Vol 39 • No. 7
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Wichita has more than 200 Airbnbs
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By Melanie Jenney When Pat Sloop made travel plans to attend her 60th high school reunion last fall, she wanted lodging near the neighborhood where she grew up so she could revisit the places in her memories. Englewood, Colo., is a residential suburb of Denver and not teeming with hotels. She looked into Airbnb and found an unexpected assortment of options, ranging from a room in a shared home to suites, apartments and condos. Her search popped up descriptions with intriguing and location-specific details. One that kept showing up in Pat’s search was “420-friendly.” She finally realized, with some amusement, that the term referred to Colorado’s recreational marijuana use law. She chose a two-bedroom house just three blocks from the house she grew up in and a short walk to the site
where her elementary school used to stand. Besides the location, Pat enjoyed a fully equipped kitchen and other amenities of an established home. She felt like it was more accessible and private than a hotel would have been. Just a decade old, Airbnb boasts revenue in the billions, employs more than 3,000 people Photo by Melanie Jenney and is an international broker for temporary Jennifer Connelly and Kent Rowe in their northeast Wichita Airbnb property. property rentals. Airbnb Superhost Janet Gao rents The “BNB” in the two rooms in northeast Wichita home. name refers to Bed and Breakfast, Superhosts are experienced, highly ratsuggesting more friendly and intimate lodging options. The “Air” part is ed hosts “who are committed to providing great stays,” based on reviews by acknowledgement of the air mattress guests. the two founders resorted to in order Janet has a comfortable home on a to host guests in their own home in cul-de-sac. She said being an Airbnb the beginning. Wichita has more than 200 Airbnb host allows her to combine her domessites, and there are more in the surSee Airbnb, page 3 rounding areas.
Low income eye care soon Uninsured and underinsured Sedgwick County residents will soon have access to eye health services. Envision will open an eye clinic at Hunter Health this summer inside its new 21,000-square-foot facility at 527 N. Grove. Services will be offered on a sliding fee scale. A search is underway for an optometrist to meet routine eye care needs. Patients whose vision can’t be corrected by prescription eyeglasses, contact lenses or surgery will be referred to Envision for low-vision rehabilitation services that teach how
to live and thrive independently. Low-income and racial and ethnic minority populations, including American Indians, tend to be at a greater risk for undiagnosed and uncorrected eye and vision disorders and diseases than the rest of the population. These disparities are compounded by several factors, including inadequate or no health insurance, lack of access to optometrists, treatment costs and lack of understanding of the importance of routine eye care.
June 2018
Don’t call us ‘honey’ ‘sweetie’ By Debbie Reslock Writer Ceridwen Dovey didn’t think it would be difficult to write a novel from the point of view of a man in his late 80s. Dovey, a 30-something novelist, concocted a generic old man who was crabby and computer illiterate. Another main character was an eccentric old woman who wore magenta-colored turbans and handed out safe-sex pamphlets. But, as Dovey wrote in the The New Yorker, her effort revealed the problem with assumptions. After reading her first draft, an editor inquired, “But what else are they, other than old?” What a great question. When age is the defining feature, our personality, beliefs and individuality are replaced with stereotypes of incompetence, debilitation and dependency. Which leads to one of the most damaging of the discriminating behaviors of ageism — we start treating older adults like children. I remember the embarrassment on my friend Joe Svozil’s face when they gave him a bib to wear for dinner one night at his nursing home. He usually ate alone in his room, but I’d stopped by and he’d asked me to join him. He was 91 but, of course, he was more than just that. Besides being funny and incredibly kind, he was one of the wisest men I’d ever known. But that day, he was humiliated at being treated like a child in front of his friend. Rejecting the ‘nurturing’ language It’s a fairly common practice for health care professionals, and even See Honey, page 10
Questions about services? Central Plains Area Agency on Aging or call your county Department on Aging: 1-855-200-2372
Butler County: (316) 775-0500 or 1-800- 279-3655 Harvey County: (316) 284-6880 or 1-800-279-3655