THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602020198
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REBECCA A. MYERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Portsmouth senior citizens will gather this month for the city's first Senior Summit to discuss needs and to brainstorm ideas for improving their quality of life.
Viki Lorraine, who developed the idea for the summit, said it was important that the input come directly from seniors themselves.
``In the past, there have been needs assessments of the elderly community in Portsmouth - but from the people who head up the agencies,'' said Lorraine. ``We wanted to go straight to the horse's mouth.''
Lorraine, an assistant professor with Eastern Virginia Medical School, oversees a grant funded by the Portsmouth Beazley Foundation dealing with geriatric activities.
The summit, made possible through the same grant, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 21 at the Portsmouth Senior Center, 305 High St.
It took Lorraine months to compile a mailing list of the city's numerous senior groups. Seniors make up about 17 percent of the city's population of 102,100. Lorraine's list was used to invite one or two representatives from each senior group to the summit.
In addition to contacting 70-plus organized groups, Lorraine sent letters to every church in the city, asking pastors to distribute information about the summit to the elderly in their congregation.
``I've been told that in the city of Portsmouth that the way to reach seniors is to reach the churches,'' said Lorraine.
After opening remarks, the day will begin with the entire group involved in a brainstorming session dealing with the needs of an aging population.
``In a large group session, we want the elderly to begin to see that many of them all have the same kind of needs,'' said Lorraine.
After lunch, participants will break into small problem-solving groups to discuss specific issues brought up during the morning session.
``Let's say that some of the identified needs are health care, transportation and home safety,'' said Lorraine.
``Each one of those groups would discuss what some of their particular needs are, but then begin to brainstorm about some ways that they, as seniors, can come together and problem-solve,'' she said.
Through facilitators that work with the aging, participants will learn which community resources are available to offer assistance.
``We want to rally the seniors to become their own advocates and to develop some working groups,'' said Lorraine. At the end of the summit, participants may volunteer to sign up for smaller groups that will continue to work on the identified needs.
``I'm hoping that when people break into small groups that somebody will say, `We have a real need for transportation,' and somebody else will say, `Well, my church has a van that's available for use,' or `I have some friends who are willing to be volunteer drivers,' '' said Lorraine.
``We want it to be really empowering for them.''
For more information about the Senior Summit, call Lorraine at 446-7400. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Viki Lorraine, an assistant professor with Eastern Virginia Medical
School, is the Senior Summit organizer.
by CNB