Texas - AARP Bulletin Today

Texas Bulletin state news

June 2007

Easy living – Making Houston and surrounding Harris County more livable for older residents is the goal of a new Aging Agenda, developed by AARP Texas and the City of Houston Health and Human Services Department, along with other state and local agencies and nonprofit organizations. The Aging Agenda, unveiled in May, provides a road map for eight work groups to “move recommendations into action,” says Marla Turner, AARP associate state director for community outreach.  Volunteers can help make their communities more elder-friendly by joining one of the work groups, each of which focuses on a different issue. The topics are: basic needs, such as food, clothing, housing and utilities; transportation and mobility; health and well-being; safety and security; access to quality health care; civic engagement, volunteerism and employment; recreation, culture and lifelong learning; and life satisfaction and spirituality. To sign up, call Turner at 832-325-2236 or e-mail her at msturner@aarp.org.

December 2007

Hot topics on campus – AARP Texas is stimulating dialogue on college campuses about health care and financial security—issues that affect all generations and are the cornerstones of AARP's Divided We Fail campaign. "College students have been quite receptive to our message and eager to get involved," says Rafael Ayuso, manager of communications for AARP Texas. The effort involves recruiting volunteers, sponsoring presidential debate-watching parties in residence halls, conducting on-campus voter registration drives and motivating students to participate in the electoral process. In addition, AARP Texas is encouraging members to engage their college-age children and grandchildren in discussions about health care and financial security. For information, visit http://www.dividedwefail.org.