Coming of Age
Coming of Age, Lifestyle Television and Magazine for Seniors is the only senior-oriented lifestyle and informational print magazine and television program in Northwest Florida. Coming of Age was created specifically to meet the needs of a broad, diverse senior population, their families and caregivers. Both formats cover varied topics of interest including travel, "fun things to do," and community involvement opportunities in addition to legislative issues and health related information. Since its launch in 2005, Coming of Age has earned the Senior Vision Media Award from the Florida Council on Aging, Golden Image Awards from Florida Public Relations Association and a National Mature Media Award from the Mature Market Research Center.
Coming of Age, Lifestyle Magazine for Seniors is published quarterly in partnership with Ballinger Publishing. To read one of the feature articles from the current issue, click here. (See also our last issue).
Coming of Age, Lifestyle Television for Seniors airs on WUWF-TV, Cox Cable Channel 4 in Escambia County on Mondays and Fridays at 7 p.m., Tuesdays at 8 a.m. and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. The program can also be viewed at the same times at www.wuwf.org. New shows air weekly.
For more information on Coming of Age, please contact Jeff Nall, APR, CPRC, Vice President of Marketing Communications at jnall@coawfla.org or 432-1475.
The U.S. Census---More Than Just Numbers
By John B. Clark, President/CEO, Council on Aging of West Florida
Article 1, Section 2 of the United States Constitution states ….. “the actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten years, in such Manner as they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one representative……” In summary, our Founding Fathers prescribed that a “count (census)” of the United States population would be conducted every ten years in a manner determined by the laws of the United States. The original purpose was to determine how many seats each state would have in the U.S. House of Representatives and that is still the primary purpose of the census. However, conducting a census of the United States today has become more complex and important for a variety of reasons since the initial drafting of the Constitution. We can be sure our Founding Fathers did not envision a country of 50 states with a population of over 300 million, especially when you consider the first census in 1790, according to the U.S Census Bureau, reported approximately 4 million people in the United States and cost $44,300 to conduct! So apart from determining how many seats Florida will have in the House of Representatives (a very important determination), what is another important reason for conducting an accurate census of our population in Florida and our local community? Well, each year some $400 billion dollars is allocated to states and local communities based, in part, on U.S. Census data.
Let me give two examples; Florida receives an allocation of federal funds from the Older Americans Act (OAA) based on the census results of persons 60 and over living in Florida; the more persons over 60, the more funding for our state. Our local community then will receive an allocation of these OAA funds, again based primarily on the number of person 60 and over in our area. The amount of OAA funds received in our area will determine how many Meals on Wheels can be provided to homebound elders. It will determine how many persons will be served in the Congregate Meal Program. It will determine how many elders will be able to receive other critical home and community based services which will help them to live at home with independence and dignity and avoid being placed in a long term care facility.
Another example is the local city and county Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) programs. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), “the CDBG program is a flexible program that provides communities with resources (funds) to address a wide range of unique community development needs.” In our area, CDBG funding has been used for a variety of housing rehabilitation programs, renovation of sidewalks to make them wheelchair accessible, renovation of Council on Aging of West Florida’s centers in Cantonment and Century and much more. The funds have also been used to support the Council’s nutrition programs (home delivered and congregate meals) and the agency’s rural services program in the Cantonment and Century areas. Again, the amount of funding received by a local community is based in large part on the information obtained from the census report and serves as another reminder of why we must participate fully in the 2010 census.
Census information is also used for a wide variety of other purposes. It is even used by many businesses when they are determining where to open a new store. It is used by health care facilities and by school systems. The census information is also used to determine how much federal funding a state will receive for highway construction. So you can see that census data is extremely important to the services local citizens will receive, especially in terms of federally funded programs. You can argue the pros and cons of whether the federal government should even be providing these services and funding, but the fact is these federal funds will continue to be allocated to the states. Therefore, it is not a question of being “selfish,” it is simply a matter of ensuring this area will receive its “fair share” of allocated federal funds. So, please, fill out the census forms you will receive in February and March of 2010. It is too important not to do so. And remember, by law, the Census Bureau cannot share your responses with anyone, including other federal agencies and law enforcement entities.
