Community

As rebuilding continues in the hurricane-battered Virgin Islands, the AARP state office is cautioning residents to beware of storm-chasing scammers posing as home-repair contractors.

Español It isn’t often that AARP Virgin Islands can proudly say they experienced a “slam dunk” of a day, but the volunteers and staff of AARP Virgin Islands are pretty proud of what was accomplished recently.

If it’s February, it must be time for the Agricultural and Food Fair in St. Croix. AARP Virgin Islands will be at the Ag Fair Grounds, Feb. 18-20, enjoying the festivities and talking to people about what AARP does to advocate for Virgin Islanders 50-plus.

The healing process doesn’t end when a patient leaves the hospital. For those treated at the Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center on St. Croix, the transition back home just got a little easier.

As part of National Hispanic Heritage Month, AARP Virgin Islands is participating in a two-day event aimed at bringing islanders together to have fun while learning about social services.

En Español While a large portion of the Virgin Islands population considers its self to be Hispanic, when it comes to celebrating the contributions of Hispanics in the VI, all Virgin Islanders join in the festivities.

If you visited the AARP Virgin Islands booth at the Agricultural Fair in February, you were given information about the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the survey that is being done in the territory. The BRFSS is a project within the VI Department of Health’s Chronic Disease Prevention Program which is tasked with compiling health studies on various topics. The studies are completed using data received from Virgin Islands residents. The studies are very important to the territory as a whole. They are used for a variety of purposes including: 1) to help the Department of Health identify community health needs 2) to help apply for various health grants 3) to help policy makers make decisions based on the actual needs of the community and 4) to identify the types of health care personnel that the territory needs to recruit.

“The consumer has more power than they think,” stated Devin Carrington, the Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs (DLCA) at a recent Town Hall meeting on St. Thomas, “Too often we depend on the government to do everything, but we, as consumers need to work in solidarity and not allow businesses to provide us with products or services that are not up to standard.”

En Español In a surprise move, Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth E. Mapp vetoed the Caregiving Bill (Bill Number 31-0237) late in March citing numerous concerns as justification for his veto. The AARP VI office received notification of the veto on Saturday, March 26 in the middle of the Easter Holiday weekend.

What started out in the Virgin Islands as a handful of AARP members interested in getting some sexy exercise has grown to over a couple dozen men and women who anxiously anticipate their Zumba Gold classes.