Purposes: First we wrote out our purposes, which were kept in view at all meetings. They were: 1. Through the media, to bring to public attention the plight of older women in the job market. 2. By so doing, to put pressure on all the agencies responsible for laws against discrimination in employment. 3. To call for public hearings by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on the job problems of older women. 4. To organize older women locally, and to create a model for national action.

Plan: We needed a handle. The women's Bureau had sent us a notice of a forthcoming meeting that would bring together representatives of employers and equal employment agencies. This provided the rationale for a public statement. It was decided to "brief" the press outside the hotel where Executive Enterprises was conducting a "Briefing on Equal Employment Opportunity" inside.

A large turn-out was essential, especially our first effort. JOBS FOR OLDER WOMEN ACTION PROJECT, working with the Task Force, conducted the event. Assistance from staff of the Women's Action Training Center was of tremendous help.

We sent out a mailing to over 400 older women who had contacted Jobs For Older Women since it started Jan. '74, to organizations with older women members, to personal friends and contacts (see flyer)-in other words, to everyone we thought might possibly be interested. We followed up first on the organizations-all the NOW chapters in the Bay Area, local organizations interested in employment, and groups to which our people belonged. All promised (and did) send at least one person. Then the lists of individuals were divided up and everyone was called at least once. Those interested were committed to attend. We turned a transit strike "lemon into lemonade" by utilizing the transpo problem as a reason to call back to arrange rides. A free bus was secured from Synanon to take us across the bay. It was hard work to ensure enough "bodies" but well worth it.

Press: An inclusive press list was prepared. Seven days prior to the event a press release was mailed out. Followup call to the entire list was made 5 days ahead. The most important media were called on the morning of the event, as a reminder.

Two persons were assigned to handle press at the conference-an older woman learning the skill, assisted by an experienced staff person of the Women's Action Training Center. Together they handled sign-ups of press, distribution of press packets, and assistance to media personnel. The press packets (in manila envelopes) contained the press release, fact sheet and a one page statement. The attached "Case of Discrimination Against Older Women" was made available at the end of the action.

Materials: To present our viewpoint for our several purposes we prepared: 1. The one-page statement of the spokesperson. (To ensure press received our message as we collectively agreed to it, we had one spokesperson. All press inquiries were referred to her, or to our two press aides, who made certain this happened.) The statement was a collectively agreed upon brief, non-technical appeal.

2. The "Case of Discrimination Against Older Women" continued in more depth, presenting a rationale for the action taken and laying the basis for future actions. It was geared to participants and to equal employment agencies.

3. The fact sheet was additional factual material for use of press and participants.

Rehearsal: Preparations consisted in large part of thinking out every detail, assigning everyone jobs and regular weekly checkup. Besides spokesperson we assigned a "stage manager," two "people movers" (to get people in proper places), two "cheer leaders" (to ensure applause and spirit), two attendance takers (for followup), a person in charge of transportation, of signs, nametags, etc.

On the last meeting before the action we conducted a full rehearsal. The spokesperson (who had never met the press before) was subjected to a barrage of questions by the rest of us, playing reporters. By the time she was finished she could answer any question (even "what is your name") with a point from our statement ("I'm Milo Smith and I'm here because..."). By this time we had built wonderful group morale and excitement.

The big day (July 29, 1974):

9:30 A.M. Our representatives meet with Executive Enterprises to inform them of our plans. All very friendly.

10:20 A.M. Participants begin to gather in front of Fairmont. Hotel security chief panics at sight of large group of older women. Calls police.

10:30 A.M. Leaders assure police of lawful plans. Police leave. Security chief still nervous about our group walking through lobby. Asks E.E. to send representatives out to meet with us when the press arrives.

10:45 A.M. "Pre-briefing". Leader welcomes group, explains goals and details plans. Everyone sings. Lots of interest by passers-by.

11:00 A.M. TV crew arrives. Also press. Milo Smith gives statement, ending with presentation of "The Case . . ." to Carin Clauss (legal heavy in Labor Dept. on age cases). We all sing again, for the cameras and for ourselves.

11:15 A.M. We are about to break up when another TV crew arrives (Gerald Ford was our competition). The whole show is repeated. Individual interviews of our spokesperson.

11:30 A.M. "Post-briefing". Another group leader thanks everyone for coming, "We've started something here.

