AARP Oregon Review

The AARP Oregon Review is a round-up of updates and information from the State Director, staff, and volunteer leadership.

January 2025: New Year Message from Bandana Shrestha, State Director

MEMBERS ONLY

As we turn the final page on 2024, I am filled with a deep sense of gratitude and pride in our accomplishments. As wise friends and fierce defenders of people 50+ and their families, AARP Oregon staff and volunteers worked alongside leaders and community partners across the state who share our goals of strengthening financial security, fighting fraud, protecting consumers, supporting family caregivers, and building great places for people of all ages to live well throughout the state. Our collective efforts have enriched the lives of not only our 500,000 members but also contributed to making life better for all Oregonians as they age today and in the future.

Here are some highlights from 2024:

• Twelve organizations throughout Oregon received grants for community projects through the 2024 Community Challenge and AARP Oregon Age-Friendly Grants programs – part of AARP's largest investment in communities to date. These grants funded innovative projects that inspire change in housing, transportation, public spaces, digital equity, disaster preparedness, and more.  
• This year we launched the inaugural Livable Communities Leadership Academy in Eugene and Springfield, graduating a cohort of 20 passionate advocates. Over eight sessions with AARP Livable Communities Technical Advisors Program speakers and local experts, participants gained practical skills and knowledge on key livability topics. After graduation, the group united to champion Eugene’s designation as an age-friendly city.  
• In June and July, we presented Navigating the Caregiving Journey, three in-person community education forums in Eugene, Medford, and Portland focused on providing family caregivers with support and resources. The events featured presentations by our volunteer caregiving experts Ruth Cohen and Dr. Vicki Schmall, the Alzheimer’s Association, and local Area Agencies on Aging partners.  
• AARP Oregon won important victories in the Oregon legislature this year for people 50+ and their families. Thank you to the members and volunteers who contacted elected officials and to the legislators who championed our issues. Our victories included stopping predatory real estate practices that bind homeowners and heirs and complicate their ability to refinance or transfer property; supporting rent and eviction protection and expansion of housing production, including low-income housing; updating Oregon’s debt collection law to protect wages and bank accounts; and reducing the monthly out-of-pocket cost of insulin to Oregonians from $75 to $35.  
• We built momentum for introducing our Workplace Age Discrimination legislation in the 2025 session with a robust campaign that included educating our members and the public and embedding the issue into our voter engagement efforts. Our grassroots and multi-channel communications strategy featured mobilization of our e-activists to drive online petitions, outreach at community events, radio and television placements throughout the state, and videos featuring volunteers Geneva Craig and Miki Herman. We closed out the year with a strong showing at the State Capitol for Lobby Day with 40 volunteers and staff attending an informational hearing on the issue and garnering support among our elected officials. We were seen and heard! By the deadline, we pre-session filed our bill with 39 sponsors.  
• Our Voter Engagement campaign reached hundreds of thousands of Oregonians through interactive community activities, advocacy emails, direct mail, telephone town halls, and media partnerships throughout the state. We elevated protecting Social Security, supporting family caregivers, and the power of the 50+ voter throughout the state and in our outreach and meetings with congressional candidates. In Eugene and Portland, we engaged members around pivotal Mayoral and City Council races and highlighted Portland’s new rank-choice voting.  
• This year, over 45,000 people engaged in more than 140 virtual and in-person AARP events across the state on topics ranging from caregiving and financial security to livable communities, fraud, and health and wellness. The majority of these events were volunteer-led, included collaboration with community partners, and provided participants with relevant tools and information as well as opportunities to build community.  
• Our Volunteer Leadership Summit in Portland this August, as well as our Spring and Fall leadership convenings, brought together dedicated volunteer leaders to learn, connect, and build power to advance our mission. We heard from our national team members, partners, and decision-makers at these events and we celebrated the invaluable contributions of volunteers to our organization and to the larger Oregon community. This year, we also honored Liz James with the 2024 AARP Oregon Andrus Award for Community Service for her invaluable work on behalf of older Oregonians.  
• Our Executive Council, led by Volunteer State President Michael Schultz, and a cadre of 180 state volunteers, have worked hand in hand with staff. Volunteers served on local and state boards and committees, organized events, engaged and educated members and the public, and advocated on behalf of 50+ Oregonians and their families. In addition, the contributions and impact of AARP Safe Driver Program, AARP N/NE Portland Chapter, AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, Oregon Retired Educators Association, and AARP Experience Corps Program hosted by Metropolitan Family Services to Oregon communities have been invaluable to our state.  

The progress we have made this year was made possible through the power of collaboration and a shared vision. As we welcome 2025, we remain steadfast in our mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age. Thank you for being an integral part of our mission and for your partnership and unwavering commitment to making aging better in Oregon.

Happy new year 2025!