Each year the Division of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS) presents awards to recognize individuals, organizations and programs that exhibit outstanding work with North Carolina’s aging population, with issues related to aging and with the aging community around the state.
Collectively these groups touch the lives of many older adults and their families in the state. Their emphasis on healthy aging and volunteerism is especially significant for today’s seniors and in helping North Carolina prepare for the aging of our large baby boomer population.
The awards are named for three pioneers in the aging field in North Carolina:
The Messer Award recognizes a community that has excelled in addressing the needs of its older citizens. There are two winners for 2009: The Shepherd’s Center of Greater Winston-Salem and the Orange County Department on Aging.
The Shepherd’s Center of Greater Winston-Salem is a tremendous example of a vast community of volunteers dedicated to serving older persons. In 2008 475 volunteers provided 25,000+ hours of support to more than 2,500 older adults.
In 1980, Orange County established the state’s first local public department on aging. Since then, the Orange County Department on Aging has focused on meeting the needs of older adults through the use of creative programming, a team of interdisciplinary professionals and a director and staff who have championed a person-centered, holistic approach to care.
The Maddox Award recognizes an individual or organization that has excelled in creative programming for older adults.
The 2009 Maddox Award winner is AARP North Carolina. AARP exemplifies an organization that has excelled in developing and implementing creative programs for older adults since its opening as an AARP State Office in 1995. As the face of the older adult continues to change, AARP has adapted and grown along with those changes to continue addressing the needs and interests of our aging population.
The Busse Award recognizes an individual or organization that has had a significant impact on enhancing the health status of older North Carolinians through efforts to direct health-related policies and provide leadership in developing innovative solutions to health care problems.
The 2009 Busse Award recipient is Resources for Seniors, for its focus on innovative, creative and effective physical activity programming for older adults in Wake County.
For more information about the division or issues related to aging in North Carolina, go to www.ncdhhs.gov/aging/index.htm.