12:15 P.M. Back at Synanon, they invite us to lunch.

12:20 P.M. Return to the Women's Action Training Center. A celebration. Press packets are sent to all small papers that didn't attend. Radio stations are called back. "Did you know that 75 older women. . . ." Six make tapes on the spot, carrying our message.

Meanwhile, back at the Fairmont ... one of our group is invited to attend lunch and the afternoon session of the Briefing. She has an opportunity to speak in the question, answer session. Also, Patsy Fulcher (Western regional NOW director), a replacement for one speaker, picks up on our message from the podium.

Follow-up: For the women involved, this was an exciting event. There was pride in an action well performed. Also we saw it as a springboard to put additional pressure on government and industry. Locally we plan to work on good feature coverage on job discrimination against older women. We have already received several requests as a result of the publicity, and now plan to call additional media.

We are sending ourt inquiries ("Would you be interested in a story on. .") to Modern Maturity, Dynamic Maturity, McCalls, MS, Woman's Day etc. This how-to will be made available within NOW and to other interested groups.

We hope that chapters without anything moving on older women will be encouraged to use this as a stimulus. Two such chapters in the Bay area have, as a result of attending the action, begun to move in that direction.

How to use this model: The first reaction may be: "It's too big. We don't have all those people." Not necessarily so. The whole chapter might take this on to help the Older Women's Task Force get off the ground, or supporters in other organizations may be willing to help. It's always easier to get people for a specific project that's exciting than to work for an organization in general. Also it's better to "go for broke" than waste time on endless meetings without accomplishment.

This model need not be copied in toto. Select out whatever parts would be most appropriate to your situation, or devise a variation.

"Handles" for larger cities: a convention, either of employers or agencies (check the Chamber of Commerce); any equal opportunity meeting; presence in town of a name person in the Equal Opportunity field (EEOC, Labor Dept., Civil Rights Commission).

"Handles" for state capitols: adapt the materials and actions to call upon the state agency responsible for age discrimination (if there is one) to tackle the job problems of older women—or for hearings to set one up (if there is not).

"Handles" for smaller communities. If there is one or more large employers, what are they doing about hiring older women? Are the political representatives sensitive to this issue (e.g., would they request Civil Rights Comission hearings)? A mock Civil Rights Comission hearing locally might be an alternative format. Other variations: A "file-in" of complaints on age discrimination. Ferret out two or more cases in which an older woman was turned down for a job and suspects age discrimination (within time limit). Take to Labor Dept.'s Wage and Hour Division. If there is no satisfactory resolution hold a press conference with the persons involved. To locate such cases encourage women to apply for jobs not ordinarily open to older persons which applicants think they could perform. Or conduct an “apply-in" at a place that appears to practice age bias. Where do we go from here? Forward. A good action always opens up new possibilities one hasn't even thought of. That's why all the time, effort and atten. tion to detail pays off. Once your task force has made a name for itself, it will be called by press as a resource, asked to participate in programs, asked to be

part of whatever is happening. The number of active persons who carried out this action were about 12, but they worked hard and generated enough energy to spread to a much wider circle. Help us keep that circle moving wider and wider. Don't agonize organize.

[From the Washington Post, Feb. 18, 1975]

ESTIMATING THE NUMBER OF HUNGRY IN AMERICA
(Marquis Childs)

AS REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY SHOW, IT COULD MEAN THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN HUNGER IN THE LAST WEEK OR 10 DAYS OF THE MONTH AND JUST
ENOUGH TO GET BY

In preparing various drafts of President Ford's response to the overwhelming vote in Congress rejecting his proposed increase in the cost of food stamps, his aides invoked the word sacrifice. In the grave national crisis we must all be ready for some sacrifice.

For those at the bottom of the heap, sacrifice means trying to make a little money last a little longer. It means going hungry at the end of the month when food stamps have run out and the Social Security payment is exhausted.

Just how many people in America are hungry? In a column on the rise in the cost of food stamps I put the figure at 30 million to 40 million. This was challenged by Edward J. Hekman, administrator of the food and nutrition service in the Department of Agriculture. That figure was too high.

