Hour 3: Staying active is about so much more than exercise

0:00Welcome back folks, that's right we're here at 6691 Riverside Drive East Jefferson YMCA healthy aging day and celebrating today for a healthy aging month. And we've had a great show thus far talk we've had an opportunity to talk to Dr. Brett Wallace and carried Diaz the executive director of YMCA. Dr. Rameato with primary care plus and evil weights as the senior activities coordinator for the Y. And I got a little note from a friend Peggy who says, high nul, I just want to let you know your show finally got me to take a tour of the Y and she I saw walking in earlier and I'm very excited about that and folks you need to come by. And now we're going to talk to Lois Sheridan who is a senior member here and and I can tell that she's very excited about joining us. Lois, that's why you're not nervous at all.

1:01No, I'm not nervous. I'm just about to fall out this chair. So Lois, if you would tell us a little bit about your experience here at the Y and what actually how did you get? What Lord you hear to the Y? Well, I took care of a lot of people in my life, but I started here probably 20 years ago. Okay. And my goal was to get the people to come here and stay because the classes are so good to keep you mobile. Okay. In my senior years. I won't ask. I'm proud of my 88 years, but it's so commendable to see people come and stay. Now we have a carry is my adopted granddaughter, you know, carry. Okay. So we she came up with a senior, senior's prom.

2:02I never went to a senior prom in my days, but guess what? I won senior, senior's prom queen. Oh, there you go. She asked me where my crown was today. And I said, I forgot it, but that's okay. It's not the crown. It's a person that comes. But the YMCA is very great. It's a place for us to gather. We get together and some of us need to go to the doctor. We drive them weight, pick them up. And we have about 20 of them. This is our military. So we're very, we have a military group here. That's just great. Okay. Vietnam boys. I call them boys. They got different ones, you know, different, they're navy and army. And all, but they usually gather about eight or 10 of them at the table. And we have a cookie club that's maybe 20, 25 ladies. But we keep people coming because this place is the place to be together

3:05to express your feelings. And if you need any help with that, we have some ladies that really need us. And I'm one to be the first one to help them. But it keeps me coming back because the staff is so great. I mean, they work with you. They have different things that they do for us. Okay. And they always call me when they have something and say, can you get your girls over here? Sure can. But. And you'll actually create, you'll do things outside of the Y too, right? I mean, yes, we go to, even has a lot of things that we go to where they are. The donors give to the Y. We go eat at their restaurants, you know, it promotes them to give to the Y. But it's, it's really a great activity place for all of us. And I try to bring them all back and it's, I went to a Y when I was on a trip

4:11and it looked like it was dead. This one's not dead really. We really boom and things here and carry helps us out very much. So what is your favorite class here? What is your favorite? I love them. All of them. I have yoga and I have a cardio. And all my instructors are just great. They really are. If you do something a little wrong, they can't tell you when you first start, they help you out showing you what to do. But they really are great. I can't find anything bad with this place. This place has been my safe haven. And a lot of people like you see them show up. This is not half of them because the rain kept them on my way. Yeah. It was, it was pouring down. But anyway. But so when you, when you talk about that, you say all of them. I mean, is there something about each particular one that you really enjoy? Classes, you mean?

5:14It's hard to say because I like my yoga and I like my cardio. That's a two I go to. And and that's, I like both of them. So I can't compare them because they both, I come here five days a week. So you've been coming for 20 years? Yeah. Maybe more. But that, but that, you know, it's important because those early years that you were here and obviously has provided a benefit for you later in your life, right? Yes. I mean, it keeps me mobile. You know, a lot of people at this age, folks. If you to see their jumping that chair, you would know what mobile is all about. But no, it's, it this place is like I say my safe haven. And I want to give the military guys a shout out because they, they usually have like eight to 10 on the table, but with the rain, I guess it wasn't here. But we, we kind of share things with them and they share with us. So we keep them coming, you know, and it's good for them.

