Voices that Inspire

What inspires you from WFSU Public Media? Here's this week's Voices That Inspire. Josie Fliger, CEO, President, Elder Care Services. Elder Care Services is what I like to call a legacy nonprofit. We've been around for over 50 years. I feel that it's my job to be a good steward of this agency for the time that I'm the CEO. We work to help keep people living in their homes. There's so many studies that are done that show that people that stay in their homes when they're of an older age, they are happier. They report less health problems. They live longer. But oftentimes it's the only option for people also. A lot of the assisted living facilities are out of reach for people financially. And so all of our services go back to helping keep people in their homes, but also reducing social isolation. A passion of mine is to really try to change the narrative about becoming older. I'm a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 40. I am acutely aware of what a privilege it is to continue to live and become an older adult. It really solidified in my mind that aging services and helping older adults is a social justice issue. Because a lot of the stereotypes we hold about older people are directly from things that your body naturally does when we get older. I love my mom so much. She got me into public radio and she has told me since I've been a young woman, your body is going to change a million times before you're done with it embrace all of those changes. I have a heart for service and serving my community. And I really just feel that I've been very lucky to have mentors throughout my life that have shown me that that's the right thing to do. I just feel like if we're not here to make the world a better place what's our purpose. Josie Fligger, CEO and president of Elder Care Services, getting older is a privilege. You're listening to voices that inspire.