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Office for the Aging

Susan Koppenhaver, Director

1003 Development Court
Kingston, NY 12401
Phone: 845-340-3456 or Toll Free at 1-877-914-3456
Fax: 845-340-3583

It is the mission of the Ulster County Office for the Aging to assist and empower older adults and their families to live as independently as possible, with dignity and purpose.

Ulster County will strive to reach more older adults and expand upon its current services by bringing them to remote and underserved areas of the County. This includes new educational health promotion, service enrollment and Senior advocacy program opportunities so they can stay in, and contribute to, their community.

Dear Ulster County Older Adults!

When it’s May, it’s ramping up time here at the OFA!

We have lots of things going on, and two important projects we are excited about! Beginning the end of April into May, in partnership with Bevival.com and the Ulster County Women’s Network, our Death Literacy project will begin April 26, and continue May 3 and May 10 here at our Senior Hub at 1 PM-2:30 PM. This series helps folks overcome the reluctance to speak and discuss issues relating to end of life, gives valuable information about many aspects of preparing for end of life, and help folks have ways to speak about this topic to their loved ones. Please register by calling our office for a Zoom link as we are at capacity for the in-person workshop!

We are also preparing, through our Older Adults Empowerment Council, our annual Forum on June 13, which will explore various senior groups, including SSIP groups (Seniors Serving in Place), which are groups of older neighbors who have decided to band together for mutual support as they age, making it easier for the group of them to remain at home through mutual support and having a variety of talents and abilities to help each other. We will be having a panel for this comprised of several SSIP group members, we will be able to explain how to start a group of your own (lots of you already have large, well-established senior groups for whom this would work very well!), and the whole event will be on Zoom and recorded. If you cannot make the Forum, please call our office and we will send you a Zoom link closer to the June 13 date of the forum. Or if you prefer to watch it in a group – many of the local libraries will be showing it, please contact us for locations.

We are taking our tech teaching on the road! In May we will be offering a tech class in Ellenville, and we hope to get to other places all around the County as well. We think our older adults, (well, many of them), will look forward to becoming experts with their smart phones or tablets!

We are starting branch out a bit with transportation for medical appointments, and so far, so good. We are now able to offer ride share services for folks we cannot accommodate through our Neighbor 2 Neighbor volunteer program or our UCAT shopping and medical bus.

Volunteers are always needed: Drivers, respite caregivers (training offered) and handypeople who can fix things in people’s houses! Just call our office and we will sign you up! Bring your talents to us! We can use them!

Happy Spring, everyone!

Susan Koppenhaver
Director

Live Well Kingston interviews John Dowley, Volunteer teaching OFA Senior Technology Classes. View the interview here: OFA Teacher Talks Tech! Demystifying your Personal Devices and Aging Well in Kingston. - Live Well Kingston