“Share the Love” with Seniors This Season

  • November 18, 2021

Exciting news! For the 14th year running, the Meals on Wheels network is participating in the 2021 Subaru Share the Love Event. Over the past thirteen years, Subaru and its retailers have helped Meals on Wheels to deliver more than 2.5 million meals nationwide to seniors in need.

Why does Subaru support Meals on Wheels? Too many seniors are struggling to stay independent and healthy. One in four seniors lives alone in isolation and one in seven seniors might not know from where their next meal is coming. This is simply unacceptable, which is why Chatham County Council on Aging provides the nutritious meals, friendly visits and safety checks to the seniors of Chatham County. This vital support keeps seniors in their own homes, where they want to be.

We’re incredibly grateful to Subaru and its Retailers for supporting our organization and the seniors we serve. With that in mind, we thought you might want to learn a little bit more about the Subaru Share the Love Event

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS

This November 18, 2021, through January 3, 2022, for every new Subaru vehicle purchased or leased, Subaru will donate $250 to the customer’s choice of participating charities.* Meals on Wheels is one of four national participating charities and has been since the inception of the event. Through this event, as a member of Meals on Wheels America, Chatham County Council on Aging will receive a share of the donation from Subaru vehicles sold at participating Subaru Retailers.

You might not be in the market to purchase a new car, but if you are, please look into the Subaru Share the Love Event to learn more. If you’re not shopping for a new vehicle, you can still help by spreading the word to your family and friends. A few quick and easy ways to do that:

And remember: this holiday season you can ensure our senior neighbors are not forgotten, when you purchase or lease a new Subaru and select Meals on Wheels as your charity of choice.

*Disclaimer: Subaru will donate $250 for every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased from November 18, 2021, through January 3, 2022, to four national charities designated by the purchaser or lessee. Pre-approved Hometown Charities may be selected for donation depending on retailer participation. For every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased during the campaign period, participating retailers will donate a minimum of $50 in total to their registered Hometown Charities. Purchasers/lessees must make their charity designations by January 14, 2022. The four national charities will receive a guaranteed minimum donation of $250,000 each. See your local Subaru retailer for details or visit subaru.com/share. All donations made by Subaru of America, Inc.

Helping Homebound Heroes – Hero Profile: Charles

  • August 19, 2021

To download a PDF of this profile, click here

Helping Homebound Heroes – Hero Profile: John

  • July 23, 2021

To download a PDF of this profile, click here.

Chatham COA Celebrates 47th Anniversary

  • July 5, 2021

Council on Aging Celebrates Its 47th Anniversary on July 8th 

This Thursday night, July 8th, from 7-9 pm the Chatham County Council on Aging will celebrate its 47th anniversary as a nonprofit organization serving older adults and their families.  To join the Council’s virtual Zoom celebration get your free ticket at givebutter.com/CelebrateCOA47.

The celebration will include performances by Rissi Palmer and John McCutcheon, along with local favorites—storyteller Cindy Raxter and the Original Haw River Crawdaddies.

Rissi Palmer is an American country music artist whose 2007 debut single "Country Girl" made her the first African-American woman to chart a country song since Dona Mason in 1987. She is host of the Apple Music Country's show, “Color Me Country Radio with Rissi Palmer.”

American folk music singer-songwriter John McCutcheon has produced 41 albums since the 1970s, including one just recently released. The recipient of six Grammy Award nominations, he is regarded as a master of the hammered dulcimer and is proficient on many other instruments. 

In addition to these performances, the celebration will also include raffle drawings featuring items from local businesses and artisans. Raffle tickets will be available for purchase up to 3 pm on July 8th. Raffle tickets cost $10 for one or $25 for three. Donations to the Council on Aging are also welcomed. 

“We want to thank our performers and those who have contributed the raffle gifts to help us not only celebrate our 47th anniversary but also help raise awareness and support for our continued work,” remarked Krista Westervelt, the Council’s Development and Communications Director. 

Those contributing raffle prizes include Mark Hewitt Pottery, Mays Pottery, Willy's Cinnamon Rolls, French Connections, Country Farm & Home, and Priority Farm LLC. 

“With 47 years of history in serving Chatham County seniors and their families, there is much to celebrate. We are especially excited about starting back with in-facility programming for those who are fully vaccinated and restarting our Meals on Wheels service,” noted Dennis Streets, director of the Council. 

Recently, United Way of Chatham County referred to the Council on Aging as a “pandemic response powerhouse.” For more information about the Council on Aging, visit www.chathamcoa.org or call 919-542-4512 or 919-742-3975. 

