Milestones 2
February 2021
WHAT IS PCA? Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA) is a nonprofit agency dedicated to serving Philadelphia seniors. In addition to bringing you Milestones newspaper, PCA offers: • Care in the home • Home-delivered meals • Home repairs and modifications • Protective services • Senior centers • Caregiver support • Employment and volunteer programs • Legal services • Transportation
HONORING BLACK HISTORY MONTH:
Progress never stops • Ombudsman services • Health education • Information and referral For more information, call the PCA Helpline at 215-765-9040 or visit pcaCares.org. Call 24/7 to report suspected elder abuse.
Published by Philadelphia Corporation for Aging
Najja Orr, President and CEO Board of Directors Katherine E. Galluzzi, D.O., F.A.C.O.F.P., Chair Judee M. Bavaria, Vice Chair Satya B. Verma, O.D., Secretary Glenn D. Bryan, Treasurer Louis A. Bove, Esq. Nora Dowd Eisenhower, Esq. Lynn Fields Harris Angela Foreshaw-Rouse Fran Miller Victor M. Negrón, Jr Lenore Wasserman Scola Eloise N. Young Jacqueline S. Zinn, Ph.D. Emeritus: Arthur E. Helfand, D.P.M.
PCA Helpline: 215-765-9040 Outside Philadelphia toll-free: 888-215-765-9041 (TDD) pcaCares.org
Milestones is published monthly and distributed at more than 1,100 locations throughout Philadelphia, Lower Bucks and Eastern Montgomery counties. Check us out online: pcaCares.org/Milestones Editor: Alicia M. Colombo 215-765-9000, ext. 5081 PCA, 642 N. Broad St. Philadelphia, PA 19130 Email: MilestonesNews@pcaCares.org Advertising: Teresa Heavens 215-765-9000, ext. 5053 Email: Teresa.Heavens@pcaCares.org Subscriptions & Distributions: 215-765-9000, ext. 5081 Email: MilestonesNews@pcaCares.org Home delivery: $12/year
The views expressed in Milestones are not necessarily those of Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA). Milestones will not knowingly accept or publish fraudulent or misleading advertising. Milestones reserves the right to edit, revise or reject ads. Milestones assumes no responsibility for errors, misprints, omissions or misinformation; for failure to publish an ad; or for any damages of any kind. Neither the publisher nor any other party is rendering expert advice in this publication. No part of this newspaper may be reproduced without the permission of PCA. ©2021 Philadelphia Corporation for Aging. All rights reserved.
In place of the Editor’s Letter this month, we present a special message from PCA President and CEO Najja R. Orr During this month, we honor the legacy of many important Black individuals in our nation’s history. I feel the need to address the importance of this month in the frame of national events that have transpired over the past year. While 2020 brought with it many challenges, it also gave birth to a powerful movement that swept through cities across our nation where people, once again, united to combat social injustices. By its definition alone, progress never stops. As a society, we continue to elevate the voices in our community that have been disenfranchised and not afforded equal access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Institutional and societal injustices have existed in communities of color for far too long. In January, we saw the state of Georgia elect its first Black representative to the Senate, Rev. Raphael Warnock. I am honored to share a common thread with both Rev. Warnock and the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as I, too, am an alum of Morehouse College. Even prior to my time of walking through the hallowed halls of Morehouse College, and sitting in the sacred Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College, I felt a calling to give back and support my community.
Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA) is honored to take up the torch passed down from Dr. King to all of us. Advocacy is inherent in everything we do as an organization. As a human services nonprofit, we want to not only deliver services that improve quality of life but also uplift the voices and advocate for the needs of those we serve. As part of our constant commitment to diversity and inclusion, PCA’s recently-implemented Four-Year Area Plan includes goals of promoting efficient and innovative best practices to ensure service access for Philadelphia’s diverse aging population, and demonstrating continued efforts of inclusion and person-centered practices through services and programs as well as outreach and education. While advocacy is an Older Americans Act mandate for all Area Agencies on Aging, it is important that we raise our voices louder now to help stamp out discrimination and inequality. In closing, I leave you with two of my favorite quotes from Dr. King: “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and “our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” PCA will never remain silent and will continue to combat injustices throughout 2021 and beyond.