Nutrition specialists I have talked with put it conservatively at 10 million to 20 million. That is in itself a shocking figure for a nation that until the onset of the recession was regarded as having the highest standard of living in the world. Estimates are hard to come by. How much of the hunger is actual malnutrition is difficult if not impossible to know. But Hekman's claim, that with the school lunch program, food stamps and other forms of food assistance there is virtually no hunger in America, cannot be substantiated.

The most damning contradition is that there are an estimated 34 million to 39 million families and single persons eligible for food stamps. The number now getting them is 17 million, representing a jump of nearly 2 million in the latter weeks of 1974, much of it resulting from the addition of Puerto Rico.

Thus, only half of those eligible by reason of income, many close to the poverty level, are benefiting from the food stamp plan. And this is true in spite of stern prodding from the Congress to seek out eligible individuals and break some of the constricting red tape that makes qualification difficult.

Speaking of sacrifices, another Ford proposal would cut a small slice off the budgetary deficit at the expense of those at the bottom of the heap, the elderly. In accord with a cost of living increase, Social Security payments will go up in mid-year by 8.7 per cent. The President is asking Congress to make this 5 per cent instead of the 8.7 required by law.

It's hard to translate this into penury or downright poverty and the desperate business of eking out existence on too little, but here's a try. The lowest Social Security payment is $93 a month. the highest $316, the average $186. If the increase required by law goes into effect, it would mean an additional $84 a year for the pensioner on the average allowance.

That seems little enough, but as reports from around the country show, it could mean the difference between hunger in the last week or 10 days of the month and just enough to get by. Twenty million Americans over 65 are on Social Security. Approximately 20 percent have no other income. It must go for rent, food, clothing, transportation, with little or nothing left over.

Day to day reports from around the country tell of the old, the poor, the lonely barely hanging or not hanging on. As prices of just about everything go up it is increasingly hard to stretch that Social Security check.

Social Security is such a mammoth operation that rumors of its troubles are deeply disquieting. To offset those rumors, former HEW administrators in both Republican and Democratic administrations recently voiced their faith in the system. A measure of its scope is seen in the savings that would accrue if Congress should hold the increase to 5 per cent. The figure is $2.6 billion, the difference between the $6 billion for the 8.7 hike and $3.4 billion at the Ford rate.

There is little inclination in Congress to comply with the President's request. Those 20 million old folks have a vote, and, as statistics show, they are more

48-087-75--26

likely to go to the polls than the young. Aside from cynical consideration of politics, that $84 a year and what it could mean in barely making it will be in the minds of many members of Congress.

A LEGEND OF THE QUINEBAUG VALLEY SENIOR CITIZENS CENTER, INC.

The historical aspects of the Quinebaug Valley Senior Citizens Center demonstrates that Northeastern Connecticut was in great need of satisfying the demands of the ten towns senior population.

Over a period of two years the Quinebaug Valley Senior Citizens planning committee, composed of senior representation from each of the ten towns, Senior Citizens Clubs and representatives of concerned agencies including the Windham Area Community Action Program, Quinebaug Valley Health and Welfare Council, Northeastern Connecticut Regional Planning Agency, and representatives of the clergy, worked diligently to establish an all inclusive program for Elderly Citizens of the area so desperately needed as indicated by a tentown wide survey taken of seniors in the area. With the technical guidance of a consultant from the State Department on Aging, it was unanimously voted by the Committee to establish a Regional Senior Citizens Center to be located in the vacant quarters of the Regional Building in Brooklyn which would be supported by a Title III Federal Grant with the town governments providing a share.

A Title III Grant was applied for by WACAP and approved by the State Department on Aging, Jointly the executive director of WACAP and the Senior Citizens Council interviewed and hired the Director in January, 1972.

The quarters of the center were a former old egg hatchery badly in need of cleaning, decorating and renovating. Contacts had to be made with the local trade school, local merchants and businessmen to scrounge donations in order to make the center comfortable for seniors with the barest necessities that would enable us to open the center expeditiously. Many volunteer hours of anxious hard working seniors and local residents accomplished what seemed to be a monumental task.

