Peoria County TRIAD wants to get seniors engaged in the community again in the post-COVID era.
The organization is back to hosting monthly talks to help educate seniors on topics ranging from financial scams to legal issues.
They also help connect seniors to resources such as medical checks and Peoria's social services.
WCBU's Camryn Cutinello sat down with Peoria County TRIAD President Michael Bearce to talk about what the group's been doing.
What does Peoria County TRIAD do?
Michael Bearce: We make sure that seniors are actually involved in their community. So we might not just be talking about scams, but we might be also talking about health, general activities that gets them into the community. Since COVID, that's been a real challenge.
What are some of your most requested discussion topics?
Bearce: We do, on average about three speaking engagements per month. We're coming into the cold weather, so that means we're going to get more engagements. But recently, the most requested one has been downsizing and decluttering. That's been a real popular one. We have one also, that is about falls, seniors and falls, and medically are there things that can be done? How to you avoid it, that kind of a thing. Those two are pretty popular.
You mentioned COVID. Can you talk about what the impacts of COVID were for Peoria County TRIAD?
Bearce: The interesting thing about COVID, and the fact that most of our membership, are social service agencies. During COVID, they were swamped. And so they were busy all the time. On the public side of TRIAD, it was like everybody else, you're cloistered. And so there's no real opportunity to get out. And, of course, the seniors were, they were closed in as they should have been. And so it made it really tough on everybody. I mean, the whole, the whole world felt that. So it was really no different for seniors.
And are you seeing lasting impacts now?
Bearce: The only lasting impact is just the the rate of recovery is just slow. You know? And it's not just seniors, it seems like every aspect of our economy and our social life has been a little slower to recover. I don't know why that would be. I think it just played with everybody's mind.
Can you talk about some of your partners?
Bearce: Peoria County TRIAD has, for lack of another word, a process for membership, we have a small committee, two people. And if someone is a prospective member, then the prospective member meets with those two folks. And then they kind of go over the bylaws, the rules. I've seen it happen in other groups, in other TRIAD groups, where if you let just anybody in, then their attitude of service goes away. And they're more inclined to get in front of a senior group to try to sell them something. And so for that reason, all of our members have to come in knowing that that's not the purpose. It's one thing to be able to provide information and maybe a little bit of guidance with the senior group that you're talking to. And then maybe afterward, if they would like a brochure or a business card or something like that, perfectly fine. But to go in and intentionally try to get leads or prospects or whatever, from that group. We just don't have those people in. And so yeah, so we really go out of our way to make sure that the people who join us are there for the right reasons.
And then looking towards looking ahead in the next couple months, next couple winter months, what's going on for Peoria County TRIAD?
Bearce: Well, one of our newer members is the [Hult Center for Healthy Living]. And since COVID, they have a lot of space that they aren't utilizing like they used to. And so we're planning to have a couple of, for lack of another word, I'll call it (a) health fair. I don't really like that catch all term, because if you've ever been to a senior health fair, it's a bunch of tables with a bunch of vendors. And I use that a bit of a slang term, vendor. And then the seniors go from table to table, picking up pens, or little notepads or little whatever the things are that are being given away. And, you know, as a group, TRIAD looks at those and kind of like, what's the point of doing something like that? So we stay away from doing the "health fairs", and try to do more educational events.
I think I can maybe let the cat out of the bag a little bit. I'm working right now with the sheriff, Peoria County Sheriff, and chief of police, and the Emergency Management Service and the fire department in Peoria. And we're trying to put together, for lack of another word, it's more of a community service group. And while seniors can't go out and help firefighters, they certainly can do things like learn how to do weather spotting, and they can certainly do things like help educate seventh and eighth graders on basic the fundamentals of first aid and other kinds of things. So, we're involved with that because it's another opportunity for seniors to get engaged. And so that'll be a project that TRIAD's working on over the next probably three or four months.
Any senior group can request a speaker from one of Peoria County TRIAD's partner organizations. A full list of groups and topics can be found at their website. Anyone interested in starting their own senior group can also reach out through the website.