6:17They talk about their experiences and it makes us appreciate what they did for us. Yeah. When, um, if somebody might be hesitant about coming out and visiting and, you know, what would you say to those folks? I tell them come see me. I have one lady that came a couple of days ago. She was new and I said, what is your name? And she says, Irma, I said, oh, Irma, Thomas, that's my association with names. Right. So she says, yes. And so she's coming now because it's like a friendly face that greeted her. Right. And gave her, you know, a name to, to make a feel good. I said, well, you know, nobody can do anything for you, but you, you have to make, and, you know, make a point to come here. We hear for you, whatever you need. Look, try to help you out with, you know, whatever you need.

7:18When I walk in, I feel that sense of community right away. Right. You see it. You see it within 10 feet of entering the front door. You know, that's where the coffee area is. Right. And everybody's just kind of interacting and everybody smiling. That's why I love you. Yeah. I mean, they just great people. I mean, we'd have a lot more, but with the rain, I came through water with my car. I hope it's okay. But I said, I got to be here. But anyway, we do have a great, great, great group of people here. And I think the staff has a lot to do with that. Like Eva has different things that we do and carry. You can't be carried. I adopted her as my granddaughter. Right. Absolutely. How many folks do you think you've lured to the line? Oh, gee. I really don't know where it's alive. So you're a recruiter. I'm a recruiter. But I don't get paid, Norman. No, I get paid with compliments.

8:19So that really helps me. But they also great people for just, you know, some are kind of shy. I don't think I'm shy. But I just love people in general. And when I travel, I make, in fact, I tell one of my friends, she says, well, they picked the right one. Now, y'all do activities outside of the Y. It's field trips and stuff that we talked about. I think the last time I was here, I don't know if you were part of the group, but they're... I was there, but I think they go to saints, they go to saints games and stuff like that as well. Yeah, I think Sheila Wagesback was the one that spoke before, you know, she said, because she was a school teacher, and I wasn't honest. I was a banker. You were a banker? A banker. And you had to make the money. You had to spend the money, you know. But Sheila's a good one and Joyce, my second and command here.

9:20She keeps them straight. I think we about 20 to 25 in the group. Right. Yes. But it's so nice of you all to do this for the Y, because I recruit as many as I can. Well, I think it's really important. I mean, I think everybody gets to a stage in their life where somebody in their family needs, you know, a little extra help. And I love the fact that Yano totally rely on the Y itself, that you're helping each other. That's right. And you recognize that some folks are less fortunate than others, and they need that help. And they may not have any family here. That's right. To do so when you talk about, you know, taking someone to the doctor. That's a high hurdle for some folks, right? Yes. Yes. But you ought to see how we go. It was President's Day, okay? And we, she needed to get an appointment at the, uh, Ashna. So we all dressed in red, bright and blue. We brought a table with goodies. So you made fun out of it, right?

10:21It was a lot of fun. And the doctor came out and he says, they got a man at the table. But we had a Marine that walked up his wife was in there. And he says, thank y'all for dressing, you know, red, white, and blue's President's Day. So, okay, we think, so the next thing was, she had to go again. It was Thanksgiving. So we dressed like Thanksgiving with the turkeys. And, but I mean, we make it a fun thing for the one that has to go get an appointment, you know? So it really makes us feel good to be there for whoever needs us, you know? And that's how we are. We all, you know, and she's one that always hangs with me too. We three of us that go and bring somebody to the doctor or whatever they need. So if you had the magic wand and you could make anything happen for folks out there, what would it be? Health, wealth, and be yourself, you know?

