Page 2 - November Rolling Stone

Page 2
November, 2016
In one week our Senior Health Insurance Program (SHIP) Counselors have already saved people $44,442.39 on their Part D plan for next year. Call for an appointment
at 815-235-9777.
Adult Protective Services
The Senior Resource Center’s Adult Protective Services (APS) is an Illinois Department on Aging Provider Agency, using trained and certified case managers who will help address:
• Abuse – Physical, sexual, or emotional mistreatment or willful confinement. Keep in mind that emotional abuse can encompass verbal assaults, threats of maltreatment, harassment or intimidation.
• Neglect – Failure of caregiver to provide an adult with the necessities of life, including, but not limited to food, clothing, shelter or medical care.
• Exploitation – The misuse or withholding of an adult’s resources by another to the disadvantage of the adult or for the profit or advantage of another.
Adult abuse does not discriminate and can affect people of all ethnic backgrounds and social status and both men and women. An abuse
victim may be your neighbor, friend or family member. It is estimated that only one in every five cases of adult abuse cases are reported. In Illinois’ Fiscal Year 2014, nearly 15,000 reports of adult abuse were made in Illinois.
If you suspect abuse of an older adult or an adult with a disability, report the abuse. Any person can call. By law, anyone making an adult abuse report in good faith has civil and criminal immunity from liability and professional disciplinary action. Certain professionals are required by law to report cases of abuse. The identities of these mandated reporters are not disclosed without the written permission of the reporter or by order of a court.
To report adult abuse, call either the Senior Resource Center at 815-235-9777 or after-hours the Department on Aging’s 24-Hour Adult Protective Services Hotline 1-866- 800-1409.
Callers should be prepared to report the alleged victim’s name and address, what happened, where and when it happened, who the suspected abuser might be, circumstances that led to the report and whether the alleged victim is in immediate danger.
The Senior Resource Center’s certified case managers will confidentially investigate, substantiate and provide case management for older adults 60 years of age or an adult with a disability age 18-59. This may include assisting them in accessing resources and services that may improve their situation.
Source: “Enough Is Enough: Report Abuse of Older Adults and Adults With Disabilities”, State of Illinois Department on Aging.
When you call for a ride from the Pretzel City Area Transit you will talk to one of six dispatchers. Tyrone Patton is one of them. He has been assisting riders of Stephenson County for two years. Many of you have spoken to him and some of you call him Thomas, Charles and Jarome. Now you know his real name and you also know what he looks like by this photo!
Tyrone was born in Chicago and
moved to Freeport when he was 5.
He graduated from Freeport High
School in 1995. After graduation, he
worked many places in Freeport
including the Boys and Girls Club, Newell, Snack King and was also a team leader at Willow Glen Academy. In 1998 Tyrone continued his education at Highland Community College in early childhood education with a minor in Behavioral Disorder. He moved to Rockford in 2004 where he worked as a youth therapist specialist. In 2006 he moved back to Freeport, working in various places until beginning his work at Pretzel City Transit in 2014. He met Venetta in 2007 and it was “love at first sight” Tyrone knew from the first day he met her that he was going to marry her. They were married in 2010 and now have four children; King, Sincere, Paris, and Precious who is the only girl and the youngest.
Tyrone enjoys coming to work each day. He likes the contact he has with people and he especially finds it rewarding to help the senior population get to their doctor appointments and to the other places where they need to go. He has had the opportunity to get to know and appreciate the seniors in the community. Tyrone tells this story, “I remember one of our riders moved out of town but she still called me to thank me for everything that I had done for her. She said she didn’t want to move without saying good- bye. That made me feel special and to realize that what we do here at Pretzel City means a
lot to people not only because of the service we provide but because we become an important part of their
lives. Many of them have become an important part of my life also.” Tyrone wants to thank everyone in the
senior community of riders for letting him “put a smile on your faces.”
Tyrone is one of the few men who works at the SRC. He is called upon to help out in other ways. He is always happy to help when asked to move
tables or set up for an event. Thanks, Tyrone for providing great service to our Pretzel City
Riders of all ages, but especially to our senior community.
Tyrone Patton