Annual senior expo offers resources for older adults
Thousands of Illinois residents attended AgeGuide's 26th annual Senior Lifestyle Expo held virtually last week.
It's the largest expo in the Midwest for older adults, hosted by the Lombard-based Area Agency on Aging for Northeastern Illinois. The agency provides services, including meals, transportation and caregiver support, for nearly 700,000 adults aged 60 and older in DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.
Recordings of the expo's seminars, workshops and classes held over two days will be available online for six months at seniorlifestyleexpo.org.
"We had to go virtual last year and we stayed virtual this year for the safety of all of our attendees, exhibitors and staff," said Kaitie Hauser, AgeGuide manager of outreach and events.
The expo helps educate and empower seniors to remain independent and connect them with services. It drew more than 8,000 virtual attendees in 2020 - nearly double the number of people who attended in-person the year before. Last week's attendance was greater, officials said.
"This year, our content was even more robust," Hauser said. "We introduced our new AgeGuide educational seminar series ... (covering) topics on aging from A to Z."
Topics included Alzheimer's and other related dementias, adult abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation, caregiving, mental health, social isolation and support for the LGBTQ+ senior community.
Future expos will have in-person and virtual components to reach a broader, more diverse audience, Hauser said.
Vaccine talk
American Muslim Health Professionals will host a back-to-school webinar from 2 to 3 p.m. Monday, Aug. 30, with Dr. Anthony Fauci to provide awareness, information and guidance about COVID-19 vaccination efforts for parents, students and teachers transitioning into the new school year.
It will cover the importance of vaccines for 12- to 30-year-olds, its side effects in children and adults, the delta variant and vaccine hesitancy.
Register at amhp.us/back2school.
Transgender rights
A recent Illinois appellate court opinion in the Hobby Lobby v. Sommerville case reaffirms the rights of transgender people under the Illinois Human Rights Act.
The Second District Appellate Court issued the opinion in response to Hobby Lobby's appeal of a previous Illinois Human Rights Commission determination.
The commission found Hobby Lobby violated the Illinois Human Rights Act when it denied Meggan Sommerville, a transgender woman, use of the women's bathroom at the Aurora store where she works.
The appellate court affirmed the commission's determination that Hobby Lobby violated articles two and five of the act, prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity in the terms and conditions of employment and in the provision of facilities in a public place.
The commission awarded Sommerville $220,000 in damages and required Hobby Lobby to grant Sommerville access to the women's bathroom.
Report instances of discrimination or harassment by calling the Illinois attorney general's civil rights hotline at (877) 581-3692.
Catholic educator honored
A celebration honoring Sister Nancy Ulrich of Aurora, a 50-year Catholic educator, will be held after the 8 and 10 a.m. Masses on Sunday, Aug. 29, at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, 620 Fifth St., Aurora.
Members of the public are invited to attend in the St. Francis Center.
Ulrich started teaching seventh and eighth-grade language arts at the parish school in 1971. In the 1980s and 1990s, she served as assistant principal, then principal of the school before retiring in 1999. She is moving to the Sacred Heart Convent in Milwaukee.
Kindergarten readiness
The United Way of Lake County's bilingual kindergarten readiness calendars are available at local libraries.
The free calendars are a resource for families, designed for preschool-age children and filled with activities to help get them ready for the first day of kindergarten.
Place an order to pick up calendars by appointment at the United Way's office, 330 S. Greenleaf St., Gurnee, using the online form, engage.uwlakeco.org. View and print monthly pages and activities at liveunitedlakecounty.org/portfolio/kindergarten-readiness-calendar/.
Service challenge winner
A joint project of the Chicago Muslims Green Team and Downtown Islamic Center won the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago's Social Justice Service Challenge.
Their winning Courage Project, chosen through community voting, will receive a $5,000 grand prize to support environmental education and green initiatives.
CIOGC provided $1,000 grants to 26 Chicago-area mosques and Islamic centers to help implement social justice service projects in their communities.
Submissions included: a farmers market, Islamic Center of Naperville; building bottle cap murals to help the environment, Islamic Foundation of Villa Park; mental health education, Muslim Association of Bolingbrook; an art exhibition focused on social injustice, Islamic Center of Wheaton; providing warm meals, water and basic necessities to the homeless, The Mecca Center in Willowbrook; distributing food boxes, Islamic Foundation North in Libertyville.
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