By Thomas Goldsmith In January, staff and volunteers at a Wendell senior center were already making plans for this December’s holiday fest for members, one that would make up for a COVID-canceled event last Christmas. It still took 30 volunteers and two staff people the better part of a year to assemble and present this […]
Search results
Posted inAging
NC’s perennially popular senior centers eye post-COVID changes, modernized approaches
By Thomas Goldsmith North Carolina’s senior centers have for decades offered havens of company, support and education for older people but had to adapt most of those roles during the pandemic that hit the over-65 population especially hard. As the state’s more than 160 centers reopen this year with the ongoing COVID-19 disease still a […]
Posted inChildren's Health
N.C. expected to remove lead, asbestos from public schools and child care centers
By Greg Barnes For years, bills have been introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly calling for the removal of lead from drinking water at public schools and licensed child care centers. Each time, the bills failed to gain traction, largely because of money. Lawmakers worried about the costs of abatement and school districts feared […]
Posted inAging
Amid rising numbers of NC COVID-19 cases, uncertainties over seniors’ safety take hold
By Thomas Goldsmith From New Year’s Day until late June, when the happy summer of a tamer COVID-19 was supposed to be underway, cases of the novel coronavirus among North Carolinians older than 65 fell by about 98 percent. Then came the Delta variant, with its increased ability to spread infection and cause more serious […]
Posted inAging
Appeals, secret deals delay fine payment for assisted living centers
By Thomas Goldsmith and Mona Dougani When Ashe Gardens Assisted Living in Pender County “failed to provide supervision for 11 residents with assaultive, aggressive, sexually expressive and wandering behaviors,” state officials fined the facility $70,000 for that and other lapses, state records show. But the center hasn’t paid a dime of the fines levied in […]
Posted inAging
After hit from Covid-19, NC’s adult day care centers push state for long-sought equal treatment in rates
By Thomas Goldsmith A retiree at 75, Melvin P. often rises in the morning to find the adult daughter he lives with has already left for work. Jamaica-born Winston-Salem resident Melvin understands why he’s left alone by his daughter’s need to meet her needs as well as his. But the situation makes him appreciate his […]
