Program Highlights
Periodically, throughout the year, we will feature various HMP programs supported by your annual dues. This is an opportunity for you to see how the association puts your financial support into action. The Senior Advocate Program is one of the many much needed, well appreciated HMP programs. When considering dues payments, please consider what your dues are doing for some of the most vulnerable HMP residents. In addition to your annual dues, please consider a gift of your time and commitment.
Senior Advocate Program
One of HMP greatest jewels is the commitment that our neighbors show towards one another. Connectedness simply implies a social relationship with another person. It is a critical component of happiness and well being, especially as we age. Oftentimes, as a person ages, that person becomes more isolated. The person is cut off from family and friends and it is at that point—the point of social isolation that the older person is at risk for a host of problems that can occur. Recognizing the risk that social isolation plays in the quality of life for an older person, HMP has, for many years had a program that attempts to keep our senior population connected to the rest of the neighborhood. With an overall national increase in the senior population, HMP is not expected to escape the trend. Nor does it want to. HMP neighborhood has had a long standing program for seniors that attempts to create and foster a sense of connectedness to the neighborhood. The Senior Advocate Program, championed by longtime HMP resident Ora Triplett engages the HMP senior population during her regular visits and thwarts the perils of social isolation. During Ora’s regular well being checks on the seniors, she ensures that their needs are taken care of and assesses if there is anything that the neighborhood can do to assist them. Ora makes sure that the seniors have food, their utilities are connected, and their overall health is well. Oftentimes, one of the first to know of the passing of one of HMP’s senior, Ora alerts of neighbors and will soon begin sending a flower arrangement on behalf of the neighborhood.
The connectedness that the Senior Advocate Program offers to the residents is invaluable and the commitment that Ora has to the neighborhood is equally important. As, a nation, we are growing older. According to “Aging in Place: Creating Livable Communities for Older Hoosiers- a Community Guidebook” a document prepared by Philip B. Stafford, PhD for the Indiana Association for Community Economic Development, between 2000-2005, the senior population (65+) increased by 8000 individuals. That number is projected to increase by an additional 108,000 individuals between 2010-2015 and over the next 35 years is expected to account for 63% of Indiana’s population. Furthermore, according to Strafford, the Indiana senior population will double from 735,000 individuals in 2000 to 1.48 million individuals by 2040 and by 2035, seniors will outnumber children younger than 15 years of age. Given those numbers, it appears that HMP is ahead of the curve in reaching out to our neighbors and ensuring their well being.
If you know of a senior in the neighborhood that is isolated or at risk of becoming isolated please let a Board member know. The quality of life for all our HMP residents both young and old is our greatest responsibility. We cannot live in isolation apart from one another and we all have a shared responsibility for our neighbor. If you can assist Ora in food deliveries, well senior checks or just have words of praise for Ora’s tireless efforts, please feel free to send her a message or let a Board member know.