Willingness To Preserve Trusted Senior Programs Link People Together
Wow – September is upon us! Where does the time go? Speaking of time, I cannot believe that my three years as the Chairman of TSCL is drawing to a close this month; it has been an experience I will never forget. Therefore, I would like to take a quick look at where we have been and where are we going.
The economic decline has affected everyone over the past few years. But just like all of you, we have tightened our belts, hunkered down, and at the end of the day balanced our budgets to ensure that we champion causes that you, the membership, desire. Unlike the government which sometimes takes a shotgun approach to budget balancing without an in-depth hard look at who or what may be affected, we took a more targeted approach, same as you would. We looked at the mainstays, what could be eliminated, what could be reduced and what could be changed, without degrading services to our membership.
To that end, our talented staff and your volunteer board have worked beyond measure to ensure continued success. During the past year a business committee was formed to take a look at improvements we can make to ensure future growth and viability, resulting in various ideas coming forth.
A key idea is the development of local TSCL chapters. We believe that there is camaraderie among those with like ideas and visions for the future. Willingness and desire to preserve trusted and long-standing senior programs and entitlements link people together. Although in an exploratory and developmental stage, once fielded, the grassroots efforts should allow for more direct involvement of members. If you have ideas of what you envision a chapter could do, or if you would like to be involved with the building of a local chapter, please let us know.
No one has a crystal ball to look into the future, but we are aware, both from day-to-day news as well as your response to surveys and individual contacts, that there is a lot of concern about the deficit reduction ideas being floated in Washington. Whether it is a potential change to Social Security, Medicare or any other issue that can affect seniors directly or indirectly, we share those concerns. As one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups, TSCL will continue to be a proactive advocate for seniors and senior-related issues. As always, please continue to take part in our surveys, keep abreast of the issues, and let us know your thoughts.
Sincerely,
Larry Hyland
TSCL Chairman
