
year when membership became possible.
I went to a wonderful talk by Suzanne Braun Levine and Ruth Neubauer
about their lifelong friendship and their convergence later in life and
shared interest in helping older women move on to "what's
next". (I found out about the
talk from a Politics and Prose newsletter.)
I loved their dialogue and met some interesting women there. So I was interested in attending more TTN
events. Then they said a new Rewiring
group was opening up so I joined that.
That is where I discovered I really wanted to be a science writer. What do you
seek in your TTN membership and involvement? I've already
made several new friends, which was a surprise and delight at my age. I'm looking for fun, friendship, and intellectual
stimulation from other old crones like me. What groups
etc. (peer groups, committees, other) are you involved in? I was involved
in a Rewiring group before my trek but I haven't returned. I'm a member of the Outdoor Explorers
Group and looking forward to hiking with other older women. I'm organizing a drum circle for January,
which I hope will lead into an ongoing drumming experience for me. A TTN friend and I attended my first drum
circle a couple of months ago and I'm hooked. What do you
envision for your chapter, and TTN, in, say, five years? I'm not
sure. It has changed even in the year
I've been involved. I'd like to think
that TTN will increasingly attract dynamic older women who still want to make
a difference in the world. I would
hope there's a broader diversity in the membership in the future (racially,
demographically, economically, and in interests) and I’d anticipate a more
eclectic set of offerings to members.
Plus I’d like to see TTN as a growing voice about issues that affect
us. Any
suggestions or ideas for TTN regarding programming, activities, groups,
anything? I've already
organized something pretty unusual: a
drum circle (to be held January 17).
I think it's a whole different way for us to get to know each
other. As the number of members
grows, there should be critical mass to keep a lot of activities well
stocked. The newsletter and member
notification system seem a little cumbersome now so spontaneity is
difficult. I’m more of a spontaneous
person than a planner. There's always
a tension between spontaneity and organization. It's hard to get the right balance. Judith
shares one future goal: “ I want to walk the John Muir Trail when I'm
60. My dream is to still be of sound
mind and body when my grandchildren are growing up so I can be the kind of
grandmother my mother was to my kids.” To read previous member profiles, visit archived articles on
our message board: Member Profiles |
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TECH
TIPS
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TIP
OF THE MONTH
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Have you ever trashed an email
because it didn't have a subject line only to find out later that it was an
important message? According to the authors of Send,
the subject line is the most neglected part of emails. It
should inform the recipient of the content of the message. Some useless subject lines
are FYI, Great News, Meeting, ?????,
and Plans. Useful ones tell you what to
expect , i.e., Tech Committee Agenda for Dec. 10, 2007,
Movie on Thursday? Vacation plans for Jan. General guidelines for Subject
lines: always use them, make sure they are
informative and don't sound like spam, they should reflect not only the first
item in the message but its entire content, and use specific names that are
identifiable to the recipient. From: Send, The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home, by
David Shipley and Will Schwalbe. (Want the book? Click the link for a
list of sellers!) |
SharpBrains -- An On-Line
Resource for Brain Fitness Tish Campbell, TTN steering
committee member of the San Francisco Chapter, recently took a class on aging
and the brain given by Alvero Fernandez at Osher Lifelong Learning
Institute at the University of California in Berkeley. Fernandez is the co-founder and
CEO of SharpBrains on-line. SharpBrains raises public
awareness of the emerging research in cognitive health and is a one-stop
source of information and guidance on cognitive and emotional training, i.e,
Brain Fitness. The site includes a wealth of
articles and resources about brain fitness, brain teasers, puzzles, word
games you can do on-line. You can also sign up to be on the mailing
list and receive the free monthly newsletter via email. BRAIN TEASERS
Check out the web site: http://www.sharpbrains.com to find this online brain fitness center. |
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MEMBER OPPORTUNITIES
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OTHER EVENTS OF INTEREST
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JOB
OPPORTUNITIES
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TTN IN PHOTOS
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[Job Listings are Members Only Opportunities except
where indicated] TTN IS HIRING A
PART TIME PROGRAM MANAGER FOR TTN CARES! A PROGRAM TO HELP MEMBERS HANDLE
ILLNESSES AND TEMPORARY DISABILITIES. NEW ************This position is open to all**************** The Transition Network (“TTN) is seeking a paid manager who will
work about 25 hours per week, primarily from home, for a minimum of $25,000
annually to help establish and run its TTN Cares! (aka Aging in Place and The
Caring Community) initiative. Expression of interest and resumes should be
sent to Cathy@thetransitionnetwork.org. The Job: The goal of the
initiative is to develop a base of TTN members who can rely on each other for
