Creating Senior-Friendly Communities

Baby Boomers are quickly reaching traditional retirement age at the same time that Rhode Island, as is the nation, faces severe budget constraints, conflicting priorities and a sharp increase in demand for services for those who are over 65.

The Senior Agenda Coalition’s Sixth Annual Senior Conference and Expo will focus on “Creating Senior-Friendly Communities,” promoting spaces and services that support active and engaged living for seniors and enable them to remain living in the community.

The conference will take place on Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick. It is Rhode Island’s only full-day conference aimed primarily at seniors.

The keynote speaker is Dan Burden, founder of The Walkable and Livable Communities Institute (walklive.org). Burden has spent 35 years helping the world “get back on its feet” by designing and redesigning neighborhoods and towns to a bikeable scale.

Harris (Hershey) Rosen, formerly the Interim Executive Vice President of the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island (now part of The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island) will be one of the featured speakers. Rosen will focus on “Empowering Your Family By Planning for the Future,” based on his recently published book.

In addition to the keynote address and a luncheon speaker, the conference will include 10 workshops on diverse topics of interest to seniors, family members, “volunteer caregivers,” and professionals in the field. Other presenters include Jeanne Hutchins and Lori McKenna of the University of Vermont Center on Aging; Kelly Baxter, Nurse-Practitioner from the Palliative Care Program at Kent Hospital; and Martha Machnik, Director of Healthy Aging for the YMCA of Greater Providence.

The exhibit area will contain 35 tables with representatives offering services and products to seniors, as well as two author tables, at which books will be available for purchase.

The registration fee for those aged 60 and over is $25.00, including continental breakfast and lunch; the fee for those under 60 is $45.00. Register online (senioragendari.org) or at the door.

For more information: contact Executive Director Bill Flynn at 952-6527 or email senioragen-dari@yahoo.com or Dianne Newman at 225-5986 or dznewman@hotmail.com.