Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 5, 2012

12

THE GOOD LIFE

 Mountain Views-News Saturday, May 5, 2012 

THE JOY OF YOGA

THE BALANCING ACT

SENIOR HAPPENINGS

May Birthdays

Juanita Loera, JoAnn Serrato-Chim Barbara 
Soulanille,Joanne Anthony, Carole Axline, 
Kika Downey, Shirley Hall, Dorothy Murphy, Annie 
Scalzo, Janet Ten Eyck, Jayne Thomas, 


MAY ACTIVITIES

Senior Programs have returned to the Hart 
Park House enior Center, 222 W. Sierra 
Madre Blvd. in Memorial Park - Come by and 
see the changes!!

ene
By Rene Quenell, Founder/Owner

Yoga Madre - Sierra Madre 

Meals-On-Wheels


MondayS: City Hall & Lunch Café 

12 noon: Intervale Lunch Café: Come enjoy 
a hot meal with others. Donation for seniors 
(60+) of $2.00; visitors $3.75. Call 355-0256 
to make your daily reservation.

1:00 pm to 1:45 pm: Strength Training with 
Lisa Brandley. FREE class of stretching with 
light hand weights while you sit.

Tuesdays: 

 FREE blood pressure checks by Methodist 
Hospital Nurse; 11 am to 12 noon.

1:30 pm to 3:30 pm: BINGO; cards are only 25 
cents each so stop by & play

5:15 pm to 6:45 pm: Yoga; $6.00 - 50 & over. 
Please call 355-5278 for more information

WednesdayS:

11 –11:45 am: Balance Class with Teryl. FREE 
class designed to improve balance & refresh 
the joints

12 noon: Intervale Lunch Café; daily reservations 
needed 355-0256

2nd Wednesday of the month: FREE Legal 
Consultations: 10-11:30 am. Appointments 
call 355-7394

Wii Wednesday - 1:00 pm or call the senior 
desk at 355-7394 to arrange another time & 
day to learn how to play. No previous experience 
or skills required and it is great exercise.

Thursday:

1:00 to 3:30 pm: Game Day. Join us for Poker 
with Bridge on the 2nd & 4th Thursdays; so 
please call for more information.

Friday: City Hall closed on Dec. 16, 23 & 30 
and Lunch Café closed on Dec. 23

 12 noon: Intervale Lunch Café; daily reservations 
needed 355-0256

Saturday: 11:30 am: Senior Club brown bag 
lunch and BINGO at 12:30 pm. 

Meals are delivered to home-
bound seniors by volunteer drivers 
through the YWCA Intervale 
Lunch Program M-F (with frozen meals for the 
weekend.) 

Meals are delivered to the home-bound seniors 
by drivers through the YWCA Interval Lunch 
Program M-F (with frozen meals for the 
weekend.) 

 Call the YWCA at (626) 214-9460 for more 
information. 

 
The day hasn’t started yet and you’re already thinking about all the 
things you need to do to make it through. It seems like such a long 
list, how are you going to make it all happen? The day hasn’t started, 
and you’re already feeling overwhelmed. Well, it doesn’t have to be 
that way.

 Life is a balancing act. There are poses in your yoga practice designed to help you find 
balance. The secret is core, located in the abdominal region of the body, the literal center of 
our strength. By “core” we mean building a strong foundation that will sustain you through 
a challenging pose or situation. 

 One such pose is Vriksasana - Tree pose. Basically, you’re standing on one leg, the 
other leg bent at the knee with the foot resting on the inner thigh of the standing leg, arms 
stretching upwards. Sounds rather improbable, right? But with a strong core, this particular 
pose becomes surprisingly easy. 

 So it goes with everything. Find balance, in your body, in your life. Next time you’re 
facing a challenge - big or small - picture yourself in tree pose. Why? Because a tree has roots 
deep in the earth and they help it grow tall and stand up straight with branches and leaves 
extending to the skies. Imagine yourself as that tree. A graceful tree, maybe a bit swaying in 
the wind, but firmly planted in the ground. Reach your arms up, lift your head, look up... all 
of a sudden, you realize you’re doing the balancing act just fine... Enjoy the day ahead!

Namasté, René


LUNCH & LEARN 

Join the Senior

Community Commission

at the 

HART PARK HOUSE

 for a FREE presentation. Lunch is 
available for a 

$2 donation 

Call (626) 355-0256 by 

12 noon the day before. 

