Advocacy
Changes to Our Advocacy Efforts
It is with both sadness and excitement for her future that we see our Director of Public Policy & Special Projects, Maddy Bynes, transition into new roles in both graduate school and other ventures. We thank Maddy for her more than 5 years of service to PCOA and to older adults in our community. Though we are sad about this transition, we assure you that advocacy work is at the core of what we do as an Area Agency on Aging – and PCOA continues to lead in this work nationwide as it has since its inception in 1967. PCOA continues to work with our local, state, and federal partners to best respond to and meet the needs of older adults in our community. And we can’t do this work alone. Your voice is valuable, and we will continue to rely on you as part of our team. This fall, more than most, we need your help to not only take action on our website at advocacy.pcoa.org, but we also need you to vote! We Are So Thankful for Your Advocacy! Over the past year, we’ve had a lot to be grateful for. We’ve seen a lot of changes in our world and your bold and tireless advocacy has helped us to address these changes. Since last Thanksgiving, with your help, we’ve done so much to help older
focus on retaining our new funding increases at a state level. Your voice will be critical to this fight, and we need you to continue to get loud for older adult services. You can stay informed and send letters to your legislators by visiting advocacy.pcoa.org. We also need to remain up to date on our vaccinations. Not only is COVID-19 a threat to the health of older adults but making sure we are staying up to date on the flu vaccination and getting shots like pneumonia and shingles when we are eligible helps to keep disease rates low and hospitalizations down. You can get the latest COVID-19 vaccine information at covid-19.pcoa.org. This past year has been chalked full of major accomplishments for PCOA, the Arizona Aging Network, and ultimately for older adults and those who love and care for them. We couldn’t have done it without your advocacy, and we are so grateful for you. From all of us at PCOA – thank you!
people in our community. Over the past year, we’ve worked hard to get out reliable and accurate information about the COVID-19 vaccine. Our Take YOUR Shot partnership made more than 75,000 phone calls and knocked on more than 100,000 doors in Pima County to talk to people about the importance of not only getting vaccinated but also staying up to date on vaccinations. It was you who turned out! You volunteered, knocked on doors, made phone calls, and because of your amazing work – more than 90% of people over the age of 60 have a COVID-19 vaccination. Along with vaccinations, you worked hard to make sure your legislators knew the importance of home and community-based services for older adults and adults with physical disabilities. You wrote letters and made phone calls, and with your continued advocacy – we succeeded. This past legislative session, the Area Agencies on Aging statewide received a cumulative increase of $1.5 million for the current fiscal year. We’ve done so much this year and we still have a lot of challenges left to face in 2023. In the next year, we need to ensure that we double the size of the Older Americans Act at the federal level to off-set the one-time stimulus dollars currently funding services across the state, including here in Pima County. We also need to
November 2022, Never Too Late | Page 25
Pima Council on Aging
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