A public forum is being held later this month where the Area Agency on Aging 1-B will ask for feedback on how they can best help seniors.

The Agency is a nonprofit organization that serves and supports roughly three-quarters of a million people aged 60 and older in 6 southeastern Michigan counties, including Livingston. Director of Research, Policy Development, and Advocacy, Jim McGuire, says their best known program is Meals on Wheels, but they also assist with those who need help with home and lawn care, and helping people understand what benefits are due to them and how they can access them.

Through federal, state, and local funding, the Area Agency receives approximately $2.3-million annually to support these services and more in Livingston County. On Wednesday, March 27, from 2pm-3:30pm at the Bennett Recreation Center in Howell, they are holding a public forum to gather input on funding priorities over the next 3 years.

One area they’d like to hear opinion about is flexibility in the case of a disaster. This could be a natural disaster or one of a personal nature, like for example, if a diabetic needs insulin and a power outage blows their refrigerator. McGuire said they’d like to hear if they should have more flexibility with their dollars to help respond to problems like this that seniors might not be able to help themselves with. There is no cost to attend the forum and registration is not required. For more information, contact Amanda Sears at 248-262-9222, or by email at asears@aaa1b.com

Learnmore about the AAA 1-B at www.aaa1b.org (MK)