This week's guest on How to Move Your Mom (and still be on speaking terms afterward) is @Dawneen Lorance. Dawneen Lorance is the Director of Marketing at Villa Gardens Senior Living, a premier retirement community in the heart of Pasadena, California. With her 9+ years of experience, she offers support to seniors and/or adult children as they learn about retirement living and navigate the journey of aging.

Episode Sponsor:  

Clear Home Solutions takes care of a lifetime's worth of treasures - and all the emotions attached to them - when it's time for you or your senior parent to move or make their home safe and organized for their later years. Got photos?  We can organize and digitize those for you, too.

What you will learn from this episode:

• Who is a good fit for senior living.
• What kind of questions people should ask as they approach a community and consider living in it.
• The focus of Dawneen’s work at Villa Gardens.
• The impact of COVID on people considering moving into the senior living communities. 
• The difference between Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) and assisted living.

Connect with Dawneen Lorance:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawneen-lorance-b3227ba9
Website: https://villagardens.org/ 

Connect with Marty Stevens-Heebner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martyheebner/
Website: https://howtomoveyourmom.com/
Email: [email protected]

This week's guest on How to Move Your Mom (and still be on speaking terms afterward) is @ToddEmrick. Todd is a 24-year veteran of the moving industry. As The Wheaton Group’s Director of Customer Service he has expertly shepherded clients from one end of their move to the other since 2004. Given that The Wheaton Group is the fourth largest household moving and transportation carrier in the United States, Todd gets a lot of phone calls, both from clients and move managers like Marty.

Episode Sponsor:  

Clear Home Solutions takes care of a lifetime's worth of treasures - and all the emotions attached to them - when it's time for you or your senior parent to move or make their home safe and organized for their later years. Got photos?  We can organize and digitize those for you, too.

What you will learn from this episode:

• The distinct difference between moving older adults and those of younger generations.
• Why delivery delays are the most challenging part of his job and what causes most of them. 
• What questions people should ask moving companies as they consider working with them.  
• The difference between packing by professionals versus families.
• What he wishes people knew about what he does. 
• How he helped create a training program for moving agents and brokers that focused on moves for older adults.  
• What advice he gives to people about how to set themselves up for success – or at least less stress – when they’re preparing to move.

Connect with Todd Emrick:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-emrick-3398226/
Website: https://www.wheatonworldwide.com/

Connect with Marty Stevens-Heebner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martyheebner/
Website: https://howtomoveyourmom.com/
Email: [email protected]

This week's guest on How to Move Your Mom (and still be on speaking terms afterward) is @AlisonMacCracken, ranked among the top 1% of Realtors across the U.S. As a realtor with Sotheby’s International Realty, she built The MacCracken Team, where her team’s realtors are all certified Senior Real Estate Specialists – so they know the benefits available for those who are 55 years or older. Alison serves as a founding board member and vice-chair of Westside Pacific Villages, a non-profit dedicated to galvanizing that community to support the older adults living there. 

Episode Sponsor:  

Clear Home Solutions takes care of a lifetime's worth of treasures - and all the emotions attached to them - when it's time for you or your senior parent to move or make their home safe and organized for their later years. Got photos?  We can organize and digitize those for you, too.

What you will learn from this episode:

• What she loves about her work and why she enjoys working with older adults and their families.
• The advantage of working with a realtor who’s a certified Senior Real Estate Specialist.
• What tax implications older adults should know about when it comes to real estate.
• What it takes to make a home safe and comfortable for people to live out their later years.
• How people of all ages and needs can also benefit from those same home adjustments.
• What the Village Movement is about and how she put together Westside Pacific Villages.

Connect with Alison MacCracken:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisonmaccracken/
Website: http://www.maccracken.com/

Connect with Marty Stevens-Heebner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martyheebner/
Website: https://howtomoveyourmom.com/
Email: [email protected]

This week's guest on How to Move Your Mom (and still be on speaking terms afterward) is Brenda Shorkend. Brenda Shorkend of Shorkend Care Management is a Certified Aging Life Care Manager™- also known as a Geriatric Care Manager - with over 25 years of experience working with older adults and people with special needs, as well as their families. Brenda has worked with many hospital and community organizations, including Huntington Hospital's Senior Care Network. She’s studied Rehabilitation Psychology and is a member of the Aging Life Care Association. Brenda’s a very strong advocate for her clients, focusing on maximizing their independence and autonomy - while still ensuring their safety and well-being. 

