In 2016, the idea of holding a forum at the Alexander Y that might be of interest to persons of aging in place in Cameron Park was developed by a group of neighbors. Each year since then, we have continued to offer a similar forum series to our neighbors and friends at the Alexander Y. In 2021 and 2022, the forums were held on Zoom during the corona virus time. Following are the presentations that have been offered thus far.
Spring 2016 Forums
March 17
Conversations on Aging, Across the Generations
Martha Lamb, LCSW, Neighbor
Cheryl Thierault, LCSW, Director of Aging Family Services
March 31
Clean Out the Attic: Practical Estate Planning
Maria Lynch, Raleigh attorney
April 7
“Home Sweet Home,” how long can I stay?
Scott Waterhouse, Director of Information Services, Resources for Seniors
Bill Lamb, professor of Social Work at NCSU, retired Director for Public Service UNC Institute on Aging
April 14
Law As You Age In Place
Roger Manus, Professor of Elder Law at Campbell University
Alisa Huffman, Cary Family/Elder Law attorney
April 21
2016 Fitness Forward
Matt Lilly, YMCA Wellness Director
May 5
Mama, Money, and Me
Roby Sawyers, CPA and Professor at NCSU
Amber Sawyers CPA assistant
May 12
Home Adaptations: Environmental and Attitudinal Changes: Vetting and Having Caregivers in the Home
Mark Valletta, Director of Housing and Home Improvements,
Resources for Seniors
Laurie Ray, MSW, Right-at-Home Home Health
Spring 2017 Forums
March 23
Understanding Dementia: Responding to Cognitive Decline
Lisa Gwyther, LCSW, Duke University
Associate Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences & Sr Fellow in the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development
April 6
Identity Theft & Financial Scams Avoiding Fraud Directed at Seniors
Natalie Wood Riche, JD, NC AG’s Office
April 27
The Documentary Film: “CARE”
Ana Pardo, NC Justice Center, Moderator
A panel discussion followed this intimate glimpse into lives and relationships that make up the world of home care. We thank the N.C. Justice Center for partnering with us.
Spring 2018 Forums
March 1
Preparing your Home for Aging in Place
Greg Paul, neighbor and contractor, with 25 years of experience in home renovations and new construction http://www.gregpaulbuilders.com/
Leah Friedman, professional home organizer and expert in management of space, discussing home organization as we age, including downsizing, minimizing, and making best use of storage
April 5
Hospice Palliative Care Program
John Thoma, CEO of Transitions Life Care
(previously Hospice of Wake County)
Dr. Laura Patel, Medical Director of Transitions Life Care
These two speakers are leaders in the Hospice movement and work with a newly opened Palliative Care Program in Raleigh.
Spring 2019 Forums
March 7
Life Writing for Older Adults
with NC State Professor Emeritus Jim Clark
Jim is Professor Emeritus of American Literature at NC State University. He believes, in the words of William Faulkner, that “Memory believes before knowing remembers.” In retirement, he has helped lots of folks to find their voices, tell their stories, and leave a legacy of memories for their descendants.
March 21
Practical Estate Planning: Understanding Wills, Trusts, & Estates, with Raleigh Attorney Maria Lynch
Maria is a partner at Lynch & Eatman, L.L.P. and is Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law and a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. She has received the John B. McMillan Distinguished Service Award from the State Bar and the Joseph Branch Professionalism Award from the Wake County Bar Association.
April 4
Diet, Nutrition & Aging
with Connie Bales, a Professor of Geriatric Medicine at Duke Medical School.
Connie is Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Senior Fellow in the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development in the Medical School of Duke University. Her research focuses on the role of nutrition in the prevention and management of chronic diseases in older adults, with a strong emphasis on nutrition assessment techniques in middle-aged and elderly subjects.
April 25
Medical Memberships: The Y’s New Initiatives for Aging in Place
with Stacy Carver of the Alexander Y.
Stacy is a member of the staff at our own neighborhood Alexander YMCA. She is a personal trainer with special expertise in rehabilitation for patients post surgery for knee and hip. Stacy holds professional certificates in TRX weight training and the LIVESTRONG program for supporting people dealing with cancer through nutrition, fitness, and emotional support.
