Jacksonville, Fla. (Feb. 13, 2019) – Community Hospice & Palliative Care is demonstrating a continued commitment to helping aging populations in the communities it serves. On Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019 from 4 to 6 p.m., Community Hospice is teaming up with the Florida Council on Aging and Florida Association of Aging Services Providers to host the Regional Aging Advocacy Summit. 

The summit will be held at the Community Hospice & Palliative Care Charles M. Neviaser Education Institute located at 4266 Sunbeam Road, Jacksonville, Fla. The community is invited to attend the summit and reception, which will provide an educational opportunity to learn about current funding and legislative changes that impact the elderly. Guests will receive materials with resources to assist them with advocacy efforts. 

Community Hospice President & CEO Susan Ponder-Stansel is a longtime champion of aging Floridians. Currently an Advisory Committee Member for Florida Age-Friendly Public Health, Ponder-Stansel is dedicated to helping Floridians age well. 

The summit agenda is as follows:

  • Regional Aging Advocacy Summit, 4 to 5:15 p.m. | Margaret Lynn Duggar, Executive Director of the Florida Council on Aging
  • Membership Networking Reception, 5:15 to 6 p.m. | Susan Ponder-Stansel, President and CEO of Community Hospice; this networking opportunity is open to current members and guests interested in membership

 

Community Hospice & Palliative Care is proud to host the Regional Aging Advocacy Summit, in partnership with The Florida Council on Aging, to help elderly community members find resources to age well. 

Created nearly a decade ago, the summit was born when the Florida Council on Aging Board of Trustees entrusted its members to lead the charge to build relationships in Florida communities across the state in order to alleviate funding issues. In Northeast Florida, organizations like Aging True, Community Hospice, River Garden Senior Services, Lutheran Services Health Systems, Nassau County Council on Aging and countless other like-minded community partners formed a compassionate network that ensures the aging are not only sustained, but thrive. 

“Through the summit, we update our partners on the current legislative committees, and proposed appropriations and legislation,” said Margaret Lynn Duggar, Executive Director of the Florida Council on Aging. “Then we ask them to stop by their legislators’ offices and drop off our educational materials and share the importance of these programs in the lives of frail, older adults. In the last nine years, we have increased the funding for elderly care, Alzheimer’s respite and other programs by about forty-five million dollars.”

The summit’s vision is to have a far-reaching impact on frail seniors by securing increases in funding to support services like Meals on Wheels and resources that help the elderly with day-to-day tasks like bathing, dressing and grocery shopping. Helping them maintain their independence and a better quality of life is an essential aim. 

In its 40 years of compassionate care, consideration of the whole patient -- along with their loved ones -- has remained central to Community Hospice’s offerings and to the organization's commitment to touch every aspect of the communities it serves.

Seats are limited. To RSVP for the summit, please visit https://www.communityhospice.com/events/regional-aging-advocacy-summit/.