Catherine Taylor | State director, AARP Rhode Island
1. What does it mean for you to be taking over as state director of AARP Rhode Island after forging a career as a senior health advocate? It is an honor to be following in the footsteps of Kathleen Connell, who led AARP Rhode Island for more than 20 years and has been a role model to me. This really is my dream job, where I can put everything I’ve learned and accomplished over my long career … to use in service to our 132,000 R.I. members and all people in our state who are 50-plus [years old].
2. What is a top priority for you from a policy standpoint as you begin serving in this role? AARP R.I. has numerous policy priorities in 2021 – financial security, home modification, support for caregivers, lowering the cost of prescription drugs – but what we are really trying to achieve is something larger: establishing older adults’ rightful place in society, and to put us all on a path to a healthy, financially secure, purposeful and satisfying old age.
3. What are the most pressing issues facing the organization and how will you address them? The most pressing issue facing AARP R.I. is reintegrating into a post-pandemic world after having operated fully virtually for 16 months. In-person volunteer service days, Statehouse rallies, outreach at large community events – such gatherings were once our bread and butter, but like every other organization, we have moved all our activities to cyberspace.
4. What will be your approach in building age-friendly communities in the state? It’s important that the impetus for building age-friendly communities [comes] from within the community itself. AARP R.I. is here to provide encouragement and make the case that everyone benefits when the needs of older people are addressed in each of the eight domains of livability: transportation; communication and information; civic participation and employment; respect and social inclusion; health services and community supports; social participation; housing; and outdoor spaces and buildings.
5. What do you see as your chief mission or goal in supporting the needs of the elderly living in the Ocean State? My chief mission … is to help Rhode Island become a place where all people 50-plus can live our best lives – where all of us enjoy financial security, good health, the opportunity to contribute to our community, and personal fulfillment. Part of that is to move away from the established mindset that the elderly are other people who need to be taken care of. We will all become older adults if we are lucky, and every one of us has something to give.
Cassius Shuman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Shuman@PBN.com.