In February, Business Development Advisor Dalene Skates of Home Instead was invited to attend the Kearney Aging Coalition meeting, which was for professionals in agencies that serve the elderly community in Kearney.

Skates came away from the meeting feeling North Platte could benefit from a similar collaboration. She began reaching out to the entities and agencies in North Platte and discovered an overwhelmingly positive response to the idea.

Knowing it takes a village, Jennifer Caudillo with Care Tech jumped in to help pull it together.

Every family will experience the realities of aging. The North Platte Aging Coalition was created to bring together local organizations, professionals and community members who want to improve how our community supports older adults and caregivers, Skates said.

“Working together, we can share resources, identify gaps in services and strengthen partnerships in our community,” she said.

The first meeting was held on Tuesday, March 24 at the First United Methodist Church with a diverse group of participants and good exchanges and conversations. Several attendees stayed after the meeting to keep the networking going, Skates said.

The coalition’s first speaker was Judy Pederson, the owner of ProPrinting and Graphics, who came to share her resource guide and the story behind it.

Going forward, a variety of speakers will attend to help tell the story of the work being done in this area for this clientele and share the resources available. For more information on the North Platte Aging Coalition, see the Facebook page at The North Platte Aging Coalition or email northplatteagingcoaliton@gmail.com

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