About the Office
The Office on Aging provides a wide variety of services and information for senior citizens and the family members and professionals who provide care or services for seniors.
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Director's Report
Gratitude During Tough Times
I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It’s been a tough year for almost everyone. The news was filled with all kinds of economic woes, foreclosures, bad debts, businesses going under, whole industries needing bailouts. Seniors, in particular, are concerned. What do the country’s tough financial times mean for them, for their fixed incomes, for their limited assets, for their savings and spiraling investments? What’s going to happen to services for seniors, with the current emphasis on youth, education, and government-sponsored bailouts?
It sounds pretty bleak, doesn’t it?
But do you know what I noticed as I read through the letters from the people we served over the last year? There wasn’t a single word about the economy, although all of our clients are affected by it. There wasn’t a single word about global business conglomerates, or bailouts, or even their own financial futures. There wasn’t a single bitter word about hard times or about putting our emphasis on the youth of this country.
There were only words of gratitude for services we’d provided for people. Words of thanks for the smallest gestures of human caring and compassion. Words of appreciation for thoughtful acts done by our staff and volunteers, for each service we were able to provide for someone who just needed a little help to stay at home, not a bailout from the brink of bankruptcy. All I had on my desk were dozens of letters of thanks, not complaints. (You can read excerpts of these letters on the back cover and throughout our annual report.)
And then I realized: this group of seniors that we have right now in our community, these people who are part of what has been called The Greatest Generation, they’ve seen and lived through tough times before. They are survivors. They know that they, and this country, have survived hard times before, and they know that we will survive again. And they know something else: that we will all come out of it stronger, more adaptable, knowing something more of the mettle of which we’re made, having a sense of pride and achievement for having been tested and having made it. And knowing that the small human gesture is more important than all the money in the world.
We’ve discovered something too. The Office on Aging is still here. We, too, have seen consequences of the times: people needing to hold onto their money because of unemployment, or sinking investments, or insecurity over the future. Funding cuts. Staff lay-offs. Cutbacks in programs. Waiting lists. Yet, we’re still here. Doing what we’ve always done. The small gesture. The hand, reaching out in all its human frailty to offer hope and whatever help it can. Maybe it’s not such a small thing after all.
We, too, are grateful for all that has been done for us, both big and small. For the hundreds of volunteers who just keep going, week after week. For the response to County Mayor Ragsdale’s Mobile Meal-A-Thon, which renewed our belief in the outstanding generosity of our community. For the grant money, community support, and volunteers who have made a new program, Volunteer Assisted Transportation, possible. And for so much more, in the form of human, financial, and time resources.
If you’ve been a part of what we do, in any shape, form, or fashion: Thank you.
Barbara Monty
Director
Contact
Phone: (865) 524-2786
Email: knoxooa@knoxcac.org
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 51650
Knoxville, TN 37950-1650
Street Address:
2247 Western Avenue
