Professionals serving the aging population in Berks County will host the Aging Parent Fair, providing attendees with financial resources, care alternatives, assistive services and connections to the people and programs who can serve them and their loved ones, according to Wendy Kerschner of Comfort Keepers.
Held on Dec. 4 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Kutztown Grange on Kemp Street, the Aging Parent Fair is a health fair styled event geared specifically to adult, middle aged children ages 40 to 60 who find themselves caring for aging parents and loved ones, according to the event release.
“The purpose of the Aging Parent Fair is to help adult children get resources for their parents… Where can I go for help? How can I pay for this? What options do I have? They can come to the Aging Parent Fair and get all that information,” said Kerschner.
Responding to a question about aging parents who are reluctant to even talk, she said, “A lot of folks don’t want to talk about what’s coming so people who are in crisis this is a great place to come because they need help now,” she said.
For people who are thinking ahead five to 10 years and are trying to have the conversation with their parents, she said the fair is a great place to start so in the future they know where to go for help.
Attending professionals include Berks County Area Agency on Aging, Berks Encore, Berks Veterans Affairs, ACSIA Long Term Care, Alzheimer’s Association, Antanavage Farbiarz Antanavage, Comfort Keepers, 1847 Financial, Life Choice Hospice, Health Calls Home Health and Transition Connections.
“There’s great professionals there who know about all the resources that are available and how exactly how to go about getting help,” said Kerschner. “Sometimes help isn’t immediate… it might be a six month to 12 month process so you can’t wait until you’re in crisis mode to start looking into things.”
Kerschner said they are finding people who are in their 60s are carrying for parents in their 80s and 90s.
“A lot of folks are carrying for aging parents and they’re taking on a lot of the responsibilities themselves whether they think it’s their personal obligation as being the adult child and they’re putting a lot of stress for themselves,” said Kerschner who hopes people understand that “there are people out there that can help them here in Berks County and locally and we can connect them to the right resources.”
Admission is free. The “Aging Parent Fair” is available to churches, service organizations and larger employers wanting to provide senior care and information resources to their congregations, members, communities and employees. Those interested in hosting an “Aging Parent Fair” can contact Wendy Kerschner, Territory Manager of Comfort Keepers, at 610-413-1995.
