- See You at the Summit!
- Free Webinar: Optimal Brain Aging
- New Fund to Serve Veterans
- Falls Coalition at National Conference
- Mission Moment
- Save the Dates
- Gifts You Don't Have to Open
See You at the Summit!
The Summit will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Austin Public Library–Central Special Event Center, 710 W. Cesar Chavez St. It will focus on financial exploitation awareness, prevention, and action, bringing together professionals and advocates in legal, financial, Adult Protective Services, healthcare, and aging services.
Sessions will cover:
- Legislative priorities affecting older Texans
- Strategies to prevent financial exploitation and fraud
- Legal responses to elder abuse and exploitation
- Cross-sector collaboration and systems coordination
- Interactive case studies and intervention approaches
One session will focus on AI-driven fraud schemes, online financial scams, phishing operations, and increasingly sophisticated cyber-enabled crimes.
Complete Summit program information is available online. Sylvia Cardona, a partner at RPSA Law and Chair of the Texas Bar Foundation Board of Trustees, will give the Summit opening welcome. Additional support is being provided by the WellMed Charitable Foundation.
Organizations interested in sponsorship packages, exhibit booth space, and event program advertising can sign up online or email lstanley@guardianshipservices.org to learn more about sponsorship opportunities. Volunteers are needed for table set-up, decor, signage, registration, refreshments, exhibit area, speaker concierge, evaluation monitoring, and table hosting — email the same address to get involved.
The Texas Elder Justice Coalition is a multidisciplinary network working to end the financial exploitation of older adults in Texas through professional education, advocacy, and collaboration. It is co-led by Guardianship Services, Inc. and Texas Healthy at Home.
Free webinar for caregivers of people with dementia. Includes 1 free CE credit for nurse care managers, social workers, and licensed professional counselors, and a certificate of attendance.
Discover the latest science behind maintaining a healthy brain as you age. Explore practical strategies, emerging research, and lifestyle factors that support cognitive well-being and gain valuable tools and knowledge to promote lifelong brain health for yourself and those you care for.
New Fund to Serve Veterans
Texas Healthy at Home is accepting donations to support the development of resources to better connect veterans and their families to the care and support they need to age safely and independently at home. A dedicated "Veterans at Home" fund has been established in honor and memory of Lt. Laszlo Bartha, the husband of THAH CEO Christina Bartha. Lt. Bartha passed away peacefully on April 20. He served his country with distinction in the United States Navy and Marine Corps.
Donations to the new Veterans at Home fund can be made here.
After graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, Lt. Bartha entered the Marine Corps and completed flight school in Pensacola, Florida, at the top of his class. When the Navy required additional pilots, he transferred and earned the only available slot to fly the F-18 Hornet — because he was number one in his class.
Following his military career, Lt. Bartha worked for 12 years as a flight engineer and pilot for Trans World Airlines (TWA). When American Airlines acquired TWA in 2001, he continued flying for American before a furlough led him briefly to Trans Meridian Airlines. In 2006, Lt. Bartha found a new home at FlightSafety International, where he spent the last 20 years of his career as an instructor and Training Center Evaluator.
After Lt. Bartha's passing, his family learned he had been selected to receive the FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award — the most prestigious recognition the Federal Aviation Administration bestows upon pilots.
Falls Coalition Featured at National Conference
Hilton Gilbert, THAH Strategic Grants Coordinator and Texas Takes on Falls (TTOF) Coalition Coordinator, recently presented the story of TTOF's evolution at the National Council on Aging (NCOA) national conference in Arlington, Virginia. The presentation traced the arc of our technology-enabled statewide falls prevention coalition from its 2007 founding as an all-volunteer coalition with no dedicated funding.
After early coalition wins such as Humana's corporate sponsorship and the A Matter of Balance program rollout, support from the NCOA enabled TTOF to strengthen its infrastructure, reach, and statewide impact.
Hilton shared how TTOF is using cross-sector partnerships and advanced technology to expand statewide awareness, increase access to evidence-based fall-prevention programs, and build replicable regional collaboratives that localize fall-prevention strategies.
Conference attendees received practical strategies for developing multimedia awareness campaigns and coordinating partners across public health, healthcare, aging services, and first responders.
"I had no idea the first responder sector could move efforts along. Now I am wondering how to get all our organizations aligned around a collective mission."
The presentation's core message was that the TTOF model can be replicated by mapping sector champions, aligning on shared priorities, naming regional anchors, and tracking one metric that demonstrates impact.
"They left not just with a replicable model, but with the confidence that sustainable coalitions are built the same way TTOF built ours: one relationship, one region, and one stubborn refusal to stop at a time."
"I helped a member waive a late mortgage fee by navigating a strict company's 'verbiage' policy. The member had been denied previously, but by calling together and using the specific phrasing required by the representative, we successfully secured the waiver.
"I'm so glad the member was willing to try again and that we were able to turn a frustration into a win. This member also just got a job and is feeling very positive about the weeks to come."
Save the Dates
Gifts You Don't Have to Open
Some of the most valuable gifts you receive from others don't come in a box. We're not talking about talents you inherit or that are carefully taught to you. We mean attitudes or practices you see in others that you appreciate and admire. The Texas Healthy at Home family recently shared some of their most treasured gifts:
"My mother-in-law gave me the gift of looking on the bright side." She lived with us for 11 years, until she died the day before her 100th birthday. Though her hearing and vision were very poor, I don't remember a single day when she seemed depressed or irritable.
"My grandfather gave me the gift of self-advocating." Since I was a kid he taught me to voice how I feel. While I was shy growing up, I have found my voice thanks to his influence.
"A former boss gave me the gift of casual compliments." "I like that tie!" she would say with a smile. Without any hidden agenda, she purposefully and consistently looked for ways to make you feel good.
"My father gave me the gift of empathy, especially for people who struggle with addiction." He also taught me not to label people as an addict. You are not your problems. You are just struggling or addicted. He is the reason I try my best to see people for who they are and not their hardships.
"My aunt gave me the gift of conviction." I have a photo of her at the Chicago Democratic National Convention. She's always been the "cool" aunt who lived life fully. She holds strong in her beliefs, and I admire this most about her.
"My mom showed me what true faith looks like." For the first five years of my life, she raised me as a single parent. Every morning, she would get all my things ready and drop me off at my aunt's house around 5:00 AM so she could go to work. I vividly remember her praying every single morning before leaving. She didn't know I was awake; I used to pretend to be asleep just so she would carry me to the car. It's a pillar on where my faith comes from.
What attitude or practice have you observed in someone else that you have appreciated and admired? Who shared that gift with you? Is there a gift you have shown to others?
Let us know at d.wagoner@texashealthyathome.org and we'll share it in a future newsletter. (Let us know if you want to remain anonymous.)