ICYMI: Senator Aric Putnam Hosts Roundtable; SD 14 Senior Advocates and Community Members Call for More Legislative Support of Minnesota’s Aging Population
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saint Cloud, MN — Tuesday, Senator Aric Putnam (SD-14) hosted a roundtable on issues facing seniors and aging adults in central Minnesota. Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy (SD-64), alongside local geriatric care provider, Dr. George Schoephoerster, and Executive Director of Central Minnesota Council on Aging, Lori Vrolson, joined the senator and community members for the discussion.
Attendees spoke about the need for more social infrastructure to support older adults, including reliable transportation access, food security, and other community services. A major barrier identified for older adults in central Minnesota remains the lack of interconnectedness between service providers, rising service demands and impending budget cuts for vital programs, participants voiced.
Dr. Schoephoerster spoke specifically to the need to improve information access and the health risk loneliness poses to the aging community in Minnesota. He advocated strongly for the seniors in the room to make their voices heard this November but also with state legislators moving forward.
Vrolson highlighted the need to incorporate community services into infrastructure conversations and also spoke candidly about her concerns about the collapse of the organizations that are providing volunteer-based services if grant funding is pulled in the future.
“We have more than 840,000 family, friends and neighbors that are supporting adults in caregiving, and that is at a cost equivalent to 11.1 billion dollars,” Vrolson said. “I think that right now there’s not enough emphasis placed on how we support family, friends, and neighbors as they continue to support the older adults.”
The legislators, advocates and affected voices at the table all agreed, aging Minnesotans need leaders that will guarantee their rights and needs remain at the forefront of statewide policy and not slip through the cracks.
“We are seeing a lot of growth in the services for our aging population, for people with disabilities in human services, and this is a place where we must continue to invest money and resources,” Murphy said. “We’re going to help each other, but we can’t rely on volunteerism alone to have a sturdy system that people can count on when they get sick, when they, and when they need support. We have to do this together at both the state, county, and local level.”
In closing Senator Putnam remarked that his job alongside other legislators is ultimately to help create long lasting infrastructure that addresses these issues.
“The job of governance is not to solve all your problems; it’s to create an infrastructure so we can help each other and to build those connections and those relationships,” Putnam said. “It’s clear from our conversation today that nowhere is that community infrastructure more important than when it comes to our seniors. No one could feel isolated if they were in this room right now, because this is a room full of people who care, who are dedicated, who will step up and help other people.”
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