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Topics that aren't part of a scheduled event

Senior Center Autumn Benefit

Time Is Running Out! Did you know for a limited time if you donate $100 or more you can receive a gift card for 10% of your sponsorship to a local business ( Brookline Booksmith, Olive Connection, Eurekel or Wild Goose Chase) - learn more.

Free At Home Covid Test Kits Are Available

As of September 25, 2023, residential households in the U.S. can order one set of 4 free at-home tests from USPS.com again via https://www.covid.gov/tests Given the recent uptick in COVID cases, we are strongly encouraging people to take advantage of this free offering. If you need assistance with ordering test kits online, please come to the Council on Aging offices (2nd floor) or call 617-730-2777. The senior center no longer has test kits.

Brookline MA Charter Change Discussion Group

The League of Women Voters and the Brookline Neighborhood Alliance hosted the first of a series of forums on Town Government. Link to video.

Community Health Equity Survey

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is currently promoting the Community Health Equity Survey. Data collected from Brookline residents will play a vital role in our ongoing Community Health Assessment. Your participation in the survey is of utmost importance, as it will help us better understand the needs of our residents and enable us to develop programs to address those needs. I ask that you consider taking the survey, which you can access at www.mass.gov/healthsurvey and please share the information widely within your network. For more information about the Community Health Assessment process, please visit our website. There are also materials available for you to share with your community.

Transportation Survey

The Senior Center is currently conducting a transportation survey to gather feedback about transportation needs and challenges in the community.  Please  click here to take and submit this survey. If you require a paper copy, please email mfoster@brooklinema.gov or call 617-730-2644.

The Silent Call Procedure

The Silent Call Procedure is used when a caller is unable to verbally communicate their emergency over the phone. If a resident of Massachusetts calls 9-1-1 and is unable to speak for any reason.

Coolidge Corner Community Chorus

welcomes singers of all ages for our 2023-2034 season! Rehearsals Wednesday evenings starting September 13, 7:15 pm to 9:15 pm, on the 3rd floor of the Brookline Senior Center.. No auditions. Major works will be Faure's Requiem and some of Rachmaninov's All Night Vigil. All singers must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. For more information go to www.cccchorus.org, email or leave a message at 617-905-2268.

Brookline.news brings a new, professionally reported local news outlet to Brookline. They currently offer an email newsletter and web site. Visit here to read the articles, subscribe, and donate.

Current Events Discussion Group

Meets at the Brookline Senior Center. every Friday morning from 10:30am till 12:00 Noon. Come share your thoughts and interact with others about what is going on in today’s world, whether it be local, national, or international. It is a fun and informative event for all. Members may also select their favorite topic to discuss. We are all rewarded when our group attendance reaches a specified number. That reward is in the form of a pizza party for all attending members, held once a month, on the Friday following our attendance goal. Come and join our group!!!

Equipment Loan Fund

Tech Buddies

Medication Disposal Drop

Walking Group?

Scam Calls From "Brookline Police"

Check Washing Scam

Ramp Loan Program

The Commission on Disability has made it possible for residents to temporarily borrow ramps for use in their homes or at a community event upon request. There is one three (3) foot ramp and one six (6) foot ramp. For more information or to borrow a ramp, please contact the ADA Coordinator at 617-730-2329 or . More information.

Scam Alert

Please be aware that Ross Cleaners has closed. This longtime Brookline laundry and dry cleaning business is listed in the Elder Resource Guide (purple book). The phone number associated with Ross Cleaners is connected to an entity that is requesting credit card information in exchange for gift cards. We strongly urge you not to call this number.

Ruthann Dobek, LICSW
Director
Brookline Council on Aging/Brookline Senior Center

Free Food Coupons

Now Available!

The Brookline Older Adult Community Health Needs Assessment conducted by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), in collaboration with the Brookline Council on Aging, Brookline Senior Center, and BUSPH Professor Harold Cox. Topics of the assessment include transportation and the built environment, healthcare access, housing, and personal and legal rights. Read the full report here.

The Town of Brookline has launched a dedicated town news portal.

Residents are invited to subscribe for updates via email.

