Assisted Living RV Parks

Escapees Care Center in Livingston, TX, has become the country's first (and so far, only) RV park that doubles as an assisted living facility. For $824 a month ($1236 per couple), you can have the amenities of both an RV park - such as your own kitchen and bedroom - and an assisted living facility - such as provided meals, housekeeping, laundry, and medical needs. There is a day center open all day, and a nurse on-call. You can even leave to go travel and come back when you're ready.

To read about this innovative solution, please visit http://www.escapeescare.org.

GeorgiaCares Webcast

GeorgiaCares, along with Georgia Public Broadcasting, will host a live, streaming event on November 15 at 7:00pm. GeorgiaCares is a volunteer-based program that provides free, unbiased and factual information and assistance to Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers.

GeorgiaCares counselors will answer live questions about Medicare. Panelists also include representatives from the Department of Human Services (DHS) Division of Aging Services, Social Security Administration, DHS Division of Family and Children Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

You can listen to the broadcast live or archived at http://www.gpb.org/georgia-cares.

Old Borders Store Bought by Library

An Oklahoma storefront which used to house a Borders bookstore has been bought by the local library system for use as administrative offices and book warehouse. The director says the system had been saving money in case an opportunity like this came along, since the building was custom-built for handling books.

To read the article about this purchase, please visit: http://consumerist.com/2011/10/borders-store-to-be-turned-into-library-system-nexus.html.

MentalFloss.com Recognized Athletes of Different Abilities

Mental_Floss, a website that combines interesting articles from all around the world, has done a series of profiles on athletes with varying disabilities - including those who are blind, deaf, missing limbs, or have other impairments. Each mini-biography contains links to learn more about that athlete.

Click on the link to read the most recent article, and then follow the links at the bottom of that article for previous installments.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/100486

Blind Teen Pitches No-Hitter

Doug Wells, a blind 15-year-old New Jersey resident, recently pitched a no-hitter in his Little League game. Doug also plays football.

To read about him, please visit TODAYMoms at http://moms.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/07/8209977-no-hitter-no-problem-for-blind-teen-pitcher.

Blind Adventurer Regains Partial Sight During Drug Trial

Mike Scholes, an adventurer who enjoys skiing, parachuting, and flying, lost his sight later in life due to a hereditary eye condition. He has been participating in drug trials with the medication idebenone, and has regained a bit of his sight.

Although the trial was small and inconclusive, his story brings hope of future medical advancement. To read about Mr. Scholes, please visit http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44379856/ns/today-today_health/#.ToXog-x0hEI.

Upcoming Events

There are several health-related events happening in Athens in the next month.

C.A.R.E.
Caregivers & Aging Resource Expo
Tuesday, October 18
Oconee Co. Civic Center
3:00pm - 7:00pm

Door Prizes, Health Screenings, Education & Information, Refreshments, & Entertainment




NEGA CARE NET's
Annual Caregiver Celebration Luncheon

November 2, 2011
10am - 4pm
Oconee Co. Civic Center

Lunch, Games, Prizes, Awards, Health Screenings, Networking & Resources





Athens Senior Resource Network Health Fair
Thursday, November 10
9am - 12pm
Athens Council on Aging

Preventive Screenings, Health Resources, Memory Screening

Hope to see you at one or more of these events!

APH/Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Partnership Launched

Below is an email from the American Printing House for the Blind:

As Dolly herself might phrase it, “The Little Engine That Could”...did! This past June, the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) and the Dollywood Foundation announced an exciting partnership to expand Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) to provide young blind and visually impaired children with accessible books.



Today, we are pleased to announce that the APH/DPIL Partnership has launched!



The first DPIL audio book files are now available at the site as free downloads to registered National Library Service (NLS) members. Audio books will be added each month until most of the 75 titles in the DPIL collection are available to children and their families.



Beginning in 2012, the Partnership will make available an annual selection of print/braille Imagination Library books free to eligible families and for purchase at low cost to all others (regular funds or Federal Quota funds can be used).

In addition to the audio book files, website visitors will find links to:

* National Library Service to help them register and receive an NLS digital playback device necessary for listening to the APH/DPIL encrypted audio book files
* Louis Database of Accessible Materials
* APH shopping site to see related APH products
* Other national and international sources for tactile, print/braille, and braille books for children
* Downloadable PDFs with information about emergent literacy and sharing books with a young child with a visual impairment



We’re very excited that APH's partnership with DPIL not only expands the number of accessible books for young children, but also connects families to a wide range of resources that will enable them to locate and bring more accessible books into their home.



For more information about our partner, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, visit http://www.imaginationlibrary.com/or the official Facebook page.

Great Article About Talking Books

The Illinois newspaper Naperville Daily Herald recently ran an article about the Naperville Public Library's Talking Book collection. To read the article, please visit their website: www.dailyherald.com/article/20110810/submitted/110819943/#ixzz1ZGRUoRMk and remember to tell everyone you know about Talking Books - you might know someone who needs it and doesn't know it exists!

Athens Power Dawgz Disability Awareness Day

The Athens Banner-Herald is reporting on the Athens Power Dawgz Disability Awareness Day this Saturday. The event will feature a Power Soccer Game, which is specially designed for players using wheelchairs.

