Care for seniors first
Every week for the past few months there has been an article in the BDN about the plight of the elderly and what can we do to help them. I am 68 years old. I’m not taking away from what is being done by various agencies and individuals, but, in spite of all the ink used to bring this issue to the forefront; it has not done much. Makes us feel better to say something, but talk is cheap.
It boils down to how much it will cost to take definitive steps in housing, caregiving, food and to end the loneliness and isolation that goes with aging. Or do we just wait for them to die off. I fear the latter, and count myself among that group.
So here come the thousands of people from war-torn countries headed our way. They will get food, shelter, medical care, jobs and to feel like someone cares. This will be much more than our elderly get now from our governments, national and local.
Our seniors built this country, served in our military and raised us. One would think more sons and daughters would step up but many find excuses not to do so. So, do I feel bad for the people who have been displaced because of war? Yes I do. Do I think we need to take care of our seniors first? Absolutely.
David Winslow
Brewer
HIV and aging
Sept. 18 was designated as the day to consider HIV and aging in the U.S. It is important to remember those who contracted the disease before we had a good understanding of how it is spread or how it can be diagnosed and treated. Most of those infected early died young, but a few who never expected to survive have grown old. They lived long enough, or were infected recently enough, so that they could benefit from modern treatment.
Today, they are living survivors of a war with many casualties, in a unique group of peers that have experienced enormous levels of discrimination, loss and physical distress. Many are disabled, survivors that require lifelong medication, and true grit.
Often it is unrecognized that HIV can be transmitted to anyone at any age, so the need to practice effective prevention continues into late life. Medicare now covers HIV testing, and anonymous testing is widely available at any age. The Health Equity Center in Bangor at 106 Pine St. is an important resource for testing, needle exchange, counseling and a food pantry.
SAGE Maine, providing advocacy, education, and support for older gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Mainers has many resources for HIV and aging. It also has a drop-in center at the Health Equity Center 12-4 p.m. Fridays.
We need to advocate for expanding MaineCare for those individuals who are working and require medication for HIV; to improve research on the long-term effects of growing older with HIV; and to continue educational outreach to Mainers of all ages about the risks and effects of HIV infection.
Doug Kimmel
Executive director
SAGE Maine
Hancock
Guard kudos
The Maine Veterans’ Homes Residential Care Unit recently celebrated National Assisted Living Week. Every year we have support and assistance from the 101st Air National Guard Refueling Wing. We are blessed that these active service men and women have taken us under their “wing.”
Whatever we ask of them, they find a way to produce. They cook for our barbeques, provide music for our dances, entertain our veterans and offer financial assistance. They express to us their love and support every week, but especially during Residential Care Week. They are an amazing group of people and we thank them for all that they do to nourish the lives of our veterans.
Janet Mitchell
Holden
Designer-clad EBT swipers
Finally, steps are being taken to address EBT abuse. As a single mom, I could use “the system” and stay on the dole, but pride has me working two jobs. And how resentful I have been through the years to stand in line at the grocery store with my bruised produce and reduced for quick sale items, behind designer clad-lobster buying EBT card swipers.
How about the state issues free hunting and fishing licenses and provides vegetable seeds instead of junk food vouchers?
Kate Tuck
Bangor
Walk for peace and climate change
The Pentagon has the largest carbon footprint on our Mother Earth and was exempted from the Kyoto Protocols. Waging endless war consumes massive amounts of fossil fuels and lays waste to significant environmentally sensitive places on the planet — particularly the oceans.
The oceans are inhabited by a multitude of different life forms, from microorganisms to whales, many of whom are able to sense sound and use it to find food, navigate, communicate and avoid predators. Navy sonar blasts wreak havoc on these creatures, disrupting their lives, leaving animals more susceptible to disease and lowered reproductive success, and sometimes injuring and killing them.
Maine Veterans for Peace has announced a 175-mile peace walk down U.S. Route 1 from Ellsworth to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, from Oct. 9 to 24. The walk will reveal the links between the Pentagon’s significant environmental impact on the oceans and climate change.
Now is the time to speak out for ending the massive military impacts on the world’s oceans and for conversion of our fossil fuel dependent military industrial complex to sustainable technologies.
The public is invited to walk for an hour, a day or more. The walk will be led by monks and nuns from the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist order that does peace walks all around the world. This will be the fourth time Veterans for Peace has organized a peace walk through various parts of Maine during recent years. The walk will pass through Ellsworth Oct. 10 with a kick-off program and potluck to be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ellsworth, 6 p.m. Oct. 9. Contact me at 266-6672 or starrcgil@gmail.com for more information.
Starr Gilmartin
Trenton