Serving in Charlotte: Volunteer with AARP

Are you looking for that special “something” that allows you to give back to your community?  Are you interested in helping develop meaningful programs that will allow older Charlotteans to make better long term care decisions for themselves and their families? Would you like to use your talents and experience to help others avoid hunger and live healthy lives on a fixed income? Are you interested in learning how else you can make a positive impact for people 5-+ in your community?

In 2013, the AARP Charlotte Volunteer Network was created to develop new initiatives that help inform older Carolinians about a variety of issues and help them make better decisions for themselves and their families. We are pleased to announce that we are now developing new programs focused on long term care and health. But we need your help!

This year, we are developing volunteer teams to help educate people about the challenges of long term care planning and hunger:

• “Decide. Create. Share.” focuses on helping prepare families for the difficult challenges of long term care planning, including the legal considerations, understanding what Medicare covers, healthy behaviors, and the importance of a “livable” home and community. This team will be leading workshops to help educate people and provide free resources so they can adequately decide to take action, create a plan, and share it with their loved ones.
•  The Drive to End Hunger. Living on a fixed income is challenging, especially if you are retired. Many people 65+ qualify for nutritional assistance programs but are unaware or intimidated by the process. And far too often convenience and the low cost of unhealthy foods result in poor nutritional choices which have devastating effects on health. This team will be leading workshops aimed at educating primarily low-income families and older Americans on how to get the assistance they need and demonstrating how to make healthy food choices regardless of income.

 

In addition to these new initiatives, we have other teams that were established in 2013. These include:

• Livable Communities, focused on working with local decision makers and planners to help prepare the city of Charlotte for the challenges of the coming demographic changes. In 2013 the Livable Communities Team organized "Walkable Charlotte Week", which raised awareness of walkability in Charlotte, and the "Making a More Livable Mecklenburg" Summit, which brought together stakeholders, planners and elected officials to share information about on-going and new initiatives to help make the city more livable for people of all ages.
• Retirement Security focuses providing information for retired and pre-retirement populations about the necessity for personal savings, retirement planning and fraud prevention. This team primarily conducts workshops through AARP's Coffee and Conversation series and on-demand to organizations of all kinds through our Speaker's Bureau
• The AARP Charlotte Volunteer Network encompasses all of our educational programs, community outreach and volunteer opportunities in Charlotte (with the exception of the AARP Driver Safety Program, AARP Foundation Tax-Aide and AARP chapters). The Network meets on a monthly basis and brings together all of the teams to share and collaborate to help make the most impact for poeple 50+ in Charlotte.

 

We invite you to come learn more about these and our other initiatives in Charlotte, and to lend your talents, interests and passion to the team!  Please contact us so we can share more about what we are building and give you the opportunity to get on board at the ground level.

For more information on the AARP Charlotte Volunteer Network, contact Mike Olender, Associate State Director, at molender@aarp.org or 704-359-7407.