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Live Well & Age Well: The Planning Ambassadors for Aging Program can help you explore topics like caregiving, financial stability, transportation, housing, and more.

This is developed by the Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services, and the Westchester Public/Private Partnership for Aging Services, the Live Well & Age Well: The Planning Ambassadors for Aging Program is designed to help residents plan for a successful quality of life in the future. Fordham University’s Ravazzin Center on Aging has created a survey that will help you start thinking about the later years. The survey covers a variety of topics, including long term care, caregiving, technology, transportation, housing, nutrition and more.

ABOUT THE SURVEY

You must be 18 years or older to participate in the voluntary anonymous survey, which should take no more than 20 minutes to complete.

Participants may include:

  • Older adults seeking to improve their current quality of life
  • Multigenerational individuals concerned about their future
  • Caregivers who are concerned about the future of their loved one(s)

The data will be used to plan for needed Senior Programs and Services in Westchester County. We have a goal of capturing input from at least 3,000 multigenerational residents, and our success depends largely on your assistance.

For more information about Live Well & Age Well: The Planning Ambassador for Aging Program, call 914-813-6102 or email .

Take the survey

Live Well & Age Well: The Planning Ambassadors for Aging Resource Guide has vital information for planning for your aging future

As we try to make sense of the Coronavirus Diseases (COVID-19), it is important that we stay informed. The information below will help you to learn more about the Pandemic and it will also provide you with ways to stay connected and involved during these unsettling times

Next Stage Network eSurvey: A specially designed survey for Westchester County residents ages 60 plus
In this unprecedented time of COVID-19, we are seeking to understand what our residents ages 60 and older, as well as their caregivers, are experiencing. To this end, access the tab, Next Stage Network eSurvey, below to learn more about taking this survey and to access the survey link.

The CV19 CheckUp Tool has been created to help you be safer and healthier
A lot of misinformation about COVID-19 and the risks associated with contracting and spreading the virus continue to circulate. CV19 CheckUp, available to all New Yorkers, helps individuals understand their risks based on their life situation and personal behavior and offers recommendations to reduce those risks while also connecting people to services, if needed. Access the tab, CV19 CheckUp Tool, below for more information.

Stay at Home Together Events and Activities
To this end, we've assembled a compendium of museum and zoo trips, ballet performances, NPR Tiny Desk concerts and a diverse variety of other events and activities that you can "go to"  from the comfort and safety of your own home. Open and download Stay at Home Together Events, compiled especially for you by DSPS. Save it to your computer so you can open it to go on a visit any time you're ready to explore a museum or enjoy the ballet.

Everyone, no matter their age or situation in life, needs to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. First and foremost, it is crucial to follow the guidelines issued by New York State and Westchester County so we all remain as safe and healthy as possible. The information below was created with you in mind.

Mae CarpenterMae Carpenter, a champion of seniors for more than 30 years, was appointed Commissioner of Westchester County’s Department of Senior Programs and Services (DSPS) in 2001. Prior to that, she had served as director of the county Office for the Aging, the forerunner of DSPS, since 1979. 

She is recognized as one of the most knowledgeable and innovative advocates for seniors in the United States because of her many innovative programs and ability to build and sustain coalitions of volunteers. Many people call her a visionary.

The Commissioner has testified before Congressional staff members in Washington, D.C. about what Westchester has done to meet the urgent need for family caregivers to care for the growing number of seniors in the county. She was a panelist at a forum on global aging sponsored by AARP at the United Nations and a panelist on “Creating Connected Communities for Aging Well” at Georgetown University.

The Commissioner spearheads DSPS’ two signature programs.  One is the Livable Communities: A Vision for All Ages – Bringing People and Places Together Initiative. The goal of this trailblazing and multiyear project is to improve the quality of life for people of all ages and enable seniors to live active lives with independence and dignity as they age in their homes.

Key features of livable communities are informal services provided by volunteers such as health and wellness programs, education and cultural events, safety, consumer protection and advocacy for affordable housing and safe sidewalks and roads. DSPS partnered with the Westchester Public/Private Partnership for Aging Services and AARP New York to develop this project.

The second program is Telehealth Intervention Programs for Seniors (TIPS), which is one of the top telehealth programs in the United States. Through TIPS, computers remotely monitor seniors’ pulse, blood pressure, weight and blood oxygen levels. TIPS is called “High Tech and High Touch.  That’s because in addition to check-ups of vital signs, participants are assessed to see if they can benefit from any social services in the county.

In June 2014 the Commissioner led a conference on “Successful Aging:  It’s Everybody’s Business.” The conference brought together top names in the telehealth and aging fields.   “MAP:  My Aging Plan” is a special brochure that was developed for the conference under her leadership.  It offers step-by-step guidelines for people from their 20s to their 80s and beyond on what they can do at each age to ease their journey in areas such as finances, employment and housing. 

