Census Changes Impact Seniors

If you have not filled out the Census form, please do so immediately. There has been a slow response so a second mailing went out last week in case you lost the first one. If you completed and mailed the huge first edition, you can throw out the mini version. You will not be asked for financial information and, if you are, it is a scam. The worst that can happen if you do not fill out the form, is that a Census worker will contact you to take the information about your living arrangements personally. Then you have to comply.

The most recent Annual Community Census, as given to me in a NJ Foundation for the Aging fact sheet, states that 75+percent of Mercer County seniors are white and only 5 percent are Hispanic. The Census in 2000 showed that the Trenton area was approximately 65 percent mixed Hispanic. The other approximately 35 percent was White, Asian, and African American. This illustrates that our aging population has good reason to feel left behind. Most of our working or younger population is different culturally than that of our oldest residents. The stimulating diversity of our Mercer County population is rich in potential of course, but these seniors are looking for the familiar.

As any community adjusts to changes in culture, there are subtle changes that are more felt than shown. The sense of being uprooted starts with language. Many of my eighty and ninety year old friends recalling their own immigrant histories, commented,

"When my parents came over here, they had to learn English."
"How come the church mass is in Spanish? It takes twice as long because the priest says everything in both English and Spanish!".
"When we went to school we spoke English and when we went home we spoke Italian (or Polish) so how come we see all these signs in Spanish..."
"I'm not going to learn Spanish. They have to learn English."

As your income shrinks and you cannot stay in your home of over twenty years, you look for "affordable" housing and then have to adjust to new surroundings. Sometimes medical conditions mean that your home cannot be modified to your needs and you have to go to assisted living or a nursing home. One of the most tragic examples is my mother who drove herself to a routine doctor's appointment, was admitted to the hospital and then a nursing home, and was never to set foot in her home again. There are good reasons for folks to be distracted or depressed.

Put yourself in their shoes. You used to walk into your house, put your car keys on the table by the door, walk down the hall setting your groceries on the counter just thirty paces away, reach without thinking for your tea and kettle...right? These were familiar conforting things.

When one of my friends moved into her "affordable" apartment, she lived out of bags that were never unpacked. The stress of making decisions as to where to place these elements of necessary living, that might never be found again, kept her from physically making the move for months. These bags represented the hall table and drawers, the dining room buffet, the kitchen utility closet and so forth. People who help the elderly to relocate and think they are doing them a favor to get rid of "things" do not understand how disorienting this can be. Better to live out of bags or boxes than to feel the terror that life that has moved on out of your control.

One of the things we can control...completing the US Census forms. This will supply the necessary demographics to give elected representatives the scope of our aging population to assure that we get our fair share of attention and services. Instead of being bewildered and confused, we have to focus on our concerns. The Census is our best proof of our numbers.