AARP North Carolina

Join us this week when “Real Life” explores family caregiving, the “Race for the Cure,” and an update on home and community-based care funding in North Carolina.

This week's Real Life Radio focuses on real people and how proposed state budget cuts would devastate family caregivers, the aged, people with disabilities and the blind. Learn more about the Senate's harmful budget proposal how you can stand up by contacting your elected leaders.

RALEIGH -- Hundreds of advocates and people served by long-term care support services urged their North Carolina elected leaders to reject harmful budget cuts to programs that help older adults and persons with disabilities and family caregivers.

Have you received your new AARP membership card in the mail? With AARP there are literally hundreds of ways to save. Learn more about AARP benefits and get a little preview of the exciting things to come with AARP Vice President of Member Services Steve Cone.

RALEIGH -- AARP North Carolina has serious concerns about the state Senate budget proposal that reduces funding for key services that help the needy, support older adults who want to stay in their homes as well as support their family caregivers . A proposed $969,549 reduction* from the Home and Community Care Block Grant will result in cuts to services that already have waiting lists of over 16,000 people for services including home-delivered meals and in home aide.

AARP has published a 2014 North Carolina Family Caregiving Guide ( 222086_NCguide_Screen) that will assist the estimated 1.7 million family caregivers in the state when they are seeking information and resources to help them take care of individuals who need assistance.

This week on "Real Life" Radio, host Debra Tyler Horton interviews Tokyo Rosenthal, a talented musician from Chapel Hill who starting pursuing his full-time music career well after the age of 50. Tokyo is one of many mid-life and older adults who are turning to AARP to help them reach for their real possibilities. Listen to his story and learn more about AARP's information and resources to help you find your "what's next." You can also listen live on your local Real Life radio station.

RALEIGH -- Listen to "Real Life" radio this weekend and learn more about what lies ahead during this year's short session of the North Carolina General Assembly. Guests Mary Bethel of AARP, and Alexandra Sirota of the N.C. Budget and Tax Center, discuss the state budget and other big issues as they predict what policy changes may be debated or put into law by the legislature this spring. Listen to this weekend's show on the link below, or on your radio dial on one of the Real Life radio stations.

This week on "Real Life" radio, you can hear about AARP's efforts to provide African-American women with information and resources to help with family caregiving.

This Saturday is the 22 nd Anniversary of the "Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive." On May 10, in collaboration with AARP Foundation, NC Feeding America, Inc., US Postal Service, National Association of Letter Carriers, National Rural Carriers Association, AFL-CIO, United Way, Campbell Soup, Publix and others, people from all over the state will be donating food to feed the hungry.