 Aloha. I'm Marcia Joyner and we are navigating the journey. This is a really special journey because we are going to venture into the world of the silver tsunami. You know Hawaii is the ideal place for people to retire. And so today we are going to look at the different programs and projects designed for seniors or the silver tsunami. And my guest today is Ken Farm and he's the chair of the neighborhood board number 15 Kalihi Palama and he is expertise I guess is dealing with people and he knows most of the programs and within the state and the city and county that deal with these issues and being a well no I'm not a baby boomer I was born before the baby boomers anyway the baby boomer generation are the people born between 1946 and 1964 and between now and 2030 10,000 baby boomers each day will hit retirement age can you imagine that 10,000 a day so today we are going to look at that problems and all of the different issues related to the silver tsunami. Aloha Ken and welcome welcome Marcia to and welcome to think tech final days in that studio this is a really nice thing that is moving to a new to a new facility and so enjoy that last day there I will I will this is a really nice studio and I will be missed. Yes so let's talk about the silver tsunami about seniors well first of all before we do that tell us about Ken everybody knows Ken Farm well that's much appreciated Marcia thank you well let me let me say this let me say this he's a dear friend and his name is Kendrick Farm and he is Hawaiian so he has he has it's a great Hawaiian name Kendrick Farm but he does have a middle name and it has every letter in the Hawaiian alphabet three times so I just sure because it's easier for more people to you know you know it's easier to say yeah right yeah so what I also want to say too is I you know I am not you know the so-called expert when it comes to some of these programs I mean I try to become that expert when it comes to my community because I have a lot of people who are seniors and the reason being is because you know yeah as you mentioned before we're looking at the silver tsunami and one of the issues is that as these people start to get older the more and more that there is a need for different services or oppressing on the services that are currently available so it's important that people get into the right services in the right areas so that way they don't fall through the cracks and one of the things that I've noticed unfortunately and I hate bringing up homelessness on this is but I've seen a lot more seniors that are homeless and the reason that they're homeless is for the fact that for some of them is because they're on a fixed income and sometimes they know there might be medicines or or forms of medical care that they just can't afford uh where they could have had different services if they knew about it and that outreach was there and I think that that's very important I think throughout the you know the gamut of this entire show to talk about the well let's talk about outreach and do we have in I mean on paper we have this lovely little handbook for seniors but when they get there when they call that do they really get the kind of services they need you know so many like you said so many seniors have multiple multiple um prescriptions and then they have this strange uh what am I saying effect of one medicine on the other do they know where to go do they know how to get uh help for this kind of thing so that's that's where do we go how do we and especially like you said in your neighborhood because it's an old neighborhood it's one of the first neighborhoods on the island of Oahu so you have lots of people that have lived there for generations what is there do they get the care do they know how to go to get what they need so I think you know this is something we have to unpack I think that there's who who actually do get the services that you know that are they're looking for but there's also those who you know may not have that level of support that the others had in order to get that the care that they you know they have available one of the things you know that the state offers this is program called ship now that is an okay program we have people who are volunteering their time which is very commendable to help individuals but it mostly helps with them looking at it from a cost how much is it going to cost which is going to be cheaper and in some cases that's very important we're looking at affordability but the other thing too is is that is it going to be that the right level of care and the need that that individual has uh for their you know their lifestyle things that they've had to come up with and that takes a little bit more of of education when it comes to there and plus you know we talk about services and the amount of pressure on them because of many people calling so for example a ship there's some people who've waited you know almost a week or so for different answers and this is just the beginning as we start looking at more of the seniors and and the issues that are coming up you know as our unfixed income and so on and so forth we're going to see a need much more than what we have now so it's it's better that we get prepared it's better that we look at the reality of where it is and also is you know we have certain things that are going on that are showing that if we don't do this correctly we're going to have more people on the street so for example the more that we see seniors on the street that has something to do with fixed income but what are some of the things that could have prevented that right you know for some cases there's mental health issues that some have suffered before but when we have seniors who lived in apartments for example and now because of fixed income they're not able to afford living in those areas um what is it there for them you know if you have a person who's just on the street for example that's for them that that's trauma enough then you have a senior right and the issues that they have and and all the things that are going on I mean these are the kind of the hard issues that we're going to have to talk about it's easy to put people in little boxes here and there but every you know types of cases separate and then further more we have to ask the overlying questions well why is this happening and along with that is what are the support services available so that we make sure that you know they get the right information and you know I just was at a person who I know personally she does very good work her name is Martha and we talk about some of these things with people who have no idea for example you know July 1st is coming up and if you don't have the the new Medicare card for example um that doesn't have your social security number and and doesn't have the signature just has that 11-digit code or whatever it's on there then you may not get the services that you have so even if you have that it's important