health-related assistance and to demonstrate that informal communities can play
a major role in helping people recover from illnesses and temporary
disabilities. The position is multifaceted covering 1) a service corps and
time bank where hours served are banked for a time when help is needed, 2) a
health information exchange program where members share information on
illnesses, doctors and health services, 3) a open access resource information
center, 4) the development of guidelines which New York residential building
staff, management and residents can use to help residents handle emergencies
and bouts of illness and incapacitation, and 5) the development of guidelines
for handling hospital and emergency room discharge. The Duties: The
manager will participate as staff member to the AIP steering committee and
its subcommittees and will be a member of TTN’s paid staff team. The manager will work with the committees to assemble data bases
of those willing to offer services (companionship to the homebound, accompany
members to medical appointments, shop, cook or generally provide help with
the tasks that become daunting at a time of illness) and share
information on health matters with which they are familiar. The TTN
manager will link these volunteers with members who are in need of
assistance. Data will also be collected on outstanding health professionals
and other service providers and on recommended equipment and supplies which
aid in functioning during periods of incapacity. In conjunction with the service corps, we anticipate the use of
a “Time Bank” in which volunteers will be credited for time spent helping
others. The credits can be used at a later time for services the
volunteers themselves may need. Or, they may be used to offset a debit
for past services already received. A further aspect of the project will train
members to organize their apartment buildings for the purpose of providing
similar self-help among residents. One subcommittee is developing a
manual detailing the steps to organizing a building, starting with a proposal
to co-op boards, enlisting the cooperation of the superintendent and doormen,
and, ultimately, building a bond among neighbors for the exchange of needed
assistance. Another subcommittee is compiling a list of web-based
resources which will allow members to do research and communicate with
organizations and agencies which can help meet their needs. Support
responsibilities include recording minutes of committee meetings and
completing follow-up tasks. TTN has established relationships with the Visiting Nurse
Service, the NYC Department for the Aging, Roosevelt-St.Luke’s Hospital and
Re-Serve as partners in this program. All major components of the program
will be tested and evaluated and will be captured in “how to” manuals for use
by other informal communities and non profit organizations. Qualifications: The position
is a sensitive one, with access to private health information. It will demand
intelligence, discretion, flexibility, and ability to work with people. The
successful candidate must be well organized (project management experience
very helpful). We are also looking for excellent written and oral
communications; ability to work with consultants, volunteers, other TTN staff
members, and collaborators; proficiency in MS Office tools; experience with
data base development desirable. The program manager will need to
be located in the New York area. At present, there is no office per se
--- there will be meetings (mostly in Manhattan) --- but much of the
work will be done at home. A fully equipped computer and printer are important.
Eventually, office space will be secured. TTN is a non-profit business focused on women over 50.
Through The Transition Network, women join forces to successfully navigate
the transition from their careers to whatever is next, discovering new opportunities,
new perspectives and new ways to make an impact. PROGRAM ASSISTANT (PART-TIME) NEW Purpose of Position: support the Assembly’s Senior Management
Team in engaging members in the organization’s services. Click Here
for Full
Details, Salary and Contact Info
FACULTY NETWORKS MANAGER NEW Seeking an effective, thoughtful, project manager with 5+ years
of experience to run networks of faculty and business leaders in the US and
abroad. The successful candidate will be passionate about changing the world
and able to speak the language of both academia and business. Click Here
for Full
Details, Salary and Contact Info The Event & Office Coordinator will be responsible for
overseeing all fundraising events to generate funds to support New Ground
operations, as well as ensuring the smooth running of the office on a day to
day basis. Assist Executive Director as needed on other development related
issues and work with the Executive Director, Grants Specialist and Board
Members to coordinate all development activities. Click Here
for Full
Details, Salary and Contact Info
Responsible for oversight of the day-to-day operations in
Oakland. The Field Manager supervises two neighborhood-based Volunteer
Coordinators, builds relationships with school staff and community partners,
recruits volunteers, and assists the Director with marketing and program
evaluations. This full-time position reports directly to the Bay Area
Director. Frequent travel between North and East Oakland schools is required. Click Here
for Full
Details, Salary and Contact Info
Note: Job
opportunities are posted as received, often weekly. Please visit the Members
Area on the Web daily for more information and updated member
opportunities. Click on the Message
Board link below to see all job listings. | |||||