On February 23, 1972, the center and its new uplifted face had its "Dedication Ceremonies" to which all seniors in the area were invited as well as local town officials and town residents. The response was tremendous. Built into our Center Program from its birth is a meals program providing a hot noon day meal, five days each week. Our meals program, at its start, served 30 meals daily to hungry, lonely, isolated elderly who had long been awaiting the opening of the center. Our area lacks any method of public transportation. When our center opened its doors as our first priority, in order to reach and provide services to many of the elderly and especially, low-income elderly, some form of accessibility to the center must be provided. To accomplish this the Director met with the school boards of the towns. As a result of these meetings a transportation network was developed to bring elderly into the center. This increased the participation of seniors and the meals served per day grew from 85 to 500 meals weekly under our Title III Grant. The center, additionally, provides on-call, portal-toportal transportation service, for medical appointments and any other senior transportation needs. Doctors and visiting nurses contact the center for special patient transportation.

A regularly scheduled program of many different craft and interest classes were planned in conjunction with the seniors and local senior instructors volunteered their services and skills. These programs are re-evaluated every six months and new ones added as voted by seniors. Our Monday evening Square Dance Class has become very popular and presently performs monthly at local convalescent homes. In addition to our Monday thru Friday 9-5 p.m. schedule, our center is open two evenings each week and one Saturday per month. In conjunction with the Nutritionist of the New London Agriculture Extension Center, lectures were scheduled monthly on how to buy and prepare meals, on limited budgets, since Northeastern Connecticut has been a depression area for the past several years.

Demonstrations are also conducted on cooking for one or two together with senior participation in preparing attractive and appetizing dinners for the individual dining alone.

Programs were also developed in all areas affecting seniors such as lawyers, doctors, nurses and professors from the University of Connecticut active in the field of Gerontology.

Regularly scheduled monthly programs in conjunction with a representative from the U.S. Social Security Office keeps our elders informed as to any changes in their benefits increases in Social Security as well as a person to person assistance program as required.

The medical services available are extremely limited on our area and there are no preventive medical clinics. We organized and established with the cooperation of the local visiting nurses and the Northeastern District Department of Health regularly scheduled Hypertension Clinics for our seniors as well as local town residents. Podiatry clinics and a weekly Eye Clinic by an opthalmologist, who has recently settled here. His statistics reveal the appalling need for this type of professionalism. A high percentage of our participants have already been diagnosed and treated immediately as a result of these examinations. We have additionally held flu clinics at our Multi-purpose center over the past two years.

A regularly scheduled network of transportation has been established to provide shopping assistance to needy elderly of the communities. A fully operational Outreach Program that extends throughout the 288 square miles in ten towns has brought to our center 2,000 enrolled members with an average age of 74 years, and many other seniors since membership is not a requirement for participation. Outreach is a constant on-going process through mass media, as speakers at Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs, Fraternal Organizations, Church groups and a Monthly Center Newsletter.

Information and Referral Services are an integral part of the center's operation and continually assists elders in directing them to the proper agency that will answer their needs. In addition the Director and Assistant are actively involved as members on Boards of Directors of other local service agencies. In our second year of Title III operation we applied for and obtained a Federal Emergency Food and Medical Services grant of $18,000. These funds enabled us to renovate and enlarge our kitchen. We had been preparing 100 meals each day on a four burner house stove plus a three burner apartment size stove with a shotgun hole in its side. All kitchen equipment and service places had been donated. With these funds we were able to equip our kitchen with badly needed commercial size pots and pans as well as service appointments. It was now possible for us to apply for a Title VII Grant.

When we first learned of the Title VII Nutrition Program our center seniors petitioned the Governor to include our area in the 20% funding remaining for state non-priority areas, which would then allow us to expand our Meals Program to provide more than one weekly hot-meal to our needy elderly. The Governor visited our center and Title VII funds were allocated to our area. Our program has the lowest grant in the state and provides for a meal quota of 750 additional meals per week. With this Title VII Grant we opened four satellite sites, three sites serving meals three days a week and on remaining days transportaton is provided to the center for meals and programs. One site serving meals one day a week with transportation provided to other sites and center on remaining days. All meals are prepared at the center and transported to the sites. Additionally along with the center's meal program, all services required under Title VII regulations are provided at the center by the Title III Grant. Our home delivery service was sorely needed by the homebound elderly. An application was submitted and approved by the Department on Aging for a MealsOn-Wheels Grant. The funding level allotted allowed for a total of 40 meal-pack deliveries daily, but the need is so immediate and urgent we are presently preparing and delivering daily to seventy homebound elders covering an area of 288 square miles daily. Seniors in need of this asistance are referred to us by the visiting nurses and/or doctors in our area. We presently are providing