Episode Sponsor:  

Clear Home Solutions takes care of a lifetime's worth of treasures - and all the emotions attached to them - when it's time for you or your senior parent to move or make their home safe and organized for their later years. Got photos?  We can organize and digitize those for you, too.

▶ What the differences are between a care manager and a caregiver.

▶ What the most challenging part of her job is and what drew her to this line of work.

▶ What it takes to become a care manager/aging life specialist.

What you will learn from this episode:

• What the differences are between a care manager and a caregiver.
• What she wishes people knew about what she does and the focus of her profession.
• How she helps her clients understand all the medical jargon and the dangers of drug interactions.
• Why working with clients with dementia and those with special needs can be particularly challenging. 
• How she forms a “team” of professionals to take care of all her clients' needs.
• What the most challenging part of her job is and what drew her to this line of work.
• What it takes to become a care manager/aging life specialist.
• What questions people should ask professionals like Brenda as they consider working with them.

Connect with Brenda Shorkend:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendashorkend/

Connect with Marty Stevens-Heebner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martyheebner/
Website: https://howtomoveyourmom.com/
Email: [email protected]

This week's guest on How to Move Your Mom (and still be on speaking terms afterward) is @Jamie Gonzalez a partner at Oldman, Cooley, Sallus, Birnberg & Coleman, LLP. Jamie is extraordinary when it comes to litigating a case involving probate trusts, estate planning, guardianships, or conservatorships (as we call them in California). With over 20 years of experience practicing law, Jamie has been repeatedly recognized as tops in her field by Los Angeles Magazine, The Legal Network, and she's also been named one of Southern California's Super Lawyers for six straight years. This year, she was named as one of the top 50 women attorneys in Southern California.

Episode Sponsor:  

Clear Home Solutions takes care of a lifetime's worth of treasures - and all the emotions attached to them - when it's time for you or your senior parent to move or make their home safe and organized for their later years. Got photos?  We can organize and digitize those for you, too.

What you will learn from this episode:

• What the difference is between probate trusts, wills, and all the different terms used in her line of work
• What types of issues in a will or trust tend to trip the legal switch
• What she feels is distinctive about what she does with her clients and what her approach is
• Where her ability to be reasonable with a compassionate and thoughtful outlook comes from
• How she goes about easing a client from a very emotional state back toward reality so they can make smarter decisions
• What kind of questions people should ask attorneys that they're interviewing to represent them 
  
  

Connect with Jamie Gonzalez:

Website: https://oldmancooley.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-gonzalez-759036b8/

Connect with Marty Stevens-Heebner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martyheebner/
Website: https://howtomoveyourmom.com/
Email: [email protected]

This week's guest on How to Move Your Mom (and still be on speaking terms afterward) is @Nancy Noever. Until recently, Nancy was a Los Angeles-based Production Manager and Line Producer in the entertainment industry. She had been doing that for 25 years. But more importantly, her mother's death, the pandemic, and her desire for a career change all converged in February/March of 2020. It set her on a completely new and unfamiliar path in a new city, on the other side of the country. In today’s episode, Nancy talks about the whole journey of being the executor of her mother's estate.

Episode Sponsor:  

Clear Home Solutions takes care of a lifetime's worth of treasures - and all the emotions attached to them - when it's time for you or your senior parent to move or make their home safe and organized for their later years. Got photos?  We can organize and digitize those for you, too.

What you will learn from this episode:

• What skills she had to draw on to complete the tasks involved with being the executor 
• How she handled being her mother's executor while grieving at the same time 
• How she preserved her mother's legacy and why that was so important to her
• What Nancy knows now that she wishes she’d known before
• How working in isolation during the pandemic affected her sense of time 
• What plans she’s put in place for her own end of life
• How she's currently feeling in terms of her mother's passing 
• Why she believes that people die as they have lived and what she means by that

Connect with Nancy Noever:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-noever-1288726/

Connect with Marty Stevens-Heebner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martyheebner/
Website: https://howtomoveyourmom.com/
Email: [email protected]

This week's guest on How to Move Your Mom (and still be on speaking terms afterward) is @Nancy Noever. Nancy’s mother had for years made it clear that if doctors ever needed to take extreme measures to keep her alive, Nancy was to let her mother go. In early 2020, mom had a massive stroke and, with her eyes, made it clear now was the time to say goodbye. Nancy courageously talks about the struggles she faced in carrying out her mother’s wish.