to look at some of those things and do our seniors have that do they know that do do our seniors speak something other than English what's that outreach when it comes to that community we have a lot of people for example in my community have about close to 43,000 and some of them English is a second language and we have to consider that when we look at these different services well speaking of services in uh how large is your area so the area that I have uh no I'm in Glee, Paloma how how large an area are we talking about I wish I had a visual to show you so um if we take from the river basically from Chinatown where that river is in Iwanu stream right up the school street and go all the way around past Helena's you know past Lanakila housing where there's a lot of seniors there keep going around where KPT is and down to to Middle Street everything below there uh Sand Island so I have you know this is Kalee Paloma on there but you know with is more of reality is I have Kalee Paloma I have Aala I have uh Ivali and Sand Island and all those areas combined is what that is and that's a very large area to begin with and then you have a population of 43,000 um that is something that you know even as a volunteer if you will when it comes to capacity on a neighborhood board that's a lot to deal with and you know it's when you can find those different types of things like I try to make it where my board you know I try to let my board members know that I try to find these different outreach vehicles so even if we've heard of it and I call it the bubble of people who kind of know these different services that people outside of that get acquainted with those services and maybe they qualify for it maybe they don't at least they know these other things are available so should they have somebody else maybe they qualify for it and I think that those things are important well now do you have an area that large are there of physical like um clinics and uh I guess that for people uh the little clinics the urgent care uh the big ones how far is it to uh queens or Kaiser or any of those and an urgent care people where they can physically go and be cared for are they close are there any of those dentists uh what about dialysis you know that's a big thing with and they say Hawaii leads the nation in kidney issues do you have dialysis in that area that is huge huge huge so you know are those facilities there aside from seniors you know you know which is we're talking about and I think that when we look at dialysis that's something that as sad as it sounds is something that is beyond just the senior population we have people who are younger who who uh rely on that in order to survive and we we don't have it within the district as far as I understand but I think it's something that as we look at to the as we look at you know the the zoning for mixed commercial residential but it's something that we should take a look at and how do we make sure that we have those services close to those areas as you know the population grows so I think that that's something that definitely is we talked about if it hasn't I think that we do have you know to answer your question about different types of medical care we have you know Kalihi Palama Health Center and they have their clinics there but they're also you know dealing with other situations and other problems so they're you know to capacity we have KKV which is Kalihi Valley it's another very important vital component to the healthcare aspect of our community those are the two that I can think of off my mind but all these things combined are important and as that population grows and as there's a more need for services we're going to ask ourselves questions you know such as you know what else are we going to need right now we have for example um we talked about you know people who are on a street hygiene center just that alone is important because anything that is preventive and healthcare is going to be cheaper in the long run than trying to get some money from the ambulance to emergency room care which is one of the most expensive forms of care that there is so the more that we can oh yes ambulances what is it ambulance cost what $1,200 I think the last I saw was about $1,850 for an ambulance right and I believe that emergency room care if I remember correctly was close to $3,500 so you combine both of those together just one time for one person that adds up so let's say if we did that for one person per month we're looking at close to $64,000 so it's it's important to have that preventive care so that we're saving money on that end so that we can put into different services outreach and other types of things that are badly needed and also to look at things you know when it comes to handy van handy van is a service that is vitally important it increases five percent every single year in terms of its usage but they have the same amount of staff and I think you know if there's money that we can go after from the federal side or different types of funding structures it's important and you know that and combined with everything else that's going on I think that that's something we have to take a hard look at because there's some people who don't want change or some people who don't want you know different things being built but when we look at what's going to be needed for the community I think those are the things that are important well now going back to the handy van how do we and I say we is a collective how do we access more funds for handy van what how is that funded so there are some programs that I understand on the federal side but there's also you know they're heavily subsidized there is no profit into it but it's a it's a public service and there's sometimes where it's a public service and there is no profit in it but it's something that we badly need and it is important to the community so it's just like for example I take the example of like a post office like in Waimanalo it's never going to make a profit but it's something that's there for the community and part of the services the government provides and we have to look at it in that standpoint now if there's other money on the table it's available that be aware of it there's brands or other things great if there's other ways that we can get more of that type of services I don't see any problem with trying to look at those things it's always trying to look at something new seeing if it was done before it was every you know impediments or what not what do we do to to make sure that those impediments are not there or maybe there are impediments that are there that we may have to look at changing legislation so all those types of things I think are important as we look at this because like you're saying we have a silver tsunami and as that grows there's going to be different need for services and we want to make sure that the more the people who are part of the different services get the