11:21A lot of the ladies that came was kind of shy. Well, I mean, you can be shy a little bit, but you got to have some enjoyment in your life, you know? You just, in fact, I used to make my husband laugh before it passed away, but it's a little things in life that makes it great, you know? I told him one day, I said, did you see what's outside? And he says, no. So he went and looked, he said, there's nothing out there. I said, that's what I mean, there's nothing out there. That's the kind of person I am. Well, I could tell that you all are bringing a lot of joy to one another. And that's what it's all about in the creation of community and the place that we call home. And that's what makes this place so special, right? That's right. This is a special place in my heart for me. If I go anywhere, anywhere, every day I'm here five days a week. Absolutely. Yes. Lowest shirt, and thank you so much for joining us. And thank you for sharing your story. And if anybody has any hesitation about coming up,

12:25just ask for lowest, and she's going to get her group of ladies together and make sure that you all get the reception that you deserve, right? That's right. And they'll make you feel right at home. If this is our second home, we just go home to sleep. And then we come home. So I second home. Absolutely. Thank you so much. Thank you, no one. No, I appreciate the interview. I don't know. I'm not. This is my first time. I'll kind of say great. You did good. So next time I've been on stages before, but never on radio. Never on radio. There's a first time. First time. Absolutely. Thank you so much. Have a great weekend. Thank you. We'll be right back, folks. Stay with us. No, before we go to break, I have to let the people know that the national weather service has issued a flash flood warning for St. Helena, Tangible Hoa and Libby Stem Parishes, that's St. Helena, Tangible Hoa and Libby Stem Parishes until 338 PML.

13:26So the National Flash Floor warning from the National Weather Service. Absolutely. Thank you, Coleman. Appreciate the update, folks. The weather is bad weather moving across. So we have this flood watch. So just be wary, be aware, excuse me of that. We'll be right back. Stay with us. All right, folks. Welcome back. We appreciate y'all joining us. We are here at the East Jefferson YMCA, and we've been celebrating healthy aging day. And joining us is Gordon Wyge, the YMCA CEO, Chief Executive Officer, as well as Al Rober Show, the Jefferson Council on Aging CEO, gentlemen, welcome to the show. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks, sir. Gordon, let's start with you. Obviously, we're here at the East Jeff Y. I've got a number of techs people asking, where are all the wise in the area? So let's talk about that first. Sure. Well, I always say the Y has been here a while. We've actually older than Rex and Komas.

14:26We've been here since November 16, 1852. And in the Metro region, every Y is a stand-alone non-profit organization. So our association, we're linked to all the Ys across the US and really across the world. But we're an independent non-profit. And so we are located in Jefferson Parish with what we do here at the East Jefferson Y, which is really a community center. And then our Covington YMCA, also a community center, bell-chase YMCA. You've been to bell-chase before, new. And grateful for that. And then downriver in Buris and Port Sulphur, we operate locations in the rural areas. And everything in life happens there. We have weddings there. We have funeral repass. We have everything at those wise. And then on top of that, we operate the oldest adult literacy program in the region on the Orleans area, going back 60 years or thereabouts. And that's in partnership with the public libraries. New Orleans Public Library. We teach in their locations, Jefferson Parish Public Libraries.

15:29We do an outreach program with our Aquatics programs. We run pools for Jefferson Parish and other folks train lifeguards across the region. So think of us as beyond our walls. And that's it's appropriate that Al Robichot is here. I had the privilege of chairing his board two different times. And probably, I don't know, out 12 years or so on your board in total, I guess, before you all kicked me off. Absolutely. But the Council on Aging is a great partner. We teach classes in Al's senior centers throughout Jefferson Parish. We teach Matter of Balance, which is an evidence-based Falls Prevention Program. We don't want our seniors to fall. We don't want any of us to fall. Falls lead to hospitalizations and complications. We teach sale, which is an evidence-based modest exercise program you can do in chair-based exercises. And then we teach a program. That actually are really good at work. Yeah. I mean, in fact, some of the leading folks now,

16:32even for 18, 19, 20-year-olds are talking about that work out in a chair. Yeah. I admit it's so appropriate. Especially as you're rehabbing from surgeries and things, our Aquatics program for seniors is a big deal with water aerobics and movement arthritis and recovery from surgeries. But the Council on Aging has been a great partner with us in Jefferson Parish. And Al has been there almost 20 years now, almost. And Al's also organized and been the champion for the entire Council on Aging network across the state of Louisiana. So he's a big advocate for the elderly. Absolutely. I've known Al a long, long time. And Al, I didn't realize you were still the CEO. I still have a council image. And we didn't kick Gordon off the board. His term makes part. We would have had him serve another term if he wanted to. I know how that works. Once you're in, they never let you out, right? Talk to us about Jefferson Council on Aging.