Episode Sponsor:  

Clear Home Solutions takes care of a lifetime's worth of treasures - and all the emotions attached to them - when it's time for you or your senior parent to move or make their home safe and organized for their later years. Got photos?  We can organize and digitize those for you, too.

What you will learn from this episode:

• How Nancy’s life changed in February of 2020 when her mother had a stroke
• What her experience was like making sure her mother had her decisions respected and how she advocated for her last wishes
• What the difference is between medical care and palliative care
• The importance of having conversations and documents in place beforehand to make sure your end-of-life wishes are clear to one’s family

Connect with Nancy Noever:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-noever-1288726/

Connect with Marty Stevens-Heebner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martyheebner/
Website: https://howtomoveyourmom.com/
Email: [email protected]

This week's guest on How to Move Your Mom (and still be on speaking terms afterward), @KenKossoff of Panitz & Kossoff, LLP, has been an attorney for over 35 years. With experience and compassion Ken helps his clients negotiate the labyrinth of legal issues that inevitably arise as people age into their later years. Based in Westlake Village, CA, he’s a certified estate planning probate and trust law specialist in California and has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business News, and other media outlets because he's such an expert. Ken is also the co-founder of Solo Aging Solutions, which provides health care agents to uphold their client's healthcare wishes should the need arise.

Episode Sponsor:  

Clear Home Solutions takes care of a lifetime's worth of treasures - and all the emotions attached to them - when it's time for you or your senior parent to move or make their home safe and organized for their later years. Got photos?  We can organize and digitize those for you, too.

What you will learn from this episode:

• How estate planning and life-care planning are the focus of his legal work
• What people should be asking when interviewing attorneys about putting together their estate plan
• What he loves most about what he does and how he developed his more human approach to the law 
• Why he launched Solo Aging Solutions, who it serves, and how
• What kind of training Solo Aging Solutions’ health care agents go through to qualify, and the ideal background for someone considering this work
• When someone should consider engaging a health care agent and Solo Aging Solutions
• What kind of things go into a health care directive
• Ken’s expert advice on estate planning and how it's not just about drawing up a will

Connect with Ken Kossoff:

Website: https://mysoloagingsolutions.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenkossoff/

Connect with Marty Stevens-Heebner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martyheebner/
Website: https://howtomoveyourmom.com/
Email: [email protected]

Clear Home Solutions takes care of a lifetime's worth of treasures - and all the emotions attached to them - when it's time for you or your senior parent to move or make their home safe and organized for their later years. Got photos?  We can organize and digitize those for you, too.

• What Kendyl’s work focuses on in the real estate industry.
• What an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) is, as well as its different types, and requirements.
• Who ADUs are well-suited for.
• What the benefits are of investing in one, especially for a senior family member.
• How ADU can be beneficial for housing a senior family member. 
• What Kendyl wishes people knew about her and the work that she does. 
• What questions you should have ready when interviewing a realtor.
• What lessons from Kendyl’s mother have influenced her career in the real estate industry.

Dawn McFarland is the Founder and President of M & M Benefit Solutions Insurance Services.  She has found a passion for helping people navigate their health care choices, especially those eligible for Medicare.  Dawn currently serves as the Vice President of Legislation for the State of California Association and on the Medicare Advisory Council for the National Association of Health Underwriters. Dawn is also a certified community educator for the Alzheimer's Association.

Episode Sponsor:  

Clear Home Solutions takes care of a lifetime's worth of treasures - and all the emotions attached to them - when it's time for you or your senior parent to move or make their home safe and organized for their later years. Got photos?  We can organize and digitize those for you, too.

What you will learn from this episode:

• What Dawn likes most about shepherding people through the mysteries of Medicare, and what influenced her to focus her work on Medicare. 
• Tips on how to better understand Medicare, its regulations, deadlines, and the penalties that can impact those applying for it.
• What it's like dealing with the Medicare bureaucracies, deadline regulations, and penalties that impact her clients.  
• Why Medicare is so complicated, and what to be aware of when creating a financial plan for health insurance. 
• The types of coverage provided by the Medicare system, as well as the difference between the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplements programs.
• What Dawn wishes people knew about what she does as a health insurance advisor. 

Connect with Dawn McFarland:

Website - www.mnmbenefitsolutions.com
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-mcfarland-mnmbenefits
Email - [email protected]
Phone - (805) 701-1229

Connect with Marty Stevens-Heebner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martyheebner/
Website: https://howtomoveyourmom.com/
Email: [email protected]