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Health & Wellness Lives on at the COA Despite COVID-19

  • March 8, 2021

Pittsboro, NC - With the support of the University of North Carolina School of Nursing and the Chatham Health Alliance, the Chatham County Council on Aging has continued its tradition of promoting good health practices as we enter another spring.  

“In previous years, we have held in-person health fairs that were very well received by the community,” shared Liz Lahti, manager of the Council’s Eastern Center and coordinator of the Council’s health promotion programs. “But with COVID-19, we have decided to go virtual as we have so many of our other events and activities.”

The Council on Aging is offering its 2021 version of a health fair throughout the month of March. Its Virtual Health & Wellness Expo began on Tuesday, March 2nd with a very informative and well attended seminar focused on the COVID-19 vaccine. UNC nursing students led the planning and presentation.

Every Tuesday at 11:15 am, UNC nursing students, faculty and other experts will explore a range of topics. Here is the schedule:

Health Is Wealth—Being Active: March 9

Home Safety Tips & Falls Prevention: March 16  

Eating Good, Feeling Better: March 23

Prevention Is Key to Great Health: March 30     

To register for these free sessions, go to https://www.chathamhealthalliancenc.org/healthwellnessexpo

“I want to thank our expo sponsors who helped make this event possible: CapTel North Carolina, Alignment Healthcare, and Community Home Care & Hospice,” noted Lahti.     

For more information, go to https://www.chathamhealthalliancenc.org/healthwellnessexpo, or contact Liz Lahti at 919-542-4512 (extension 228), [email protected].    

COA Awarded Grant to Continue Homebound Heroes Program

  • March 4, 2021
We’re proud to announce that the Chatham County Council on Aging has received a grant from Meals on Wheels America and The Home Depot Foundation to continue our home modification and repair program and ensure our senior veterans are living in safe homes. Nationwide, the partnership has helped select Meals on Wheels programs improve the homes and lives of 1,593 homebound veterans and their families.


See the article in the Chatham News + Record for more details

Reflections on Receiving the 2nd Dose of the COVID Vaccine by Director, Dennis W. Streets

  • March 1, 2021
Green sign that reads "Chatham County Public Health Heroes Work Here!"

Reflections on Second COVID-19 Vaccine
by Dennis W. Streets, Director, Chatham County Council on Aging

I took this photo [shown at left] as I awaited receipt of my second COVID-19 vaccine from one of Chatham County’s Public Health nurses.

I received my first dose on February 1st and was scheduled for my second on March 1st. That was before I got a call that the Public Health Department had an extra dose if I was able to leave my work at the Pittsboro Senior Center and go to the Chatham County Agriculture and Conference Center.

I appreciate the fact that our Public Health Department is so conscientious about ensuring that all available doses of the vaccine are appropriately used. Now another eligible person can take the dose I was eager to get at the Monday clinic.

Earlier in the day, the same Public Health nurse was giving vaccinations to residents of a local assisted living facility. When not all the scheduled doses were needed there, Public Health acted quickly to arrange for distribution of the remainder.

I took this photo of the signage on the interior of the large drive-thru tent being used to provide shelter to the nurses and those getting the vaccine. The sign’s message “Chatham County Public Health Heroes Work Here” accurately reflects my sentiment. Our local Public Health personnel and all those helping them are truly heroes for all they have done and continue to do to inform and protect our community.

As I sat in my vehicle for the 15 minutes after getting the vaccine so I could be monitored for any adverse reaction, I further reflected on what we have been through over the past year. After another two weeks, I should be well protected against the severe effects of COVID-19. I appreciate our Chatham neighbors, friends, and strangers of all ages who are doing their part to protect those of us most vulnerable to the virus because of our older years. I know it is not always easy to be patient and persistent in following the 3Ws—wearing a face mask, waiting a safe distance from others, and washing our hands frequently. But now, I owe it to all others who have not yet been able to be vaccinated to show the same patience and persistence by continuing to practice the 3Ws and avoid indoor gatherings.

For those of us who have been fortunate to receive the vaccine—that’s great and we should wisely and safely celebrate. But we are not done as a community. We must continue to respect others and consistently practice the 3Ws. We must acknowledge that while the vaccination helps protect us from illness, we could still spread it to others who have not yet been vaccinated. We cannot and should not let our guard down. This is our community responsibility—our patriotic duty.

