Deacon's Corner
Calendar / Current EventsSummer Meals
Seniors / Family
Volunteer Opportunities
Helpful Tips
Calender / Current Events
To be posted.Summer Meals
The Deacons want to thank everyone for all their support with the meals program! Our numbers grew this summer and we served more then ever. We want to thank all those that participated and dedicated their time to help with the summer program.Seniors / Family
Flu ShotsA link to this years location and maps
https://a816-health12ssl.nyc.gov/dohroot/prjFlp/
Resource Guide for Seniors Now Available
The Inaugural Edition of the Resource Guide for Seniors in now available. This publication, created and designed by the Resource Guide Committee of Liz Krueger’s Senior Advisory Board, covers a wide variety of categories, including housing, health care, transportation, resources for veterans, and volunteer opportunities. You can obtain a copy online on my website at http://www.lizkrueger.com/seniorguide.pdf The guide can be printed or saved to your desktop for easy access. If you do not have access to a printer, a limited number of hard-copies are also available by calling Liz Krueger’s office at (212) 490-9535.
Affordable Housing Opportunities in Manhattan
35th Street Associates LP is now accepting applications for 90 studio, one bedroom and two bedroom apartments in Murray Hill for low and moderate income individuals and families. Rents for these units will be $618-794.00 per month depending on income and unit size. To be eligible, applicants must have incomes between $26,480 to $40,700, depending on unit and family size. Applications will be selected by lottery with preference given to New York City residents. Applicants residing in Community Boards 5 or 6 will receive priority for 50% of the units. In addition, visual/hearing impaired applicants will receive priority for 2% of the units, applicants with mobility impairment will receive priority for 5% of the units, and applicants who are New York City municipal employees with receive preference for 5% of the units. One application per household. You may request an application by mail from: 35th Street Associates, L.P. 331 West 57th Street, Box #231, New York NY 10019. Please include a self-addressed envelope with your application request. Applications must be postmarked no later than December 23, 2006 and must be returned by regular mail to the PO Box on the application, so you should request your application as soon as possible in order to ensure you have time to fill it out and return it by the deadline.
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Assistance with Unemployment Insurance Benefits
Legal Services for New York City has a free help line offering assistance with unemployment insurance questions and problems. You may be eligible for unemployment insurance if you have lost your job through no fault of your own, or because you quit your job for health reasons or as a result of domestic violence. The help line number is 646-442-3332.
( from State Senator Liz Kreuger , November 2006 Community Bulletin )
Problems with Medicare?
If you are having problems with Medicare D, problems with pre-certification, or if you cannot afford co-pays, you should contact Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton; 780 Fifth Avenue; NY, NY 10017. Her phone number is (212) 688-6262; the fax is (212) 688-7444.
Resources for Single Parents
The Single Parent Resource Center offers a number of programs aimed at assisting single parents and their children. Among the programs they offer are assistance finding summer day camps, a Single Fathers Program, a Youth Leadership Program for teens, and a Family Respite Center. For more information on these and other programs offered by the center, call their Parent Line at (212) 951-7030 x 231 Monday-Thursday 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM.
Free Legal Assistance for Seniors
The New York Seniors Legal Assistance Project (NYSLA) offers free legal assistance to seniors on a variety of issues, including health care, income security, consumer issues, nursing home transition issues, guardianship, health care proxies and living wills. NYSLA primarily focuses on advice and short service cases. Priority is given to lower income clients and clients who face barriers to obtaining legal relief without assistance, such as those with limited English proficiency or personal factors such as fear and stress, frailty and ill health, mobility restrictions, or lack of a support system. For assistance call (646) 442-3333. Hours for the project are 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 5:00 to 8:00 PM on Tuesdays.
On November 15, 2005, seniors could begin signing up for Medicare's drug benefit plan. Whether you're eligible for benefits or your parents are, you may be looking for direction because the choices are overwhelming. Providers have been tweaking their options as they see what competitors are offering on the government's website at http://www.medicare.gov
Educate yourself at the website for the Coalition To Advance Prescription Drug Education at http://www.carxe.org You can also log onto http://www.consumersunion.org to learn about the available options, download an AARP booklet at: http://www.aarp.org/bulletin or check out http://www.medicarerights.org
For seniors who like to surf the web, there are sites specifically geared to them. These include http://www.golmedicare.org , which helps seniors navigate around the http://www.medicare.gov website by taking people right to the Medicare's Prescription Drug Plan Finder page
Depression Screening and Management Initiative
I recently participated with NAMI (National Association for Mental Health) and the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in a press conference dealing with the issues of Depression.
