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The Elder Beat Newsletter — June 2026
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Welcome to the First Edition of The Elder Beat Newsletter
Hello neighbors — and welcome.
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If you are reading this, you are among the first members of a community we have been dreaming about building for a while now. The Elder Beat Newsletter exists for one simple reason: because navigating the world of senior services in Happy Valley and Clackamas should not feel like a full-time job — and because no one in our community should have to do it alone.
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In each monthly newsletter you will find a roundup of our most recent blog posts, a spotlight on a local resource worth knowing about, a practical tip for older adults or caregivers, a book review, a little bit of community news from our corner of Clackamas County, and more. We will keep it useful, we will keep it local, and we will keep it human.
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We are so glad you are here. And we mean that sincerely — this newsletter is only as valuable as the community behind it. If something we write helps you, tell a neighbor. If you know of a resource we should cover, or a story worth telling, please reach out. The Elder Beat belongs to all of us.
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Here's to aging well — together.
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Recent Posts on the Blog
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Getting to the Airport: Four Options Worth Knowing Before Your Next Trip
Summer travel season is just around the corner. Whether you are driving yourself, taking a rideshare, hopping on TriMet, or catching a ride with a neighbor, we break down the pros and cons of four popular ways older adults in Happy Valley and Clackamas get to Portland International Airport — in plain, practical language.
→ Read the full guide at theelderbeat.org
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How to Choose an Assisted Living Community: What to Look For, Where to Start
Choosing an assisted living community is one of the most important decisions a family can make — and one of the most overwhelming when you don't know where to begin. This guide walks you through what actually matters when evaluating a community, including a step many families skip entirely: reviewing the Oregon Department of Human Services licensing and inspection reports that are available to the public before you ever schedule a tour.
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We also cover what questions to ask, why visiting more than once matters, and why trusting your instincts on a visit is just as important as reading any report. Contact information for seven assisted living communities and one independent living community located in Happy Valley/Clackamas is also included.
→ Read the full guide at theelderbeat.org
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Local Resource Spotlight
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Transportation Reaching People — A Local Solution for Getting Older Adults Where They Need to Go
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Getting to a medical appointment, a grocery store, or a community program should not be a barrier to living well. For many older adults in Happy Valley and Clackamas, however, transportation is exactly that — a daily obstacle that quietly erodes independence, limits access to care, and contributes to the isolation that affects so many seniors in our community. Transportation Reaching People exists to change that.
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Transportation Reaching People, commonly known as TRP (and pronounced "trip"), is a Clackamas County program dedicated to providing curb-to-curb services for older adults and people with disabilities throughout our community. TRP rides are provided by a combination of volunteer drivers using their own vehicles and county-paid drivers with county vehicles.
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Transportation Reaching People is free and their services are available to older adults throughout Clackamas County. If getting around has become a challenge — or if you are helping a family member navigate transportation options in our area — we encourage you to reach out. This is exactly the kind of locally rooted, community-focused resource that The Elder Beat exists to shine a light on.
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Info Tip of the Month: Oregon 211
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Did You Know Oregon 211 Is Available Around the Clock?
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If you ever find yourself unsure where to turn for help — whether it is transportation, food assistance, housing support, caregiver resources, or something else entirely — Oregon 211 is always a good first call.
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By dialing 2-1-1 (or 866-698-6155) from any phone in Oregon, or visiting 211info.org, you can connect with trained specialists who can connect you with local services that match your specific situation. The service is free, confidential, available twenty-four hours a day, and offered in multiple languages.
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Many older adults and caregivers in our community do not know this resource exists. Now you do — and we hope you will share it with a neighbor who might need it.
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A Brain Health Tip: Word Puzzles
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Experts say word puzzles are good for the brain. They stimulate neuroplasticity by activating multiple brain regions, which helps improve memory, focus, and problem-solving skills. While they may not prevent dementia, clinical studies show they can delay cognitive decline in older adults and improve daily functioning. You'll find free wordle games, along with other puzzles, on wordly.org and the AARP Puzzle Games page.
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Community Corner
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This section is reserved for you — our readers. Each month we will share local events, reader questions, community news, and stories from older adults in Happy Valley and Clackamas.
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We recently received a request for a referral for a CPA. We researched this topic and learned there are two organizations that can be helpful in identifying the right CPA firm for you. The Oregon Society of CPAs has a Find-a-CPA Directory on their website that allows you to search for licensed professionals in your area and the particular service you’re looking for. Then, before hiring someone, you can check their credentials using the Oregon Board of Accountancy Licensee Lookup to ensure their license is active and free of disciplinary actions.
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If you have a question you would like us to answer, a resource you think we should feature, or a story from your own experience with aging in our community that you would be willing to share, please reach out. We would love to hear from you.
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Elder Book Beat
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Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life,
by Louise Aronson, M.D.
Louise Aronson is a geriatrician and professor of medicine at UC San Francisco who has spent her career caring for older adults. Elderhood is her passionate, deeply informed argument that our society has gotten aging profoundly wrong — not just the medicine, but the culture, the language, the assumptions, and the everyday indignities that older adults encounter in doctors' offices, hospitals, and care facilities across America.
Aronson's central argument is straightforward but radical: elderhood — the final third of a long human life — deserves to be recognized as a distinct and valuable stage of life, not treated as a problem to be managed or a decline to be mourned. For older adults, there is likely to be a powerful experience of recognition reading these pages. For caregivers and adult children, it is an eye-opening education in what their loved ones are actually experiencing. For anyone who plans to grow old — which is to say, everyone — it is an invitation to think differently about what the later decades of a life can and should be.
Elderhood is not a light read, but it is never bleak. Aronson's love for her patients and her fierce belief in the value of every human life at every age makes it ultimately hopeful and deeply humane.
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What's coming in June
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This month on The Elder Beat blog we will be diving into two topics we know many of you care about deeply:
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- Aging in Place (June 10)— What does it actually mean, and what resources are available to help you stay safely and comfortably in your own home right here in Happy Valley and Clackamas?
- Getting the Most Out of Medicare (June 20) — Medicare is one of the most important benefits available to older Americans — and one of the most confusing. Our guide will give older adults in Happy Valley and Clackamas a clear, plain-language foundation for making confident Medicare decisions.
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Earlene on the Lighter Side
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Meet Earlene. Because aging well includes laughing well — at life, at the absurdities of getting older, and occasionally at ourselves. We hope she brightens your day.
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Earlene has thirty-seven online accounts.
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Each one requires a password. Each password must be different, must contain a capital letter, a number, a symbol, and apparently a small amount of personal suffering.
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Earlene has a system for remembering them. The system involves a notebook. The notebook is somewhere.
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Her grandson set up something called a password manager, which she used successfully three times before being asked to verify her identity in a way that required her to know her password to find out her password.
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She closed the laptop. She found the notebook. Everything is fine.
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A Closing Note
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Thank you for spending a few minutes with us this month. We know your inbox is full and your time is valuable, and we do not take it lightly that you chose to let The Elder Beat into it.
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This newsletter will only get better as our community grows. Every subscriber who shares it with a neighbor, every reader who sends us a resource to add to our directory, and every person who leaves a comment on the blog makes The Elder Beat more useful for everyone.
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We will see you next month. In the meantime, come visit us at TheElderBeat.org — and please do not hesitate to reach out if there is anything we can do to help.
With warmth from Happy Valley and Clackamas —
— Molly Skeen
Founder, The Elder Beat
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