Shovel Our Snow

Need some help with snow removal this winter? Sign up for BRec's Shovel our Snow referral program! Once registered, we will send you a list of local teens who have signed up to be shovelers with the program. It is then up to you to contact them and coordinate projects (location, hours, payment, etc). Updated rosters will be sent out as they become available. More Information.

Parkinson's in Motion

Goddard House is sponsoring two programs for older adults with Parkinson's.

On Thursdays from 4:00 - 5:00 pm, Living Musically with Parkinson's, will feature music therapist and neuroscientist, Joshua Min, who specializes in working with older adults, and those living with Parkinson's, to help improve their quality of life through the power of music. Learn techniques, songs, and concepts to strengthen and uplift your body, your brain, and your mood.

Tai Chi for Parkinson's is offered Tuesdays 10:30 am -11:30 pm. Designed specifically to improve strength, balance, flexibility, mental focus and emotional tranquility, tai chi has been proven to help minimize the symptoms of Parkinson's. Join Instructor, Ruth Schechter, an experienced tai chi teacher for older adults and individuals living with Parkinson's. Trained as a musician, Ruth has experience with the Alexander Technique and the Feldenkrais Method, as well as tai chi.

Both programs are free and on Zoom. For more information and to register contact Christine Nagle at .

Brookline's older adults and ARPA.

Betsy Pollock, president of the Senior Center's Board of Directors says:
Please remember, include, and address the needs of Brookline’s older adult population when making decisions about the allocation of the . . . funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
Read Betsy's letter.

Food Pantry needs volunteers!

Thank you for helping us serve so many needy people over the past 18 months. With clients still coming to us in record numbers, we really need additional volunteers and hope you will tell family, friends, and neighbors about the opportunity to help. Potential volunteers can learn more and connect with us here.

We are also seeking a full-time Inventory Manager to play a key operational role and would appreciate your sharing this opportunity with family, friends and neighbors. In addition to managing Pantry inventory and assisting with daily operations, this role includes driving food between locations and lifting boxes up to 50 lbs. For more information, or if someone you know might want to apply, please contact Julia at

The Brookline Food Pantry (BFP) serves over 700 needy households around Brookline, Massachusetts each week, providing fresh produce, meat and dairy as well as household staples. The BFP also serves over 500 students weekly during the school year with weekend food bags and delivers food to clients who cannot get to our three locations. The BFP has a small paid staff as well as over 200 active volunteers who help deliver these key services.

Trees planted honoring Frank Caro

The Town has planted two trees at Hall's Pond in memory of Frank Caro, the President of the Friends of Hall's Pond, long time Town Meeting Member, founder of BrooklineCAN, and all round Town good citizen. Link to Facebook post.

Brookline Green Energy

Did you know that whether you are a renter or a home owner in Brookline (we're split about even, 50:50), you can still take part in the Brookline Green Electricity program? You can sign up for 100% renewable electricity just by using your Eversource bill information and the Enrollment Form on the Town of Brookline website. Thanks to the Town, all Brookline residents can take part in a program that is good for consumers and the environment.

Tommy Vitolo interviews Elenore Parker

Elenore Parker was State Representative Tommy Vitolo's guest on his weekly TV show.
Watch here.

Vaccine companion warning.

On February 11 Massachusetts began allowing people who accompany residents 75 years and older to mass vaccination sites to get their own shots as well. Now some younger people are offering free rides to strangers. Council on Aging Director Ruthann Dobek and Public Health Commissioner Dr. Swannie Jett strongly advise seniors to only accept rides from family members or people they know well. News release.

Eviction Diversion Initiative

DHCD flyer The Massachusetts Department of Public Health wants to reach households early and before an eviction takes place and to provide funding and mediation tools to work with landlords. We've launched a new website that connects residents to their local Housing Consumer Education Center, answers frequently asked questions, and more at www.mass.gov/CovidHousingHelp.

$$$ for Senior Homeowners & Renters!

You may qualify for cash or credit from the state if you pay rent or property taxes. Click for details.

Assisting People With Vision Loss During The Pandemic.

Town of Brookline Releases Instructional Video Guide. The Town of Brookline, Massachusetts has just released a new instructional video telling and showing via demonstration clips how to guide a person with vision loss in a variety of everyday situations. This video is free to all and may be used by any agencies, organizations, groups, or individuals who find it useful.

