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Meredith Anderson,
Community Services Outreach Manager |
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For SMAA, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Are Not Just Checkboxes
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The Southern Maine Agency on Aging's (SMAA) mission is to serve older adults, adults with disabilities, and their caregivers. Since SMAA’s inception in 1973, our work has been focused on older adults with the greatest social and economic need. The National Center on Law and Elder Rights defines the term “greatest social need’’ as the need caused by non-economic factors such as physical and mental disabilities, language barriers, and cultural, social, or geographical isolation, including isolation based on race or ethnicity.
SMAA has made it a priority to champion diversity, equity, inclusion, empathy, and justice. To accomplish this, we are focusing on building stronger relationships with diverse
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communities in Cumberland and York counties, providing access to information about our services and programs in languages other than English, and strengthening our person-centered policies to create spaces where everyone – staff, volunteers, clients, and partners – feel safe and welcome.
In early 2021, helping individuals access COVID vaccines brought an opportunity to work with organizations serving diverse communities. These were agencies not yet connected to SMAA. It felt like a unifying effort and brought us hope about what might continue to be possible – developing partnerships to carry out a shared goal of equitable access to available resources. We especially appreciated SMAA's partner of the year, Northern Light Home Care & Hospice, during the vaccination assistance efforts. Northern Light showed a tremendous dedication to making sure every person that was interested in getting the COVID vaccine had access to it no matter their age, abilities, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.
For us, diversity and assisting underserved populations are not just checkboxes for a grant or for show. Our staff, volunteers, and board members are committed to learning about structural inequalities and what perpetuates them because we want to do better! We are building a culture of belonging – both inside and out. It feels like there is nothing more important that we can be doing.
Many of you have been doing this work for years and perhaps others of you are in early stages of planning. We are seeking partnerships that will allow us to provide more equitable access to services for all who are in need of them. There is no roadmap for this work, but we remain open, humble, and committed to the work we all must do, collectively, together.
In this issue of the Southern Maine Agency on Aging
eNews, we share our work on DEI and include examples of how different programs and services have incorporated it in their day-to-day processes. Share your comments or interest in partnering with us at marketing@smaaa.org.
Stay safe and healthy!
Meredith Anderson, LCSW
SMAA Community Services Outreach Manager
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Ann Hastings, SMAA Board Member & Volunteer on SMAA's DEI work |
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In the past year, SMAA's Nutrition team has been proactive in reaching out to diverse communities.
1. The first step was to translate information about our nutrition services in multiple languages. Over the years, we've learned that many of our clients can benefit from a variety of SMAA services - so we created a flyer that highlights our Information & Resource Specialists and Health & Wellness programs along with the information about our nutrition programs.
The flyer is currently translated in
French and
Kinyarwanda (one of the four official languages of Rwanda, spoken by almost all of the native population). Download and share with your clients. |
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2. Step two was to add Halal meals as one more dietary option for the meals delivered through our Meals on Wheels program. |
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3. Step three was to translate the nutrition facts for the Halal meals for the communities where Halal* food is part of their cultural traditions. |
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*Halal is an Arabic word meaning lawful or permitted. In reference to food, it is the dietary standard, as prescribed in the Qur'an. |
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The nutrition value of a Grilled Salmon in Sweet Chill Sauce translated in Somali. |
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If you or your organization would be interested in partnering with us, please, contact us at info@smaaa.org |
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In the beginning of October, Robyn Berry, Family Caregiver Support Specialist on our Community Services team, gave a presentation for SAGE Maine about Caregiving and the LGBTQ community. We look forward to sharing an interview with Robyn in next month's edition of the
eNews, devoted to Family Caregiving in recognition of November as Family Caregiver Awareness Month. |
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* SAGE Maine is a program of EqualityMaine and is an affiliate of SAGE USA, a national services and advocacy organization for older LGBTQ+ adults |
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Information & Resources team:
If you are working with older adults, adults with disabilities or care partners needing assistance connecting to resources such as transportation, home care, fuel assistance, MaineCare, affordable housing, including help completing applications, please consider referring clients to SMAA at 1-800-427-7411 and press #4 or complete our online referral form. If your client does not speak English, Resource Specialists will work with interpreters either over the phone or in person as needed to help make these connections possible.
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WE ARE ACCEPTING NEW MEMBERS
at the Sam L. Cohen Adult Day program in Biddeford!
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Reminder:
Medicare Open Enrollment period is here and runs through December 7th!
This is your opportunity each year to review your Medicare coverage options and change your prescription drug or Medicare Advantage plan. Our Medicare page is a good start to find resources and answers to some of the most common questions on Medicare. This Medicare.gov article offers 5 tips for making the most of the Open Enrollment period!
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Agewell Events:
Qigong returns to our virtual class listings this fall on Thursday afternoons!
Qigong integrates gentle physical movements, breathing techniques, and meditative visualizations to reduce stress, build stamina, and increase vitality. For full details and to register for Qigong or any of our other virtual wellness classes like Gentle Exercise, Yoga for Healthy Aging, and Conversation Cafe please visit our Agewell calendar. |
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- Age Friendly Freeport & Pownal (AFFP) is hosting two events in November and December:
- 11/16 at 10am they are having a Guest Speaker. Follow them on Facebook to learn who the speaker is.
- 12/7 at 10am - Christmas Cookie Decorating. What better opportunity for some fun with the grandkids than cookie decoration and getting into the holiday spirit.
- CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS!
- Award-winning documentarians are working on a new children's documentary featuring an intergenerational conversation on what it means to be multiracial in America. As a way to highlight the diversity in experiences, their crew will interview older adults across 50 states and some of the U.S. territories. The production is seeking to hear the stories of adults who are 70+ years old and identify with two or more races.
"We want children watching this film to feel seen, heard, and represented in a way we did not have when we were growing up," said one filmmaker who is Black and Jewish. No acting experience necessary. Timeline open. If you — or know someone who — is multiracial and 70+ years old and would be interested in learning more, please contact natasha.lewin@hboprod.com
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GOT ANNOUNCEMENTS, EVENTS, & NEWS you want to promote?
Send us an email at marketing@smaaa.org and we will publish it on our Facebook page and in our monthly newsletter*
*if it is still upcoming at the time of the newsletter publication |
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