For Immediate Release: Thursday, September 22, 2016
Montgomery County Councilmembers
Sidney Katz and Roger Berliner to host
free Senior Forum and Resource Fair
on Friday, Oct. 21, at The Village at Rockville
State’s Attorney John McCarthy, Consumer Protection
Director Eric Friedman and Gretchen Zekiel of
Volunteer Center to be among speakers
ROCKVILLE, Md., September 22, 2016—Montgomery County Councilmembers Sidney Katz and Roger Berliner will host a Senior Forum and Resource Fair at The Village at Rockville from 1-4 p.m. on Friday, Oct, 21. The program will focus on protecting seniors from scams, addressing signs of elder abuse and neglect and promoting ways that seniors can contribute to the community through volunteering. It will be accompanied by an informational resource fair showcasing a wide range of service providers to seniors.
The forum will be held in Lang Hall of The Village at Rockville, which is located at 9701 Veirs Drive in Rockville. The Senior Forum and resource fair are free and open to the public. The resource fair will be open from 1-2 p.m. Residents who do not live in the community are welcome to attend and should enter through the main entrance.
Councilmember Katz, the former Mayor of Gaithersburg, serves on the Public Safety Committee. That committee has jurisdiction over the County’s consumer protection programs and public safety issues affecting seniors. Councilmember Katz’s district includes The Village.
Councilmember Berliner is a member of the Council’s Health and Human Services Committee that has jurisdiction over senior-related issues, and when he served as Council President, the Council approved the Senior Agenda.
Councilmembers Katz and Berliner said in a joint statement: “After previously hosting two very successful Senior Forums, we are excited to be holding another one for our seniors in and around The Village at Rockville community. We know that stopping senior abuse, avoiding scams and promoting volunteerism are important issues to seniors, and that is why we are pleased to yet again bring together our County’s leading experts in these fields. It is our hope with this forum that our seniors will receive timely and relevant information and see the community resources available so they can continue to live safe, full, and enriching lives.”
The experts expected to be present during the forum include:
At the resource fair, representatives from community-serving organizations will have information and materials for forum attendees. Organizations confirmed to be in attendance include: Office of Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh; the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection; the Office of Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy; the Montgomery County Volunteer Center; Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service; Montgomery County Police Department’s Elder Abuse Unit; the Montgomery County Department of Recreation; the Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services; the County Division of Aging and Disabilities; the County Division of Senior Villages; Montgomery County Public Libraries; Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition; the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Violence; the Jewish Social Services Agency; the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington; the Senior Connection; ElderSAFE; Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland; the Mental Health Association / EveryMind; Montgomery College Lifelong Learning Institute; the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County; Rebuilding Together; the Rockville Senior Center; the RSVP program; The Village at Rockville; and Aspire Counseling.
For more information on the forum, contact Lindsay Hoffman in the Office of Councilmember Katz at 240-777-7817 or at lindsay.hoffman@montgomerycountymd.gov .
# # # # Release ID: 16-285