A Chatham Black History Month Tribute by Saundra Gardner

  • February 16, 2021

Saundra Gardner

Let me take you on a journey that started in 2000, the year I became the first black social worker in Chatham County Schools. Get in your vehicle and turn with me onto Horton Rd. A road named after George Moses Horton, a slave that loved words. Words from sermons, songs and from the white students studying nearby as he worked on the plantation. George taught himself to read. On Sundays he would walk 8 miles to Chapel Hill. He met students there that were in love with the way he recited poetry. They were shocked that he wrote the poetry. He made 25 cents selling love poems. George went on to become a published poet. BUT he was still a slave. He published a book, The Hope of Liberty, BUT he was still a slave.  A newspaperman, a college professor and a governor raised money to buy George’s freedom, But he remained a slave. In 1863, at the age of 63, after publishing two books, The Emancipation Proclamation freed George Moses Horton. He holds the distinction of being the first African American to publish a book, and the only one to publish while living in slavery. 

George Moses Horton, I stood on your shoulders as I turned into Horton Middle School, formerly Horton High School. 

The School started as a framed building shaped like a rabbit box.  Material from the white school was sent to the rabbit box school and Pittsboro Colored School was built. Students attended that school until 1934. Then fire destroyed the building. One of the principals of that school, Bud Hunter, named the School after George Moses Horton. In 1934, Horton Consolidated School, a brick building was built. Mr. Benjamin J. Lee (yes the one whose name is on the Northwood High School auditorium) worked hard to develop a high school and in 1934 Dear Ole ’HORTON  High Was Born!!! Benjamin J. Lee was the first principal. He served as principal until his death in 1944. In 1935 the first class graduated. On December 11, 2019, Mrs. Joanna Leach, a member of the class of 1935 passed away at the age of 104.

HORTON HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES, you raised me and I remember you, as I pass The I.E. Taylor Gymnasium which was built in 1958. 

The I. E. Taylor Gymnasium was the place that all students, in grades 1-12, met on the first day of the school year and heard their name called and left with their new teacher. A lot of names have been called in that gym, a few of those are Mrs. Uva Holland, the first African American woman elected as a Chatham County Commissioner. She was a positive fixture in the Holland Chapel community and all over the County. Another name that was called was Margaret Bryant Pollard. She grew up on a farm in the Moncure area. She was proud to have graduated as a Valedictorian of her Horton High School Class. She too went on to be a County Commissioner. Margaret B. Pollard Middle School bears her name. She was the granddaughter of a slave. Margaret Bryant Pollard attributed her success to the lessons she learned from her parents and siblings. They taught her how to overcome life’s challenges with determination and a positive attitude. 

Margaret B.  Pollard, I took your determination with me as I turned the corner behind what was once called the Primary Building, also built in 1956. 

Inside, I remembered Mrs. Lillie Freeman Rodgers. Ms. Rodgers taught 38 years in the Chatham County School System and provided tutorial services in the home. She taught what we now call the Exceptional Children, the students that needed a little more than the regular classroom could provide. She was named Mother of the Year at NC A&T State University. She mothered all the students in her class and her Church. I look to my left and I remember the home Of Clara and Ernest Dark. Their home was located next to the school. Mr. Dark was a part of the coaching staff at Northwood High School that helped with the Integration transition in Pittsboro. Ernest Dark Jr, a former Chatham county school board member is their son. He served on the Board of Education for 9 years. He continues to strive to keep the memory of Dear Ole Horton High alive.

I journeyed inside the current 5th grade hall and I remembered all of my elementary school Divine 9 influences, Mrs. Clara Dark and Mrs. Josephine Lightsey were members of Zeta Phi Beta. Mrs. Annie M. Farrar and Mrs. Mariam Emerson were members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Mr. I. E. Taylor and Mr. Ernest Dark were members of Phi Beta Sigma, and Mrs.Thelma Mckay, and Mrs. Addie Laws are members of Delta Sigma Theta. Mrs. Farrar and Mrs. Emerson helped me to decide to become a member of my beloved Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. The Divine 9 may be a term you have heard recently during the Presidential Election. They are African American Service Sororities and Fraternities. Madame Vice President Kamala Harris is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha.

All of the former teachers of Horton High School, YOU molded me. 

I continued to the main office and peered into the Horton Middle School media center, the first photo I saw is that of my principal from grades 1-8, Mr. I. E. Taylor. Born in 1911 in Chatham County, he lived with his grandfather, an ex-slave. His grandfather instilled in Mr. Taylor a love for learning. During that time, blacks could only receive a seventh grade education in Pittsboro. Mr. Taylor moved to Raleigh to live with family to attend school and work. He went on to graduate from Shaw University. He returned to Pittsboro to teach at Horton Consolidated School under the leadership of Principal Benjamin J.  Lee. He left Horton for several years to fill in a vacancy at J. S. Waters. Upon Lee’s death in 1944, Mr. Taylor was named principal at Horton. During his tenure at Horton High School, he saw the campus evolve from a one-building facility to a campus of three buildings. In 1970, Horton became a middle school. Mr. Taylor played an integral part in the transition during the integration of the black and white schools. 