Spring 2020 Forums
January 21
Retirement Finance Class
with Dr. David Strevel, Ph.D., Wharton School of Business and Member, American Association of Individual Investors
This presentation is a condensed version of David’s popular six-session set of classes that many Cameron Park residents have attended. Those who are retired and those who are proactively planning for retirement will benefit from this candid presentation in a relaxed environment. Whether your investing style is self-directed or managed by financial advisers, you won’t want to miss David’s presentation based on forty years of successful and proficient retirement investing.
February 25
Protect Yourself from Cyber and Investment Fraud
with Fill Bowen and Helen Savage
Experts from AARP’s Fraud Watch Network will present tools, tips and resources that will help you be safe when on the Internet or considering making an investment. Fill Bowen teaches cyber security at the Cary Senior Center and Helen Savage specializes in consumer protection issues as an AARP volunteer and former staff member. Their information is applicable to consumers of all ages!
March 5
Brain Health
Dr. Kim G. Johnson, Division Chief of Memory Disorders Duke University
Dr. Johnson is affiliated with the Bryan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and is interested in the development of medications and lifestyle strategies to prevent or delay the onset of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease as well as MRI/PET imaging and biomarkers in dementia and neurodegenerative diseases. Presentation topics to include: typical aging versus onset of dementia, proactive measures, roles of exercise and nutrition, and risk factors.
Spring 2021 Forums
February 9
Moving Your Financial World Online. How to do it Safely.
Tom Ogburn and members of the Raleigh Senior TechEd group. Tom is chair of the group, which teaches technology classes and helps adults with technology questions and problems.
More and more of your financial interactions are moving online. This presentation will discuss your options for shopping and banking and how to do it safely. As tax time is near, we will look at safely filing your taxes online as well.
March 4
Aging Decisions for Yourself or Loved Ones.
Liisa Ogburn came to the second career of elder consulting through the doorway of taking care of her in-laws in her home while also raising three young children and teaching at Duke. She wrote abut her experiences for the New York Times, among other publications. In addition to her extensive client work, she has written over 200 columns on aging and also lectures widely.
The great majority of us want to “age in place,” to live at home until we die; however, few of us know the situations and circumstances that most often prevent that. While it’s not possible for all of us to stay safely at home always, it is possible to extend the time we do so if we anticipate the most common barriers and put in place the tools and resources to counter them. Liisa will share some ways other communities have worked together to enable their senior neighbors to continue to live at home, as well as some useful tools and resources available now that may be of use.
March 23
Shoulder, Hip, and Knee Health: Common Conditions, Treatments, and Strategies to keep Your Joints Healthy
Jocelyn Wittstein, MD and Tally Lassiter, MD, Orthopaedic Surgeons, Duke University Medical Center
How do you know if you have a rotator cuff tear or just bursitis? What does it mean if your knee creaks or swells? Does running cause arthritis? Drs. Lassiter and Wittstein of 216 East Park Drive can answer these questions and more. They will present common orthopaedic conditions and explain what home remedies are worth spending money on, when to seek medical help, and what treatment options are available. They will also speak about best activities for knees and hips with early arthritis to prolong joint health yet promote strength and fitness.
April 15
History of Oberlin: a Freedman’s Community Established after the Civil War.
Myrick Howard, President of Preservation North Carolina, the state’s only statewide private nonprofit preservation organization. Howard, a long time resident of Cameron Park, has received a number of statewide awards, including induction into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.
For decades Oberlin was a proud, thriving black community with churches, schools, businesses and homes. However, annexation by the City of Raleigh, the Great Depression, the construction of Cameron Village Shopping Center and Wade Avenue/Oberlin Road interchange, urban renewal, and commercial development have largely wiped out Oberlin. Howard will talk about some of the unexpected findings with the Oberlin project. He will also talk about preservation easements, a tool that can be used to permanently protect historic homes in Cameron Park.