Major Depression is a serious and chronic mental disorder that affects well over 20 million Americans -- adults, seniors and children -- each year, without regard for race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. Depression is not only common, it is under-diagnosed, under-treated and frequently stigmatizing. The results of untreated depression include great personal suffering, additional family and economic burdens, associated medical illness and suicide.
We know that a person who is depressed is more likely than others to engage in behaviors that contribute to poor health such as smoking, lack of exercise and poor nutrition. Depression can also contribute to the onset of chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and asthma. These diseases have also been found to worsen depression.
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The good news is depression can be reliably detected and is treatable, with remarkably high rates of response when properly treated (75-80%).
To overcome the multiple barriers to receiving effective depression treatment, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has initiated a project they call Multi-Systems Depression Initiative (MDI). MDI is a multi-pronged strategy to improve depression care by focusing on: providers, clinical practice settings, patients, health plans, public and private purchasers of healthcare, and communities throughout NYC.
If you or someone you know needs help with depression, talk to your doctor or call 1-800-LifeNet (1-800-543-3638). You can also find additional information on depression, including a questionnaire for identifying symptoms, on my website at http://www.lizkrueger.com/issues.html
Free Legal Assistance for Seniors
The New York Seniors Legal Assistance Project (NYSLA) offers free legal assistance to seniors on a variety of issues, including health care, income security, consumer issues, nursing home transition issues, guardianship, health care proxies and living wills. NYSLA primarily focuses on advice and short service cases. Priority is given to lower income clients and clients who face barriers to obtaining legal relief without assistance, such as those with limited English proficiency or personal factors such as fear and stress, frailty and ill health, mobility restrictions, or lack of a support system. For assistance call (646) 442-3333. Hours for the project are 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 5:00 to 8:00 PM on Tuesdays.
Affordable Housing Opportunities in Manhattan
1115 First Avenue Associates LLC is now accepting applications for 44 studio and one bedroom apartments on the Upper East Side for low and moderate income individuals and families. Rents for these units will be $618-688.00 per month depending on income and unit size. To be eligible, applicants have incomes between $26,480 to $33,984, depending on income, unit and family size. Applications will be selected by lottery with preference given to New York City residents. Applicants residing in Community Boards 8 will receive priority for 50% of the units. In addition, visual/hearing impaired applicants will receive priority for 2% of the units, applicants with mobility impairment will receive priority for 5% of the units, and applicants who are New York City municipal employees with receive preference for 5% of the units. One application per household. You may request an application by mail from: 1115 First Avenue Associates LLC, 331 West 57th Street, Box #373, New York NY 10019. Please include a self-addressed envelope with your application request. Applications must be postmarked no later than September 23, 2006 and must be returned by regular mail to the PO Box on the application, so you should request your application as soon as possible in order to ensure you have time to fill it out and return it by the deadline.
Free Assistance with Citizenship Applications for Seniors and the Disabled
Self-help Community Services offers citizenship application assistance to people 60 years or older, or who are on SSI Disability. Assistance includes N-400 application preparation, fee and transportation subsidies, and help with existing applications. For more information call (718) 633-1300 for assistance in English, Armenian, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Russian, Sri Lankan, Tamil, Urdu or Yiddish; and (212) 787-8106 for assistance in Spanish or Creole.
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Volunteer Opportunities
To be posted.Faith in Action Please click on the Faith in Action link on this website to see how you can become involved in this meaningful service.
Helpful Tips
Have you ever wondered where to find secret numbers? Sometimes it is hard to track down elusive customer service numbers. Use this site to find those numbers for ebay, amazon. and others. www.hardtofind800numbers.comIf you experience an energy outage, you should contact Con Ed at 1-800-752-6633, TTY: 1-800-624-2308.
Due to the heat, the City has set up designated "Cooling Centers" for residents. Find a Cooling Center nearest you by visiting: http://gis.nyc.gov/oem/cc/index.htm
Want to bring your power bill down! Here are a few ideas.
1) Open windows on cool summer nights.
2) Energy saving compact fluorescent bulbs( They emit less heat and can last 7 times longer)
3) Install an Energy Star -certified ceiling fan (can be 50 percent more efficient then old ones)
Energy Star products in general save you cash. Most may pay for themselves over time.
4) Unplug un-used phone chargers ( they suck up energy regardless if a phone is attached)
5) Unplug un-used electronics ( 80% of the energy they use is while being idle)
6) Unplug un-used printers, copiers, fax (they use energy in sleep modes)
7) Put computers in sleep mode ( if you cant turn them off they will use less electricity )
8) Refrigerators from the early 1990's could cost double annually to run then newer models.
- a new Refrigerator could pay for itself in 5 to 6 years
9) Wait until your dishwater is completely full to run it. - use unheated drying to save more.
10) Washing machines - Front load washing machines generally use about half the energy
Info provided by REALSIMPLE the magazine
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