Mr. Taylor's discipline was legendary and known and sometimes felt all over town. Mr. Taylor taught me how to shift to something new.

Continue with me down the Pittsboro- Goldston Rd as I traveled to my second assignment in Goldston.   In 1939 there was a school named Goldston Colored School. Later called Goldston High School. In compliance with the Civil Rights Act, the school integrated in 1970 and became JS Waters Elementary. I noticed a picture of a man on the wall and discovered he was Walter Alston McLaughlin, Sr., born October 21, 1910. Mr. McLaughlin taught mathematics at the Goldston Colored School and later became principal before being drafted to serve in the U. S. Army.  After completing his military duty, he returned to Goldston. During those years in the 40’s, 50’s and beyond, he bonded with the community and served the Goldston Community as principal for over 30 years. He loved his students, respected their families and believed there were greater opportunities for them. In the 60’s, Mr. McLaughlin served the Chatham County School System as Supervisor of Secondary Education. Mr. McLaughlin's shoulders gave me a sense of community in an area that was new to me.

I concluded my day by turning onto Pittsboro Elementary School Road for my third assignment. I started to think about two ladies that were our version of Ruby Bridges. A story about courage that we often fail to mention as we speak of black history in Pittsboro. In 1966 two years after the Civil Rights Act, Chatham’s The “Freedom of Choice” plan gave black students the opportunity to go to Pittsboro Primary and Pittsboro High School. 6th grader Eunice Goins went to Pittsboro Primary and 10th grader Shirley Scurlock went to Pittsboro High School. They and a few others decided to try “Freedom's Choice”. They both talk about the terrible things that happened to them that year. Stepping onto the bus and everyone moving to sit on the opposite side. Eating alone in the cafeteria, the racial slurs, the fights and bullying. There were a few black students but not many. Some of them dropped out and others returned to Horton. The lighter your skin tone the more accepted you were at the school. They had no friends. They had no allies. Eunice finished the school year but went back to Horton the next year. Shirley stuck with it and graduated from Pittsboro High School. Two years before the school was integrated in 1970. I talked to some people and they had similar experiences in Goldston. These brave students wonder why they and the trauma they experienced are never mentioned.

Eunice Goins, Shirley Scurlock and all of the Black Students who volunteered to be the first in Chatham County Schools before mandatory integration, this day, February 5, 2021 as we celebrate black history month, I say your names!!!!

Resources:  

  • Horton High School Alumni
  • Chatham County NC Historical Association
  • The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton: Don Tate
  • Horton High School 1935-1970 Yearbook
  • Knotts Funeral Home Website
  • Eunice Goins Allen
  • Shirley Scurlock Hart
  • Myron Jones
  • Mattie Jill Smith

Get Ready for Virtual VITA

  • January 26, 2021

The Chatham County Council on Aging Presents: VIRTUAL VITA!

NO APPOINTMENTS

  • Pick up information packet at the Eastern or Western Chatham Senior Center (The packets will be available on the front porch at both centers in a VITA box, 24/7 after January 26)
  • Complete the packet of information before dropping your tax documents off at the Eastern Chatham Senior Center in Pittsboro. 

What is VITA?

VITA is a service of the IRS, where IRS trained volunteers assist with income tax preparation at no cost to you. This service is sponsored by Chatham County Council on Aging.

Who qualifies?

Persons/families of low to middle income

Drop Off Only: (NOTE NEW TIMES!)

Please bring ALL tax information to the Pittsboro Senior Center on Tuesdays (1:30 pm- 5:30 pm), Thursdays (9:00 am- 1:30 pm) and Saturdays February 27th, March 27th (11:00 am - 2:30 pm)    

When:

February 9- April 6, 2021 

For more information: Call the Council on Aging: (919) 542–4512

Chatham County Mobile Free Pharmacy – February 26, 2021

  • January 22, 2021

MedAssist's Mobile Free Pharmacy is returning to Chatham County on February 26, 2021.

Host Site: Fellowship Baptist Church
120 Fellowship Baptist Church Road
Siler City, NC 27344

Time: 9 AM - 2 PM 

This event will function entirely as a drive-thru. All participants will remain in their vehicles or on foot as they move through the drive-thru line.

All participants are highly encouraged to order their over-the-counter medicine online at: https://form.123formbuilder.com/576871

Anyone who is unable to register in advance will receive a generic premade bag of medicine that contains items such as; cold medicine, vitamins, first aid, children’s, digestive aids, etc.

Anyone unable to register online will be able to pick up a premade bag of over-the-counter medicine. Due to COVID-19, exchanges or special requests are not allowed.

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