With its ubiquitous membership pitches, bold red presence at community events, and sales offers for services featuring photos of sublimely happy customers, AARP looks like the Try Hard organization for seniors. Maybe a little too hard? Look again. AARP really is a useful service and advocacy hub.
Something for everyone
Head to website aarp.org for exercise and travel tips, recipes, trivia, TV, home safety, insurance information, Healthwatch, celebs in the news, and much more. Topics are well organized, easy to navigate, and presented in high-contrast colors with a basic unadorned font. It's easy to use, easy to read.
And that's just the general content. For state-specific information, scroll down and click to view in-person and virtual activities and opportunities. This is also where to find updates on Illinois advocacy issues. For more on AARP's legislative activity in Illinois, we visited the Springfield office to chat with Ryan Gruenenfelder, Senior Director, Advocacy and Outreach.
"The AARP office in Springfield is involved in a wide array of advocacy, outreach and education issues within the city and across central and southern Illinois," Gruenenfelder began. "We work with community groups to make Springfield more livable and age-friendly, a place that current residents are proud to call home and a place others from across the country want to move to, by advocating for policies and initiatives that allow for safe, walkable streets; that support affordable housing, secure opportunities for healthy and active living; that provide ample opportunity for social inclusion, and help sustain economic growth while ensuring disparities are addressed.
"On the state advocacy side, trained AARP volunteers from all over Illinois fight for issues we all care about in the Capitol building every week, such as helping Illinois' 1.3 million unpaid family caregivers, lowering prescription drug prices, protecting or improving financial retirement security, securing relief from high property taxes, protecting residents in nursing homes, and fighting for affordable electric, gas and water rates. Over the years, we have secured many powerful wins within the state legislature that benefit Illinoisans on every one of these topics and more."
A summary sheet from the Springfield office identifies specific House bills in all of these areas where AARP is advocating for support or opposition in 2024.
A fun bunch at the Illinois State Fair
The AARP tent at the Illinois State Fair welcomed seniors into a party with giveaways, games, bright colors and smiling staff and volunteers.
Judy Parker, a member since 2016, volunteers with a friend at local events. "One of the biggest things I appreciate about AARP is the communication. They send information on every topic you can think of – health, scams and fraud, recipes. It's the whole gamut of things, by mail and email."
AARP produces a lot of content – for dabblers and deeper divers alike. The small-format monthly newspaper AARP Bulletin is both information-dense and easy to read, with such features as "The War on Chronic Pain," "What We Know About Medical Marijuana," and "90 Great Ways to Save." The AARP Magazine features profiles on aging cultural icons and the arts, useful technology, and more. Special publications such as "Caregiver Stories," produced with the Illinois Family Caregiver Coalition, share poignant and practical help. For digital resources, the Member Benefits tab at www.aarp.org offers seemingly unlimited searchable content. And members can set email alerts by topic to customize their AARP experience.
For even more, volunteers are welcome to jump in. Parker says she responded to a recruiter's invitation at an AARP Movies for Grownups event several months ago. "My friend and I decided 'Let's do it!' We've work at the State Fair booth and Senior Celebration, and we're looking to do more. We meet people, we enjoy people, and we feel like we're giving back."
This is just what Teresa Jones likes to hear. As the Associate State Director of Advocacy and Outreach, Jones describes Parker and others who work the fair, voter registration, Social Security presentations, decluttering talks, and more as "my volunteers."
"I get to know them, their likes and dislikes, whether they like to be behind the scenes or out in front, and then I can make personal assignments," Jones says. "Then they will give it their all and say 'yes' again." And she needs that. "AARP is working in just about every area that touches senior lives, makes lives better, makes a difference."
When it comes to areas of information and advocacy, Jones says, "We've either done it, we're going to do it, or we're working on it right now. We think out of the box on behalf of seniors in our community."
Gruenenfelder agrees. "We cannot do this work in Springfield or anywhere in Illinois without the help of the hundreds of dedicated, passionate volunteers who work alongside us as partners on all these advocacy issues and outreach/education efforts to help everyone live well with dignity and purpose." If anyone feels passion for these issues and activities and would like to join us as a volunteer, visit Volunteer with AARP Illinois (https://states.aarp.org/illinois/volunteer-with-aarp-illinois) and contact Ellen Acevedo at eacevedo@aarp.org or 312-458-3626.
Surprised by the engaging, varied AARP media, and the faint hope of lower insurance premiums, feature writer DiAnne Crown of Springfield is a new member. Sold!