To read the article about this event, please visit http://onlineathens.com/blueprint/2011-10-10/blueprint-athens-power-dawgz-disability-awareness-day.

Visually Impaired Man to Sail Around The World

CNN.com recently ran a story about Dennis Howard, one of the many in the world who suffers from macular degeneration. An avid sailor, Howard plans to sail around the world - alone. He has modified his 20-foot boat with accessibility features to aid him.

Read Mr. Howard's story on CNN.com - www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/08/30/sailing.around.world.blind/index.html?hpt=hp_bn12

BARD and Internet Explorer

Microsoft has been upgrading Internet Explorer to version 9, which may cause some problems with BARD. See the email below for using BARD with IE9.

Downloading with IE9

Hello,

When you download a book with Internet Explorer 9, the prompt to download or save appears in the Information bar. You have two options for handling this. One is to press Alt-N, which leads you to the Information bar, where you can choose whether to open or save the file. The other is to press Alt-S, which bypasses the Information bar and saves the file.

Once you press Alt-N and choose to save, or press Alt-S, the file begins to download. To see the progress of the download, press Control-J to open the Download Manager. Within the Download Manager dialog box is an Options button that takes you to a dialog, where you can choose whether to be notified when downloads are complete.


For more information contact:

David Whittall

BARD Operations Supervisor

dwhit@loc.gov

Books For Keeps Book Sale

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Melaney Smith, Books for Keeps, Inc.
404) 808-8625
givethembooks@gmail.com


Books for Keeps to Raise 82,044 Books for Athens Elementary Students

Athens, Ga. – Oct. 4, 2011 – Athens non-profit Books for Keeps announced today it will attempt to raise 82,044 books for Athens children by May 2012. “Our 2011 elementary school program provided 12,000 books to 1,000 children,” said Books for Keeps founder Melaney Smith. “We keep thinking about the thousands of kids we didn’t reach. We decided to go for it – let’s reach them all in 2012.”

To raise funds for this ambitious goal, Books for Keeps is holding a book sale October 21-23 at Stiles Properties, 1658 South Lumpkin Street, in Five Points next to Local Jam. “We’re selling the books we can’t use for our program to raise funds for the books we need,” said Smith. “We have thousands of books for adults and kids, and they’ll be priced to sell.” Donors are encouraged to bring books for the youth program or the book sale to Books for Keeps’ Drop-Off Day, Saturday October 15th from 9am-12pm at 1658 South Lumpkin Street.

Books for Keeps gives books to students in pre-K through 12th grade to prevent an academic achievement loss known as summer slide. “Research has shown that kids who don’t read during the summer often return to school lagging 2-3 months behind their classmates,” said UGA reading researcher and Books for Keeps board member Dr. Jennifer Graff. “The gap compounds every year, often affecting children from low-income families at an alarmingly disproportionate rate. By giving books directly to kids, we enable them to read all summer and hopefully mitigate summer slide.”

The organization is poised for success in 2012. Books for Keeps received its IRS certification as a public charity this summer, and was awarded a $5,000 grant from The Gammons Foundation to purchase books for the 2012 program. Fire and Flavor, an Athens gourmet grilling products company, has opened its warehouse to Books for Keeps. “Warehouse space was a big roadblock for them,” said Fire and Flavor owner Davis Knox. “We’re providing space to accommodate well over 100,000 books.”

Word about the Books for Keeps program is spreading beyond Athens. Smith was invited to represent Books for Keeps at Clinton Global Initiative’s CGI America conference in June, where she committed to reach every child in Clarke County School District elementary schools with 90% or more of students qualifying for free/reduced meals. Donors mail in books from around the world, and individuals, businesses and civic groups outside of Athens are holding book drives.

“82,044 books will allow us to provide 12 books to every child attending a Clarke County School District elementary school,” said Smith. “We’ll continue to provide books to middle and high school students too. It’s definitely an audacious goal, but I believe Athens will rally to help us.”

Learn more at www.booksforkeeps.org. For additional information or interviews, contact Melaney Smith at (404) 808-8625 or givethembooks@gmail.com.

***
About Books for Keeps: Books for Keeps started as one woman’s effort to help a child who loved to read but had no books at home. It grew into a grassroots movement to end summer slide in Athens by ensuring children have access to books during summer. Books for Keeps distributes books to Clarke County School District students ranging from pre-K through 12th grade. The elementary school program is based on a University of Florida study that found giving economically-disadvantaged elementary school children 12 high-interest books each at the beginning of summer had an impact on reading achievement statistically similar to attending summer school.

***

Caregiver Expo

The Athens Senior Resources Network is presenting a Caregivers & Aging Resources Expo this month. The expo will feature information and demonstrations about aging in place, assisted living facilities, disability aids, financial planning and services, medical resources, and much more.

There will be FREE parking, door prizes, give aways, and lots of great information!

The Talking Book Center will host a booth at this expo - stop by and say hi!

C.A.R.E.
Caregivers & Aging Resources Expo

Tuesday, October 18
3:00 - 7:00pm

Oconee County Civic Center