Complete news release.
Link to Video.

Brookline's Age‑Friendly Cities TV team helped produce this video.

BIG and Brookline Community

Brookline Interactive Group continues our service in meeting Brookline's communications needs, helping our community to share their stories, and keeping our democracy transparent.

This week's coverage of the Fourth District Congressional race is comprehensive- partnering with the League of Women Voters and Brookline for Racial Justice and Equity (BRJE), our colleagues at seven other community media centers from north to south, to support two candidate's forums for this important race. Our ongoing collaboration with State Representative, Tommy Vitolo, produces a thirty-minute weekly show to highlight each candidate in more detail.

Stay tuned and read more about our online classes, new community content, youth media programs, and to participate by creating your own scene in our 2020 Crowdsourced Boston production of Cast Away!

Full details here.

Phone-friendly BrooklineCAN website

When we created this web site in 2011, we designed it for wide-screen desktop systems. Now many people use smaller phones and tablets. Our site could always use those devices, but the pages didn't really fit. Now we automatically rearrange content so it displays comfortably on all devices. As screens get narrower so do paragraphs; two columns become one; the menu disappears but can be recalled by pressing a button. You can see these changes on your desktop or laptop computer by narrowing the browser window. We hope this will make our site more useable on all screens.

Walkable Brookline Survey

Visitors to BrooklineCAN's table at Brookline Day 2019 had the opportunity to answer a survey that asked "What should BrooklineCAN emphasize in advocating to make Brookline more walkable?" Fifteen people answered. Here are the results. We plan to offer the survey at future events.

A report on opinions of older Brookline residents

In 2018 Brookline participated in the National Citizen Survey, an effort to capture the opinions of residents on a wide range of topics concerning the Town. We are reporting here a special analysis that compared responses of those 65 and older with younger respondents. The analysis shows both similarities and differences between the responses of older and younger residents. . Full report.

More Beacon Street benches.

In January 2019 Frank Caro asked the Town's Department of Public Works to consider adding five additional benches on Beacon Street. Here is Frank's report. This is an initiative of BrooklineCAN's Livable Community Advocacy Committee and the Brookline Age‑Friendly City Committee.

Update, August 2019: The town has installed five new benches. Pictures here.

TRIPPS report

This report, issued April 1, 2019 by TRIPPS (Transportation Resources, Information, Planning & Partnership for Seniors), describes local transportation experiences of Brookline Seniors in the context of current research on older adults, transportation and community life.

BrooklineCAN announces its new Age‑Friendly Business campaign.

Details here.

Designing Communities For An Aging America

In an aging nation, what makes an age‑friendly community? We look at what U.S. cities can do to help seniors live better. On Point radio show, WBUR 90.9, Listen to or download the podcast

Scams directed toward the elderly

Brookline Police issue warning about scams directed toward seniors. Details.

Serving Seniors in Brookline Parks

An article by Frank Caro, chairman of BrooklineCAN and its Livable Community Advocacy Committee. From the Brookline Greenspace Alliance's fall 2015 newsletter.

Scam alert

Facebook post from Brookline Police:
Today we have received several calls from Brookline residents, who have reported receiving suspicious calls from pming to be the IRS. The callers then stated that they were filing a lawsuit against the residents before asking for personal information. If you receive such a call, it is NOT the IRS, it is a scam.
Non-emergency number is 617-730-2222.

Scam alert

Tweet from Brookline Police:
Extortion SCAM from local 617 telephone #. Be wary if you receive demand for money due to "Accident" "Kidnapping," etc. Call Police for help.
Non-emergency number is 617-730-2222.

New Windows 10 scam will encrypt your files for ransom

A cautionary tale in being patient, and not skipping the line. Details here.
 

Support Disclaimer: Inclusion of services on this website does not represent a recommendation from the Brookline Council on Aging, the Brookline Senior Center, or the Brookline Community Aging Network.

Disclaimer: Inclusion of services through this program does not represent a recommendation or guarantee of work performance from the Brookline Council on Aging, the Brookline Senior Center, or the Brookline Community Aging Network. The user of this program therefore agrees to release the above named from any and all liability. The user should make whatever investigation or other resources that they deem necessary or appropriate before hiring or engaging Service Providers.