Baltimore County, MD Time of Your LIfe, 28 Jun 2022

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From YouTube: Maryland Access Point (MAP) - Your One-Stop Shopping Resource

Description

Kathryn Wallace, BS
Certified Benefits Counselor, Supervisor, Maryland Access Point
Baltimore County Department of Aging

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Welcome back to the time of your life., I'm your host, ethel rasmussen.. It has been said that knowledge is power and information is liberating.

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This final segment speaks to those references since maryland: access point,.

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Known as map, does just that., we are pleased to have kate wallace, supervisor of maryland access point at bcda on.

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The show to share information about the map office and their services.

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Kate, welcome to the show.

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hi., thanks for having me on.

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What is map- and why is this service, so important to bcda's population?.

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Well, thanks for asking.

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Map stands for maryland, access point and.

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We are with the department of aging's main information and referral line,.

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And we offer this as a free service to the public..

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Our hours of operation are mondays through fridays, between the hours of 8:30 and 4:30 pm.

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We see ourselves as a launchpad or starting point for older adults,.

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Caregivers, family members,, professionals,.

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And people with disabilities to get access to community resources and.

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Also, various referrals to the different services and programs that the department of aging has to offer.

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Kate,, please share with our viewing audience the many services that.

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Map offers, as well as the staff that supports the office.

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We provide information and referral for various senior and disability resources in baltimore county and we provide these services by phone,.

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Email, and in-person walk-in., our phone number is 410-887-2594.

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Our email address is aginginfo@baltimorecountymd.gov.

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Our physical address, we're actually located at the bykota towson senior center,.

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Which is 611 central avenue,.

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Room number 220, towson,, maryland 21204.

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We distribute various pieces of literature and publications, including our community resource guide,, which is a regional annual publication in baltimore county, and we also share resources in baltimore city as well.

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You can either pick up a copy physically or you can go.

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On our websites to get an electronic version and our website to.

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Access that is www.baltimorecountymd.gov/communityresources.

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The guide offers a range of services, programs, benefits,.

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Basically, what you need to know for one-stop shopping,.

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And the guide is free of charge..

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We also have a service called speakers. Bureau,.

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Where we can send our staff from the department of aging over as a guest speaker for a public or private event.,.

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Someone or an organization would like to have a guest speaker to.

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Talk about the various services and resources department of aging has to offer,.

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We can get them connected to that..

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We also offer a service called options. Counseling,.

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Where we take a moment to talk to our callers about the different programs and services that could be available to them.

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This is especially useful for people who want to remain in the community, but need to know what supports are available.

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Finally, we have a loan closet where we can loan out.

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Various equipment to people who want to borrow things such as a walker,.

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A wheelchair, tub seat.. Can you provide a few examples of the types of inquiries map may.

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Receive along with a few responses to demonstrate the range of calls your office supports?.

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Our office receives a variety of calls and callers, including older adults,,.

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Family members,, caregivers,, younger and also disabled, people, and professionals.

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We get a wide variety of people who call our office every day.

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Some of our most common issues or topics that we talk about are things such as housing,.

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Getting access to in-home care, services, questions on medicare, benefits, and long-term care.

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For instance,, the power of age expo,, which is our annual expo,, is going to be this year on october, 27th,.

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2022 at the maryland state fairgrounds,.

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So we receive a lot of calls about this special event and we give a lot of information about that..

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Once somebody calls us,, we try to have a conversation with that person to find out what services they may qualify.

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For and we also help them talk about what resources could be available as well.

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If the caller asks for information on specific program at department of aging or after the screening,.

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Our staff finds, if they're qualified for a particular service, so we'd have again.

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A conversation with them asking about their income,.

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Assets,, what needs they may have,.

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And we help get them referred to the correct person if they qualify for any of the department of aging services.

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Kate,, the loan closet is important service provided by map.

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What is the inquiry process for equipment, map's loan criteria,, as well as the cost to borrow equipment?

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in order to be eligible to access our loan closet,.

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You have to be a baltimore county, resident, 60 years of age or older.

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We also don't have an income requirement,, so we don't screen anybody for having a particular income or asset requirement.

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We have a variety of different things that folks can borrow.

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Some examples that we usually get requests for are things like tub seats,.

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Wheelchairs, rollators and canes,.

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And also bedside commodes., all interested persons, if they're interested or if they have a family member that could be interested in borrowing. This equipment, should give us a call and an information referral specialist will.

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Take down their information and an appointment will be set up to have. The item picked. Up.

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We do everything on an appointment, basis.

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currently,. We are only offering pick-up through the bykota or towson senior center,.

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But we hope to offer opportunities for pickup at other senior centers for travel, convenience.

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There's usually no cost to borrow the items and we.

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Only require a deposit for items such as rollators and wheelchairs.

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For those items,, we do require a $25 deposit and it is refundable, upon return of the item.

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We don't have a particular due date, so you can borrow.

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The item as long as needed and just return it once you're done using it.

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For those seeking a bcda speaker for a meeting or event,.

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How should they connect with map?, they should contact us by phone or email to get started.

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We do ask people to give us at least a month's notice, just to make sure.

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That we have the staff and we have the materials available to do the presentation,.

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And we ask people to just give us some basic information about the events,.

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Such as the date, time,, and what subjects and materials they'd like us to share.

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Once we have that information,, we will distribute it to your events within the department of aging to get staff person evolved,.

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So we have somebody that sends it out saying: there's an event coming up and we.

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Have somebody from our staff that will volunteer to present.

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Kate for those seeking information,, resources, or loan closet information., can you once again provide the contacts that are available to reach out to your office for assistance?

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once again,, we are available by phone,.

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Email, or walk-in in person., our phone number again is 410-887-2594,.

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Our email address is aginginfo@baltimorecountymd.gov,.

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And our address.

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Is 611 central avenue,.

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Room number 220, towson,, maryland 21204.

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Again,, our hours of operation are mondays through fridays,.

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Between the hours of 8:30 and 4:30.

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Kate, any final remarks you would like to share?.

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Well,, we definitely welcome anybody to give us a call,.

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Anybody to reach out to us, if you have any questions,, if you have anything that you want to get answers on as far.

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As getting connected with senior resources or any services,.

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The department of aging., we welcome your questions,, so feel free to contact us.

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Thank you for sharing such valuable information.

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That's today's show.. Thank you for spending your time with us..

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Please remember,! You can call the department of aging's information line called maryland access point of baltimore, county or map at 410-887-2594, with questions pertaining to older adults and persons with disabilities.

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This show may also be viewed anytime on the internet at.

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Www.Baltimorecountymd.Gov/Videos with open captioning.

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That brings us to the conclusion of this edition of the time of your life,.

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A national mature media awards, winner about the services and contemporary topics that keep you in the know.

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Until next time.