2012 EXCURSIONS

SAVE THE DATES

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN 

Thursday, May 17th - Adamson House in 
Malibu. Join us as we visit this historic 1930s 
home, view the largest display of Malibu titles, 
tour (walking) the Malibu Lagoon Museum 
and end your visit at a local restaurant 
for lunch. The bus will leave the senior center 
at 8 am (L.A .traffic) and return around 3:30 
pm (depending on traffic). COST is $20 per 
person (you will need additional money to 
pay for your own lunch) and the tour is limited 
to the first 20 paid registrations. Please 
note, if it rains the excursion will be canceled 
per the museum staff. City staff will know by 
7 am the morning of May 17th if it is canceled 
& will call all participants at that time.

SAVE THE DATE: Friday, June 8th - 
Nerthercutt Collection & lunch in Sylmar 
area

Registration can be done either in person or online at 
www.cityofsierramadre.com/onlineregistration

Registration can be done either in person or online at:

www.cityofsierramadre.com/onlineregistration

DIAL - A - RIDE TICKETS

Tickets can now be purchased at:

Sierra Madre City Hall

Sierra Madre Recreation Center

Sierra Madre Library


BINGO Tuesday - join us every Tuesday at 
the Hart Park House Senior Center at 1:30 pm 
for this traditional social activity. Bingo cards 
are only 25 cents each.

There will be a special intermission dessert 
& prize at the April 24th game provided by 
Angie Chen of Seniors Helping Seniors - In 
home services for seniors by seniors.


HOW TO TRACK DOWN 

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE 

PROGRAMS FOR SENIORS

Dear Savvy Senior:

What resources can you recommend for locating 
government assistance programs for seniors? 
My husband and I have been helping support his 
mother for the past three years and we can’t afford 
to do it any longer. Tapped Out

Dear Tapped:

Locating government benefits and financial assistance programs for seniors is actually pretty easy to 
do thanks to two key resources created by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and the National 
Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a). Here’s where you can turn to for help. 

Online Search

If you have access to the Internet, the easiest and most convenient way to search for benefits for seniors 
is at benefitscheckup.org. 

Created by the NCOA 10 years ago, BenefitsCheckUp is a free, confidential web-based service that 
helps low-income seniors and their families identify federal, state and private benefits programs that 
can help with prescription drug costs, health care, utilities, and other basic needs. This site contains 
more than 2,000 programs across the country. 

 

To help identify benefits that could help your mother-in-law, you’ll need to fill out an online questionnaire 
that asks things like her date of birth, zip code, expenses, income, assets, veteran status and a few 
other factors. It takes about 15 minutes to complete. 

 Once completed, you’ll get a report detailing all programs and services she may be eligible for. You can 
also apply for many of the programs online, or you can print an application form, fill it out and mail 
it in.

Phone Assistance

If, however, you don’t have Internet access you can also get help over the phone by calling the Eldercare 
Locator (800-677-1116), which will assign you a counselor to review your mother-in-law’s situation, 
and provide you with a list of possible programs she may be eligible for, and who to contact to get the 
ball rolling.

Types of Benefits

Depending on her income level and where she lives, some of the different benefits that may be available 
to your mother-in-law include: 

 Food Assistance: Programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can help pay 
for her groceries. The average monthly SNAP benefit is currently $119 for seniors living alone. Other 
programs that may help include the Emergency Food Assistance Program, Commodity Supplemental 
Food Program, and the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program. 

Health Assistance: Medicaid and Medicare Savings Programs can help or completely pay for out-of-
pocket health care costs. And, there are special Medicaid waiver programs that provide in-home care 
and assistance. 

Prescription Assistance: There are hundreds of programs offered through pharmaceutical companies, 
government agencies and charitable organizations that help lower or eliminate prescription drug costs, 
including the federal Low Income Subsidy known as “Extra Help” that pays premiums, deductibles and 
prescription copayments for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. 

Heating and Cooling Assistance: There’s the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), 
as well as local utility companies and charitable organizations that provide assistance in lowering home 
heating and cooling costs. 

Supplemental Security Income (SSI): Administered by the Social Security Administration, SSI provides 
monthly payments to very low income seniors, age 65 and older, as well as to those who are blind and 
disabled. The average SSI payment is around $500 per month. 

In addition to these programs, there are numerous other benefits such as HUD housing options, home 
weatherization assistance, tax relief, various veteran’s benefits, transportation, respite care and free legal 
assistance.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.
org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.