services that they need that they could qualify for so that that's one less person that's on the street that's one less person that you know that doesn't have the housing or one extra person that you know it just it's there I see it all the time and it breaks my heart I see those people who are on there I've seen a lot of seniors and I know that proper affordable housing needs to be built and that's one of the only things that we need to do in order to make sure that that happens so that we have people so that they can live out their lives in a most dignified manner speaking of housing now I am I'm not going to pretend that I know your neighborhood because I don't however what I do know about that area is that there are a lot of empty buildings because it used to be an industrial area is there any way to convert those buildings into livable spaces so I think one of the things we have to look at and it's not dodging your question but because you know for example we have issues with some of the the industrial waste from before is to how do we go ahead and make that livable is that even possible with the EIS's and also have the conversation so people understand you know what is true affordable housing so I think you know with all those things working together that's something that's first but I think the key is is that is that place livable first you know even if we look at for sea rise sea level rise is that an area that we're confident that's going to be livable in the next you know 50 years or so aside from just the seniors there but you know the other uses as it goes so all those types of questions need to be asked if they haven't been asked already the second thing I think about it too again is that affordability because if we have seniors on fixed income what can we do about that and again if we look at it from the standpoint of well if a person's on the street just going to the emergency room for whatever the reason is $1,850 for an amulet right $3,500 for emergency room care and if we keep pounding away at that and having people understand that that's the cost regardless of what we do then I think that from there will elicit better responses and better solutions that are I I'm yes it seems you know they tell you oh well if you fall call 911 do this 911 but no one ever looks at the cost of calling 911 I don't want to dissuade anybody from calling 911 if you're having a stroke yes absolutely but some of the little things that people call for when you look at the cost and we as taxpayers pay that when a person can't so you know since you're talking about that and especially when you're talking about preventive care one of the things that comes to mind is where there's programs where seniors can have you know different types of railings put inside for their bathrooms and whatnot so that you know that at least a safety precaution against a fall I can't think of it right off hand but I know that those programs do exist and those little things like that just for seniors to be aware of should they qualify I think are very important what now what is uh what what is the quote age of being a senior um AARP accepts you at 50 uh is what is this state saying is a senior I believe it's age 62 I think is what what a senior is or that a teenager so you have to wait from you have to wait until you're 62 well you know most people in Hawaii are healthier than than most states so so at 62 is the quote amount that is qualified as a senior there's different cohorts of of of you know different groups that are more healthier than others but I think that you know we can look at that from you know from a different standpoint there's some who are from you know different groups that are much healthier if they have the means to to exercise and have the time and then we have those from other groups that you know that's not afforded that much and they're you know predisposed to you know say you know dialysis or everything else um that we just have to be cautious about now dialysis is terribly expensive oh my goodness oh I was reading about you know what is $10,000 a week or a month or what like that who has that kind of money you know because once you start dialysis that's forever you don't get to say well I'm just gonna do it this one time how do we pay for that so one of the things that is important and I didn't you know is bringing up the census for example and because and the reason I bring that up is because we in about 2016 we got about a billion dollars from the federal government for our Medicare system and I would say a lot of that went into services like dialysis also to like if you're part of a union some of those services are provided regardless of the union I can't you know if they're all different specific type of things but just knowing that the importance of something like that you know we got over 3.4 billion dollars in 2016 from the federal government and and sorry 2.7 and about a billion dollars went into Medicare so that shows you the importance of what that is and as our senior population grows we're going to need more of that and and you know we've talked about the census before and I know you had people on the show about it but the more that we have people counted the more that those types of federal dollars can go to different programs like that and that's why it's very important so we I yes we have done a regular series with the census people but again I would like for you to address the dollars and cents what by an accurate count how much do we get how much does the state of Hawaii get if we get an accurate account I know we were short on the account 10 years ago but this is only every 10 years so we need to get it right so tell me in terms of dollars and cents what is it that we didn't get and what can we get if the count is correct so it was in 2000 I believe was 2010 2010 and yes that was the next the one that we had there was a study that was conducted to show that you know for every person that wasn't counted we lost about $1,600 so just taking that into today's money it was about $1,800 however there was a study conducted by EBIT in the state of Hawaii Department of Economic Development and Tourism that has shown that for every person that we don't count is about $2,600 so you think $2,600 times it by you know however much you you know we've we've have you know my area I'm working really hard to make sure that every person's counted because we've had very low counts about 30% or so when our average for the state is close to about 75 or better that's just lost money that's just lost so the more that we have a count the better that we have the ability to serve our communities and qualify for federal money that we would not have and if we reach certain you know population benchmarks then you know there is other types of services that we could qualify for so I'm looking at this saying okay well we have you know just doing the simple math from before I think we lost about $95 million or more we just you know just because we didn't have people who who did the census so the more people that do the census the more that participate um and there's a trust in line with that so you know there's people who the census on their side they're trying to make sure that they're getting people from the community they can go ahead so there's trust that's you know afforded to so that if a person comes from that community there's more trust that comes that that person who's there is not just there to you know do the bidding of whatever law enforcement agency that it is but getting the proper count so that we have the proper amount of resources that we can go after speaking of resources um we've been talking about the silver tsunami about seniors of which I am one however some of that money goes into school lunches so talk about those other little things for people other than seniors and Medicare so we're going to go into the tangent here you're absolutely right it depends on the count it does depend on the count there's other types of services from head start to you know different types of the lunch programs um and there's other types of qualifying uh types of things that people have to go through however all that is part of a larger count if you will that comes from the federal government from the census goes to you know the department of health and human services and and there are other types of departments to determine in a certain formula how much an area gets but why that's important too from the senior side is because if we're spending money for example on something that could have been from somewhere else then that's just lost money so the more that we can be creative and say okay well if we're making sure that we're having this count um then the money that we had for something that wasn't fully dedicated for this can go to somewhere else or or even you know additional funds I think that's very important to look at and just that having that creative mind you know looking at these different things and not just seeing it in its own little box not just seniors not just you know uh you know uh children or parents whatever it is but the larger part of the component of the community of how everybody benefits from these different services the more that people are within services that we can provide funding for then there will be money and other things left on the table for other types of programs and other types of services so I think that's something that's very vital and important you know one of the ones that come to mind is definitely streets you know um money to make sure that streets are paved making sure that we have additional personnel if we're able to to help clean the roads and so on and so forth so all these things and police also for that matter we've had issues you know with public safety so the more that we can show the account of the population the greater their chances we have for this different federal fund that we were as a state or as a campaign for that could be paid for with another different coffer if you will well um now what we have talked about with the census of the different languages do you have several different languages in your neighborhood I do so and our go ahead do you have different so many different languages I just start there so you know one of the most popular ones that's on there is Tagalog I have two keys and I have Marshallese and I know I'm missing a couple that's in there Chinese as well but getting that proper count I know I have other languages in there but the more that we can show that level of inclusivity to that communities the more we have a larger count and the more that we can get people who you know that we can get the word out saying hey the census are looking for people um different various types of communities who can speak different languages the more like we talk about that trust that the community has uh in those individuals because they come from the community it's not somebody who's just coming from the outside so hopefully there's there's a little bit more of an inherent trust from that as opposed to just somebody who's you know hi I'm from the census here's my ID card you know somebody who's from the community that there's trust that that's already there I think that that speaks monumentally so what you're saying what you're saying is the more people that apply for the job with the census from that community the more trust there is is that what you're saying absolutely and I encourage people who are in those different communities go on there go to uh on the census website I believe it's census.gov and there's an area to apply um if you can google it there's uh jobs on there's a census jobs and it's for Hawaii so just you know if you're able to take advantage of that and there's also for people who qualify and if they're you know at a certain income threshold that they can still retain the services that they have and different types of benefits because it's only temporary while they're working for the census so they're not going to lose that while they're working for the census or even afterward. So yes it's just so that if they're already employed it's not going to hurt them working because it is part time. So I'm paraphrasing here but you should also check with the census as well I'm just saying that there's uh there is something where it's afforded where persons who are low income or considered low income have the ability to sign up if they are selected for the job um that they're not going to lose their benefits because if the job is temporary it's going to be paying above you know what would be minimum wage or whatever it is or whatever that threshold is but they're not going to lose their difference. Oh great all right so it is um 2020 census dot gov I think I hope if it's not just google it and try to find it I'm sure it's there too. Yes we want everybody counted in every language and that way we're back to the seniors in the the civil tsunami. Absolutely. Those seniors can also apply for these jobs. Yes they can. So it doesn't have to be just youngsters and especially yeah well I think it's good too because even if they're let's say you know a retirement home or they're in different types of senior housing you know I think that's something that I think they could do or get more people to participate in them because it's not just you know U.S. citizens it's every person who's here at the time who has an impact on our infrastructure and different services so that that's all very important. So that's a good idea I like that maybe we'll talk to the census people about recruiting from senior homes having people that live there work there you know that's a great idea thank you. Oh thank you Marcia. And it's always a pleasure to spend this time with you and we have run out of time but it always goes very fast. Again thank you Robert Eric and good luck with the move and we'll see you next time.