17:34We've been very fortunate in Jefferson Parish. We've had the ability. And I know that there's been funding ups and downs over the years and challenges. But always there and been a mainstay of the parish for a long time. Since 1971, we've been there for the seniors of Jefferson Parish. We the primary agency for advocacy for the seniors in our parish. We are nonprofit corporation. We're not part of Jefferson Parish government. So we are independent from them. But we do receive financial support from the federal government, the state, local government, and also nonprofits. We operate non-senuous centers from Canada to Grandile. And we have over 110,000 seniors in Jefferson Parish that we're responsible for. Unfortunately, we don't have enough money to cover everyone that would like services.

18:34But there's so much that y'all do. And I say this all the time that it's necessary for us to have a robust and appropriately funded not-for-profit community to backfill on a lot of the services that government just can't get to. There's no one organization that's adequately funded to handle all this. It's going to take the collective effort. As Gordon is just talking about the why. And you're talking about Council on Aging. True. We try really hard to serve everyone we can, but it's impossible. It's just more needs than we have revenues for. But we're fortunate that we do have great support in the community. Gordon and I have had a long-term partnership. And when I came to the Council on Aging, people were doing exercises. And I was concerned that, of course, we're dealing with fragile people. And they did not know proper exercises for the seniors.

19:38So when Gordon and I partnered, and I got the why over there, we have people who were professionally trained to deal with the seniors. And we try with the Council on Aging to keep people physically, mentally, and socially well-being. And we're concerned about, of course, their physical health. And also isolation is a major problem for seniors. That's why we have the senior centers. Absolutely. There's a lot of activity there, a lot of joy there. Gordon, if you would, talk about why this is really important for the community. I'll just made an observation. We are an aging population in Jefferson, Paris. We don't recognize that a lot of times, but I follow the demographics of the Paris very closely. I always have with that comes some challenges, but with that it's a lot of joy. And a lot of opportunity for folks. Yeah, no, we jokingly say sometimes, the good news is that we're living longer. And the bad news is we're living longer.

20:39I'm not talking truth. And so you want to be. It is so true. I joke about Nool and I classmates from high school and we're both aging into that category. And I always talk about the family gifts that I've received generationally arthritis and high blood pressure and all that. So you got to keep moving, stay active. Say as Al said, mentally, socially, physically active. And that's really important. So collaboration, Nool is the way I was just reflected on Al's comments about not enough resources. And so you've got to multiply the resources to do good things. And that's what we try to do. As we age in Jefferson Parish, nobody looks forward to putting a family member in a residential setting, be it a nursing home or something like that. We want to stay at home as long as we can, stay active as long as we can. Well, does it very important home meal delivery program,

21:43which we need to grow the resources for that so that we can support more peace. Critical. It's absolutely critical. And I actually serve on the Jefferson community foundation board, too, which is another partner that does the programming with us. And so we're looking to see how we can help out with the home meal delivery program support. And also, we've developed a program called iPhone and Android Basics for Boomers. Because we all know how many times a day does your phone ring with some spam call and or you get some strange email or communication. But seniors are tend to be so trusting and vulnerable and get defrauded all the time. So we've developed a program to work with seniors. And that through our adult literacy program, our director of education services, Dr. Amy Leggett, developed a curriculum that we can use for that. So problem solving together. And as we age as a community, how can we stay active

22:47and engaged? Al, to you, what do you see as the biggest challenge for you? The biggest challenge, of course, is finances, unfortunately. The parish right now is doing a study. And they completed it. And now they appointed a committee as a yesterday to look into ways of better financing programs for the seniors and our parish. And something that people should know, we're nonprofit. And of course, there have been a lot of negative things about nonprofits lately. But the console and aging, the way we get money is we say that we're going to provide ex-number of units of service. For instance, if we say we're going to serve a million meals, they'll give us the money. But if we don't serve a million meals, we have to write a check and send it back to the state. And we audit it. And it's not like at the end of the year, we have money left over that we can say, let's go buy some furniture, anything like that. All of the funds are specified.