May 11
Clearing the Haze in the World of Electronic Communications and Media
Doug Hall is a technologist in Raleigh, and an NCSU graduate in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Doug has worked in the Raleigh area doing hardware and software design for nearly 40 years. He has been an instructor in the NCSU OLLI program for over 20 years. He holds several patents, has way too many hobbies, and is happily married to Bonnie, his wife of 41 years. His favorite role of all is that of “Pawpaw” to three fantastic grandsons.
Are you confused by all the choices available for the various electronic media available to you? Today we can choose between several Internet service providers (ISPs) as well as numerous telephone companies and many sources of TV programming. During this talk we’ll discuss what’s available as well as the pros and cons of all the options in the world of electronic communications and broadcast media. We’ll try to make sense of the alphabet soup of acronyms and we’ll try to predict where things are headed in this very dynamic world of electronic media.
Spring 2022 Forums
January 20 (via Zoom)
Rest Assured: Mastering Sleep Fundamentals to Finally Get the Rest You Need
Amanda Seavey, PhD, DBSM is a Licensed Psychologist and Board-certified behavioral sleep medicine specialist. Dr. Seavey completed her training at the University of Tennessee and Duke University Medical Center. She is currently in private practice in Raleigh at Clarity Psychological Wellness where she treats individuals struggling with sleep, trauma, anxiety and mood disorders.
The field of behavioral sleep medicine has exploded in recent years, and chronic sleeplessness is no longer something we have to accept. We’ll discuss the components of healthy sleep, define common sleep problems and identify corresponding solutions, and debunk sleep myths that keep us stuck in unhelpful patterns.
February 10 (via Zoom)
Waste Not / Want Not: Recycling and Zero Waste 101
Amanda Astor is the interim Communications Analyst for the City of Raleigh’s Solid Waste Services Department. She has been with the City for 5 years, and her focus is outreach and education for recycling as well as internal and external communications for the department. Amanda will present a talk on recycling in Raleigh.
Dawn Comfort, Raleigh Community Director and Information Technology Director for Toward Zero Waste, will provide an intro¬duction on how to reduce our waste in ways other than recycling. Becoming aware of the waste that we create, combined with the conscious effort to reduce it, is an empowering step to the reduction of overall waste in our communities. By moving “To¬ward Zero Waste” together, we can decrease landfill space, our carbon footprint on the Earth, and have a positive effect on the environment and our future.
March 29 (via Zoom)
The Village District Shopping Center: Past, Present, and Future
Presentations from Lynne Worth, Executive VP York Management, Retail Leasing & Property Management; Tom Howard, Senior Regional Property Manager, Regency Centers; Pat Boyle, Executive Director, Village District Merchants’ Association; and Abby Wilkerson Robinson, Social Media & Marketing Associate, Village District Merchants’ Association.
The Village District Shopping Center has been a successful and innovative shopping center for many years. The Cameron Park neighborhood’s well-being is closely associated with its continued success. This talk will look at how the marketing strategies have evolved and identify the current strengths of the shopping center. This will include looking at the role of the Village Dis¬trict within the larger scene of Raleigh and beyond, merchandise activity, and the role of individual merchants. Finally, we will look at new developments in the shopping center, how its marketing strategies are evolving, and how it may look in the future.
April 19 (meeting at the Alexander Family YMCA)
House Styles in Cameron Park
Ruth Little is an architectural historian. She formed Longleaf Historic Resources in 1990, a consulting firm in Raleigh, to provide historic preservation services. She has forty years of experience in the documentation, evaluation, and accreditation of historic buildings and landscapes, primarily in North Carolina, but also South Carolina, Virginia, Rhode Island, and Mississippi. Ruth lives in Oberlin Village, where she maintains Longleaf Studio, where her writing and painting take place.
Ruth’s 2014 book Cameron Park, Raleigh, NC, A Remote Retreat on Hillsboro Street, 1910-2010 discussed house types in the neighborhood. She and David Strevel, the book’s photographer, will present a Powerpoint stroll through the neighborhood and comment on various styles and types, including newer dwellings built after the book was published.
Cameron Commons was established in 2015 by a group of your neighbors with the goal of supporting each other through life’s transitions (young professionals, families, senior citizens, etc.). For more information about the Forum Series, please call or text: 919-434-6842 or 919-346-4992