TAYLOR’S TAKE....
Civics for Grownups?
Greetings,

If you missed my conversation with The Honorable Gary Peters last Friday, the recorded program below may be of interest. During our discussion, Senator Peters and I offer our perspectives on Detroit, our state, and our nation, with a focus on COVID-19, the current vaccination efforts, and ensuring that our communities are age friendly and responsive to our senior population’s needs. As we talked about the $2 trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill, I realized that civics lessons should probably be mandatory for adults, just as they were when we were high school students. We all need to better understand how our government works.
All older adults in Michigan deserve access to the resources, programs, and services that allow them to thrive. DAAA extends our gratitude to the Honorable Gary Peters and community leaders that made time to join in the conversation.
For the senior population, the Relief Bill includes $1.5 billion for a host of home and community programs that were first established by the Older Americans Act of 1965. The expanded funding provides increased economic security, improves access to health care, and meets the changing needs of older adults. For a deeper dive on the aging programs supported by the Relief Bill, visit this National Council on Aging article.

In the 1930s, The New Deal included the Social Security Act that established a system of old-age benefits. The current COVID-19 Relief Package expands that safety net with supports to struggling families for financial relief, food and housing help, increased government health insurance coverage and the expansion of unemployment benefits. 
Yet, as a nation, we continue to grapple with issues related to voting rights, systemic racism, social injustices, immigration, climate change, and more that place America’s future at grave risk. For this reason, a civics lesson for adults is an appropriate step towards healing a fractured democracy:

  • To remember the words of Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address:
Government of the People, by the People, and for the People
  • To make democracy work with voter participation, citizen engagement and advocacy
  • To focus on inclusive, core American values
  • To listen, learn and be active
  • To know that social movements can change our democracy
  • To be Servant Leaders who believe our democracy is worth saving.

We depend on our elected officials to represent us. And they need us to be informed and educated on this journey toward a more perfect Union. A fragile democracy can be fixed as long as we accept that “We are Better and Stronger When We Are Together!”
 
In Gratitude,
Ronald S. Taylor MBA, MA
President & CEO
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