23:49And you cannot transfer the funds from one program to another. Gordon, are you your biggest challenge? I think the biggest challenge is creating awareness for the YMCA, for example, that we exist. And I appreciate so much you guys being here and primary care plus and people's health being the champions for the elderly that they are. But directing people to the Y's as community centers. And a lot of folks don't realize if you're on Medicare and you're on a Medicare-advantaged program, but like people's health, your membership at the Y is covered as part of your benefits package. So that's really important. People living on fixed incomes, like Al said, they're stretching to make food go further and everything so that you can come and be a part of the Y family here. And make this your community center, your home. We jokingly say it's the free coffee that we provide that keeps people coming. But yeah, so get yourself some coffee before you leave.

24:54But it is the community that really roots people here. Well, you know, the thing too is I can talk about it till the cows come home, right? But the reality is the moment you walk in that door, you're going to experience it. And I mean it with all sincerity. You've seen it out. You walk in here. And it's got a smile on your face. They're dark. They're interacting with one another. And I've said that several times today. And I know people are probably tired of me saying it. But it tells you about the place, the moment you walk in. You can feel it. And everyone telling everyone, hello, and being very cordial and respectful and the like. Yeah, and that's true. And that's the culture that we want to create here. And Kerry Diaz, I know you had her on earlier. She's wonderful as the executive director here. She and her team create that culture, that welcoming culture. And then our instructors here, a lot of our instructors, in a long time, engage with the members.

25:57So there's the connection I was talking to Anita, one of our instructors today who's, you'd never know, she's 62. She looks like she's 42. And she's fluent in five languages. Makes me feel like a dummy. I didn't do so well in Latin Greek and at Jesuit New. So right there with you, brother. But just to create that, and to welcome all the people that come across our front door, no matter what their background is. One of our seniors who lost her husband, not too long ago, was telling me, first time I had seen her since she lost her husband, that she got emotional when I said I was sorry for her loss. And she said, I don't know where I'd be without my wife, friends. She said, I come here for their support, for the exercise, sure. But for the support of friends. Absolutely. I mean, what I love about it, and I've seen, I've addressed the groups at the Council of Aging

26:58in my previous life many times. And I know that the fact that so many people step up and help one another outside of what the respective agencies do for them. And they recognize right away that this is somebody in need. And they're so giving of themselves. And if they're able to drive, they'll drive them to the doctor. Or if they're able to drive, they'll drive them to visit a family member at the hospital or in a nursing home. Or whatever it may be, when they know that there's someone that doesn't have the capability or the availability of transportation. And they just want to make it happen for them. They want to give back to the community through these places. And what I love about them more than anything else, and I think it's overlooked is how much our your facilities and Gordon yours are safe havens. You know, they're safe. Right.

27:58If you go to a senior center, chances are very good that a senior come up to you and say, if like Gordon was saying, so many lose their partners. And they'll come and say, if we're not for this senior center, I'd stare at the four walls all day long. And this is my savior. This keeps me going. We have people over a hundred years old going to senior centers. And the eldest person that we serve in food to is 104 years old. Wow. So people are living longer. And you will mention Jefferson. The meeting age now in Jefferson is 40 years old. Yeah. And that's incredible. I remember when it was 28. Yes. That's right. You know, and so when you think about it, you're an aging, you know, parish for sure. But that safe haven, you made a comment earlier about being a group of folks that are susceptible to all kinds of different things out there.

