Katherine “Katy” McCabe entrepreneur of several businesses including Greenbean Coffee House shares with Lisa Hann, Executive Director Family Services Incorporated and member of the Youth Connection Task Force, her path from a rough and difficult beginning to becoming a strong, confident, and successful business woman. She talks about being a teenager on her own at age 15, not going to school, and not making the best decisions to what she did to take control of her life.

Matt Kimberlin, a Counselor at the Tyrone Area School District Middle School and coordinator for the Tyrone Graduation Initiative Program and Taylor, one of his recent graduates, discuss how this program and the major difference it has made in her life. Listen to her story and the amazing changes she has made in her life. Her story is similar to a lot of kids that have gone done the wrong road including substance abuse, attempted suicide, and missing 79 school days in one year. This all changed thanks to Matt and the Graduation Initiative Program. Taylor is an inspiration for all youth.

Patty Sauka, Attendance Director for the Altoona Area School District and Dr. Kathleen Sweeney, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine at the Altoona Family Physicians discuss the relationship between student engagement and school attendance and how that affects their practice. Non-attendance can be a consequence of a variety of causes, both visible and underlying. Listen while they discuss the difference between school absenteeism, truancy, and refusal. Then learn about the importance of building bridges from doctor to parent, to parent to school developing communication for the success of our children.

Being a mentor means many things, but most importantly it’s being there to help get the person being mentored on to the right path and guiding them along the way. Mentors, as well as those being mentored, learn and grow from the experience that last a lifetime. Having a mentor can make a big difference. Listen about the journey this mentor and mentored took with many curves and challenges along the way.

By Coleen Heim, Director of the Healthy Blair County Coalition and Patty Sauka, District Attendance Director at Altoona Area School District

Healthy Blair County Coalition’s Youth Connection Task Force took on the challenge to design a program to reach and engage our community’s youth to share the message they are wanted, they are needed, they are our future. Listen to Coleen Heim, Director of the HBCC, and Patty Sauka, District Attendance Director at Altoona Area School District, talk about the urgency our community is facing concerning youth issues and how to reach adults to share the message we need our youth to grow, to succeed, encourage them to get involved and how to get involved.

In Part Two of CHOICES Program podcasts, Sherry Pfister and Jessica Lego, CHOICES Care Managers at Blair Senior Services, Inc., share the how all of the CHOICES Program services are arranged by the CHOICES Care Manager, which eliminates the worry about scheduling, cancellations, or coordination of services. Care Managers are trained to assess and recommend any service that may benefit an individual, not simply those services available through the CHOICES Program. The consumer chooses only the services that are specific to their lifestyle and their needs including care management, in-home services, pet care, housekeeping, personal financial services, medication management, companionship, and shopping errands.

Listen to learn more about this unique program.

CHOICES Program is an affordable option to help older adults live comfortably at home, while still receiving assistance if needed. In this Part One of Two podcasts, Sherry Pfister and Jessica Lego, CHOICES Care Managers at Blair Senior Services, Inc., share information on this first program of its kind offered by an Area Agency on Aging in Pennsylvania. Listen to learn more about this unique CHOICES Program.

Serving as a caregiver can become overwhelming, both physically and emotionally. Blair Senior Services, Inc.’s Caregiver Support Program and Choices Program are working together to provide caregivers educational information on caregiving techniques, along with resources and support services available in their communities to help them through such times.

Listen to Lisa Moyer, Long Term Living Care Supervisor, and Sherry Pfister, CHOICES Care Manager, both of Blair Senior Services, Inc. share how the programs can help to reduce the caregiver’s stress and reinforce the care being provided. They will also provide information on the reimbursement component and qualifications of the program to help cover care provided by the caregiver such as hygiene needs, nutritional supplements, equipment, and personal care.

Let’s face it: Medicare can be confusing. Enrollees encounter a lot of tough decisions when it comes to choosing the right coverage plan and sorting through all of the different benefit options. The process sometimes feels plastered with red tape and laden with unfamiliar jargon. And who can keep track of all the different policies and benefits for Medicare Parts A, B, and D, let alone all the private supplemental options that are out there?

Listen to John Vellone, APPRISE Volunteer, Melissa Hey, APPRISE Coordinator, and Jessica Lippert, APPRISE Regional Coordinator discuss Blair Senior Services, Inc.’s APPRISE counseling, a free service to help you understand your insurance benefits. The Pennsylvania Department of Aging created APPRISE to help Pennsylvania’s Medicare beneficiaries understand their health insurance options and make well-informed choices about their health and wellbeing.

Join Kellie Goodman Shaffer, President/CEO of the Bedford County Chamber of Commerce, along with Suzy Knorr of Community Life to talk about this great new resource for the Bedford County region.