The Commissioner was a delegate to the National White House Conference on Aging, a catalyst for developing national policies on aging in 1981, 1995 and 2005.  At the 2005 conference, she was a leader in developing the resolution on the need for livable communities. For the 2015 White House Conference on Aging, she is leading regional programs to develop resolutions for consideration, such as ones on retirement security and long-term services and supports.

The Commissioner’s leadership has been recognized with numerous and prestigious awards over the years. Some of them are:

  • 2014 – the Westchester Women’s Hall of Fame Award presented by the Women’s Research and Education Fund for her extraordinary contributions to enhance the lives of older women. Previous winners of this award include Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state; Nita Lowey, the Westchester congresswoman, and the late Ruby Dee, the actress and human rights activist.
  • 2012 - Westchester County was one of the first seven counties or cities nationwide that AARP named to its “Network of Age-Friendly Communities” for its Livable Communities Initiative. Because of AARP’s affiliation with the United Nations’ World Health Organization, the county gained access to resources from WHO’s “Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities.”
  • 2010 – DSPS won two International Livable Communities Awards in the United Nations-endorsed worldwide competition in areas that promote “best practices” such as sustaining communities, promoting healthy lifestyles and planning for the future. 
  • 2008 – Ms. Carpenter received the American Society on Aging’s ASA Award, which had traditionally been presented to a person on the national level for outstanding contributions to aging-related services and advocacy.  Ms. Carpenter was the first recipient on the local level to be honored.

Twenty percent of Westchester residents are ages 60 and older. The rich value of this population subset does not go unnoticed in Westchester County. Recognizing the different and varying needs of its senior citizen community, the Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services offers a wide range of programs and services throughout the year, some are ongoing and some are annual events.

Westchester County is a frontrunner in providing services and programs that meet the needs of today’s aging community. Westchester County’s award-winning “Livable Communities Initiative: A Vision for All Ages – Bringing People and Places Together” is to help seniors remain in their homes as they grow older with independence, dignity and civic engagement. Livable Communities are also friendly to people of all ages.

Healthy aging is a priority and crucial to helping seniors remain independent and continue living in their homes and communities as they age. Programs such as Health for Life and nutrition programs assist seniors in choosing healthy options to fit their needs. Getting together with other your own age is important also; clubs and senior centers offer such commeraderie.

Just as important are the caregivers who step in to care and help us as we are confronted with life's new challenges. We provide information and programs to assist them too.

Of the many programs sponsored by the Department of  Senior Programs and Services some of the popular ones are The Golden Harvest Breakfast and Dance, Senior Law Day and the Senior Citizen Hall of Fame.  The programs are announced annually so we encourage you to sign up for our newsletter to get details on these and our many other programs and activities.

Do you provide unpaid care to a family member, friend, or neighbor who has an illness, disability, memory loss, injury, or special need? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are a caregiver! Are you feeling overwhelmed, constantly worried, tired, sad, easily irritated, and/or extremely stressed? You are not alone and there is support available. Please answer the following questions to learn more about resources, tools, and supports available for caregivers.

 

 

An initiative that offers information and referrals for rides to people over 60, the disabled and home health care workers  – which the county’s Department of Senior Programs and Services helps to support – has  received renewed federal funding to expand its program through March 2017.

RideConnect, the alternative transportation service that received the additional funds,  is sponsored by Family Services of Westchester and most of its referrals are for rides in northern Westchester.

Individuals can schedule rides for medical appointments, shopping, cultural events, hairdresser appointments and errands. The transportation is provided by volunteers and the RideConnect bus.

The service originally operated in Bedford, Lewisboro, Mount Kisco, Pound Ridge, North Salem, North Castle and Somers.  The additional funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation, is permitting it to expand into Cortlandt, Ossining, Peekskill, Yorktown and New Castle. RideConnect also has a database of volunteers who can offer rides in other parts of Westchester as well.

The service is growing rapidly.  In 2012, RideConnect provided 1,000 referrals while in 2013 it provided more than 6,000.

To arrange for a ride, call RideConnect at (914) 242-7433, Mondays to Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. With advance notice, rides can be scheduled on weekends as well.  Callers will speak with a transportation counselor who directs callers to the fastest, most cost-effective transportation option to meet their needs. Rides can also be requested on the RideConnect Web site at www.rideconnectwestchester.org

Program director Karen Ganis said there is an ongoing need for volunteer drivers age 21 and older in all Westchester communities. Those interested should contact her at (914) 864-0955 or .