28:59I mean, especially the smartphones now. Sure. And the fraud is heartbreaking. I mean, it's just heartbreaking when you hear these anecdotal stories, right? Yeah. Now, I mean, we still need to continue to work on that as AI evolves and become even more complicated just to help people be safe and secure. And now, in the interface with family, you know, we started off with the iPhone classes helping people from being scammed. And then we had people in the class say, well, my grandkids live in Ohio. And I don't know how to FaceTime, but they talk about FaceTime. I don't even know what that is. And so we begin teaching them ways to stay in touch with family who live elsewhere. And also how to, you know, gain be safe about passwords. I was telling our educators that came in one time and said, we had a student come to class, the senior. And she had all of her passwords. We've been teaching about passwords written in a book. And then on the cover of the book, she had written my passwords.

30:01And they said, probably not a good idea. And I said, so I told the instructor, said, well, you failed as a teacher. That's what happened. I'm a little guilty of that, my son. You don't have a book with my passwords. No, they may not have that title on my phone. But it's a difficult thing to manage. But the utilization of that technology and that connectivity that you can have to your family that may be located elsewhere. And unfortunately, all of us have kids that may not be staying here. Sure. And my brother, East Coast, my sister, West Coast, haven't been here long, long time. You know, and it's the only way that you can connect for many families. Yeah, no, that's right. We rely on the technology and we can be victims of the technology. Well, Gordon, first let me thank you for hosting us today here at the East Coast and why with the Primary Care Plus.

31:02And obviously, the folks from People's Health as well, the great partnership that exists here. We've always have a great time. I just love seeing the interaction of folks as they walk in and out to you and your organization as well. The incredible job that they do. Your feeding program, people don't really grasp how critical. It's very critical. That service actually is. It is life and death. It is. You know, for your clients, so to speak. And I mean, it makes all the difference in the world. One in four Jeffersonians, who are seniors, have food insecurity. One in four. One in four. So if you, we have 100,000. And we're a wealthy parish, we are. Compared to me. Compared to me, right? That's correct. But it's amazing how when you start to peel back the layers of the onions, you see some things that had no idea.

32:05But I always tell when I address the legislature, trying to get more funds, that yes, we are wealthy parish. We are property rich and dollar poor. Because people have been here since after World War II, they built these homes. And they are now worth a lot of money. We're just like English nobility. That's right, you majesty. property rich. And cash poor, right? Yeah, you look at it in the matter. You know how expensive a home is in the matter. But yet, a lot of these people have a problem keeping the houses up. Absolutely, no doubt. But thank you all both for all that you do. We in Jefferson parish would be less than without both the e-genomics. And we appreciate your efforts day in and day out. We'll be right back folks, 504-260-1870 on the Oakland Heart Jewelers talk and text lines. Stay with us. Let me first like all the folks out here at the East Jefferson YMCA for hosting us today. We really appreciate their efforts.

33:08This is, you know, folks not to repeat myself, but it's a great facility. I mean, you know, I'm looking out across the common areas here right now at the Y and there are probably 50 or 60 folks out there interacting and enjoying themselves, sharing stories and the like, which is an incredible opportunity. If you're looking for something to do in your life and you're looking for a source of a place to come work out, exercise, and meet other folks. This is a great safe place to do it. The East Jefferson YMCA right here on Riverside Drive. It's by the Rouses on Power Boulevard. Can't miss it. A lot of parking, really safe area. Just a reminder, high school football fans, get ready for week two of the Manning Family Children's Prep football round up the most comprehensive high school football show in America. Join Ian Ozan and Alan Wadell tomorrow night at seven,

34:10live from the game of the week, Hanville and St. Charles and other top battles include Brother Martin at St. Paul's, Jeswood at St. Thomas Moore, Denham Springs at Central and Lafayette Christian at Westminster, and get ready for another exciting weekend of high school football, the Manning Family Children's Prep football. Tomorrow night from seven to 10, 30 on WWL and the Odyssey app. We'll be right back. We'll check in with Scoot when we return. Stay with us. All right, Scoot's next. What do we have coming up, Scoot? Well, we're going to talk about that NFL game last night and how would you like to be Drake May trying to get over that? Also, the president wants to give us 5,000 bucks if we vote Republican. I'll take it. Scoot's up next.