Everything Elderly - Meals on Wheels, and Insurance for Seniors

Posted on Sat, Jun 5, 2010 : 9:43 p.m.

Everything Elderly - Meals on Wheels, and Insurance for Seniors

By Alan Caldwell

Beth Adams with Meals on Wheels

Everything Elderly is a weekly half-hour radio show, sponsored by Senior Helpers. The program is all about seniors -- informative entertainment! The shows airs on 1290 am WLBY, every Saturday morning at 8:30. Earlier today we had very interesting talks about Meals on Wheels and insurance for seniors.

We first spoke with Beth Adams about Meals on Wheels.

Beth is the Director of Ann Arbor Meals on Wheels, and clearly the expert on this subject!

The mission is to reduce hunger and food insecurity, and promote the dignity and independence of the homebound in Ann Arbor.

Meals on Wheels is a community service program of the University of Michigan Health System, and is partially funded by the university.

They serve primarily elderly, with 50% over the age of 80.

The program has lots of volunteer opportunities. They need 92 volunteers each week to get the meals delivered. Some volunteers have been at it for 35 years!

For many people, the delivery volunteer may be the only person they see all day. The visits serve as a safety and wellness check, and very importantly provide social interaction for the clients.

Drivers receive very specific instructions for their route -- “Virginia may take awhile to get to the door, be patient”.

Voluntary contributions for the meals are accepted, and some clients pay the full cost, while no one is ever denied service for inability to pay.

The big fund raiser for Meals on Wheels is on Monday, July 12th, a golf outing called “Tee It Up to Make a Difference” at Reddeman Farms. To contact Beth or Meals on Wheels, or to sign up for “Tee It Up”, please call 734-998-6686. You may also visit their website at med.umich.edu/aamealsonwheels. To listen to the 13-minute discussion, please click on this audio file Everything Elderly 0605 Beth Adams.mp3. We spoke next with Heidi Kussurelis, who owns the local Heidi Kussurelis Agency.

Heidi Kussurelis from the Kussurelis Agency

Photos by Sheila Doeden

Heidi has been in the insurance business for 20 years, with her own agency for 14 years.

Her company sells all types of insurance - auto, life, home, commercial -- as well as financial products.

Heidi really enjoys serving her customers, running the business, and being active in the local community.

There are many options with life insurance, and long-term-care riders may be added. These riders allow the death benefit to be a “living benefit”.

Life insurance is a wonderful vehicle to (upon end of life) provide money immediately to your family, avoiding taxes, probate and legal delays.

When seniors downsize to a smaller house or condo, it’s important to make sure your property is fully covered (consider everything you own!).

For condos, you want to make sure you have coverage for all property upgrades.

The biggest mistake people make is not having sufficient personal liability coverage.

You want the insurance company to cover your liabilities. Once you’ve retired, you don’t want to have to go back to work to cover lawsuit damages.

To get in touch with Heidi and her agency, please call 723-213-6736, or visit their website heidikinsurance.com. To listen to the full 11-minute segment click on this file Everything Elderly 0605 Heidi Kussurelis.mp3.

Alan Caldwell is the owner of Senior Helpers, providing in-home care services, primarily for the elderly. He can be contacted at acaldwell@seniorhelpers.com, or at 734-927-3111.