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Vol 43 • No. 10
Hard core
www.theactiveage.com Kansas’ Largest Newspaper
September 2022
Budget slap at seniors, says advocate
Regular cadre of Habitat for Humanity volunteers rebuilds neighborhood backbone or heart of our organization,” said Christine Moser, volunteer coordinator for Wichita Habitat for Humanity, part of an international nonprofit active in 70 countries. “We couldn’t do it without them. There are about 25 actives cores, predominantly gentlemen, predominantly retired. Habitat for Humanity volunteer Stan Chase cuts We have some ladies, walls for on a new home on Estelle Street. too.” Habitat is Those participants contribute 250 different than many nonprofit to 400 volunteer hours to qualify for housing efforts in that it leads to a home; that time constitutes their home ownership, not just housing, down payment. They then pay it off for beneficiaries of the program. See Cores, page 6
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By Joe Stumpe On a sweltering August day when the sensible thing to do would seem to be staying near an air conditioner, a half-dozen retirees are outside climbing ladders, pounding nails and sawing boards in a central Wichita neighborhood. Heat gone to their heads? No, more like hard-headed, soft-hearted Habitat for Humanity volunteers determined to get another home built for a Wichita family who needs one. “This will get me ready for hiking,” one of them, Donna Bates, joked as she climbed a ladder to paint a wall. “I start out a large (shirt size) and lose a size during the day,” another, Lyle Koehn, said. The organization refers to Bates, Koehn and the others as “cores." “They’re really kind of the
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Val Brown, Jr., left, followed his father, Val Brown, Sr., center, and grandfather, G.G. Brown, into the medical profession.
Family's three generations of physicians honored
By Joe Stumpe Dr. G.G. Brown moved his medical practice to Wichita in 1908 to serve the city’s black community. Although the days of segregated medicine are long gone, the need for
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black physicians such as Dr. Brown has never been more acute than it is now. “We really need to figure out how to get more minority doctors to train and stay here,” said Dr. Val Brown, Jr.,
Central Plains Area Agency on Aging/Sedgwick County Department on Aging: 1-855-200-2372
The Active Age Sedgwick County Commissioners are being “disrespectful” to older residents through their handling of the Department on Aging budget, a member of the county’s Advisory Council on Aging and Disabilities told them. A commissioner, meanwhile, reported that one of five senior centers in Wichita is badly in need of maintenance. The comments came during the commissioners' Aug. 6 hearing on the proposed 2023 county budget. Jim Burgess of Derby said commissioners are not following the spirit of the 1982 vote by county residents that established a property tax of up to 1 mill for aging-related services. Commissioners have See Budget, page 8
the grandson of G.G. Brown and third generation of his family to practice medicine here. “The numbers are just awful. They haven’t improved at all in decades. It’s kind of deplorable.” The Sedgwick County Medical Society has launched a black physician recruitment effort to recruit and retain more black medical students and residents in Wichita, with the hope that many will remain here to practice. In June, the medical society announced that the recruitment effort would be named the Brown Family Fund for Black Physician Recruitment. That move came shortly after the death of Dr. Val Brown, Sr., the son of G.G. Brown. “We’re excited about that,” Val Brown, Jr. said. “It wasn’t anything we pursued. Of course, we were truly honored.” See Browns, page 7
Butler County: (316) 775-0500 or 1-800-279-3655 Harvey County: (316) 284-6880 or 1-800-279-3655