More Than A “Membership Card”: How AARP Empowers Caregivers, Strengthens Communities, and Supports Healthy Aging

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Dan Drews: Hello everyone and welcome back to Aging In Place, the Greater Naperville Areas Family Guide. Our goal is to help the sandwich generation, which is middle-aged adults, typically in their forties to sixties, who are squeezed by the responsibility of simultaneously supporting aging parents.

Dan Drews: While raising their own kids. We wanna help their parents age as gracefully as possible and reduce stress through education and community connection. It takes a village folks, and there are a lot of great resources and ideas that we try to uncover through expert guests that know the local area very, very well.

Dan Drews: I am your host, Dan Drews, and with me is my co-host and sponsor, Mr. Brennan Roberts, the owner of Seniors Helping Seniors. For the Greater Naperville area, and we wanna thank one of our other supporters, the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce, who is a great advocate for all businesses that [00:01:00] support seniors in the Naperville area.

Dan Drews: Brennan, so good to see you again. How’s everything at seniors helping seniors? 

Brennen Roberts: Uh, well it’s great. We just got back from the, a great expo that was, uh, sponsored by Triad, which is a great organization of, uh, public and private partnerships. Pulling together senior resources. So we had a great crowd coming through last night today, kind of checking us out, some great conversations, seeing all the great resources.

Brennen Roberts: So, you know, as you know, you know, we just provide a portion of the help that, uh, seniors need. You know, we really focus in on helping them stay at home as long as they can and helping ’em great age with the grace and dignity they deserve. And, you know, we provide non-medical services such as companionship.

Brennen Roberts: Personal care help around the house, and we do it through this very unique intergenerational model where we look for very active, caring, mature seniors. So for us, when we go to an expo like that, I wanna talk to people and I’m like. [00:02:00] Are you looking for care or do you want a job We can talk to? Either one of ’em can 

Dan Drews: help with both.

Brennen Roberts: Yeah. Yeah. But it was great. You know, as you know, one of the things we wanna do is help connect our families and clients with the right resources in there. So there’s a ton of great people there, but, but when you talk about resources for seniors, we have. The right person here today to talk. 

Dan Drews: Brennan, you nailed it right on the head.

Dan Drews: Folks, we have got a fantastic show for you today. I’m super excited to tell you we’re gonna be focusing on one of the premier and leading organizations in the entire United States for retired people, the AARP, and to help us with that, we are joined today by an absolute expert on AARP, the Associate State Director for advocacy and outreach for AARP.

Dan Drews: Courtney Hederman. Courtney, thank you so much for joining us. She has been a leader in the AARP organization for over 20 years and has a wealth of knowledge about the organization and the way it helps its members, and [00:03:00] she is set to share it all with us today. Thank you so much for joining us. 

Courtney Hedderman: Thank you.

Courtney Hedderman: Thank you for very much for having me. I appreciate it. I’m very, very, uh, excited about our conversation 

Dan Drews: and, and a, and a card carrying member of the sandwich generation too, right? 

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah, I am indeed. I am. You know what? I started my career at AARP and I was not a member technically, age wise. I am now in my early fifties.

Courtney Hedderman: I am raising kids. I’ve got aging parents. And I am literally smack dab in the middle, so I know exactly where everybody else might be feeling too. Well, I, this is great. We’re talking about all 

Dan Drews: this. I think that’s a fantastic story too, because from your tenure through AARP, like over those 20 plus years, yeah.

Dan Drews: You’ve probably transitioned from viewing AARP from, you know, someone in their younger years to now someone who really. Sees it as an advocating program for your parents, yourself, other people you know too. Courtney, as we’re preparing for today’s discussion, Brennen and I were learning a [00:04:00] lot of surprising facts about the AARP and kind of its origin story. Why don’t you start us with that, like a big picture view of AARP? 

Courtney Hedderman: Sure, absolutely. So our, uh, we have an incredible story. So our founder, her name was Dr.

Courtney Hedderman: Ethel Percy Andres, um, she grew up in California. And came to Chicago, um, for school and she was involved with the whole house, which has an incredible story in itself. Became an educator and then she essentially had to move back to California to care for her aging parents. So, became a caregiver, was an incredible part of her professional life, is she became the first ever woman principal in the state of California.

Courtney Hedderman: Wow. So I think that’s pretty cool for her professional life. And then what happened? She retired, um, and she ended up running into a colleague or a former colleague who had a traumatic health, the catastrophic health event, and ultimately had depleted all of her assets and the nest egg she [00:05:00] had built and, and became destitute and was living in the back of a property in a chicken coop.

Courtney Hedderman: And Dr. Andres was so overwhelmed. By that she created, um, the National Retired Teachers Association and the sole premise to get retired educators healthcare insurance. And so the amazing part of this story too, mm-hmm. Is that in two years she was successful and then she started hearing from people across the country saying, wow, this is amazing that you did that for retired educators.

Courtney Hedderman: I’m a retiree too, but I’m not a teacher. I wasn’t a teacher, but I need health insurance as well. And so she took all of that, created AARP at her kitchen table at the age of 72, and then now here we are. We’re closing in on 70 years of existence, and we are way more than a one person at a kitchen table.

Courtney Hedderman: Now we’re in all 50 states. Um, three [00:06:00] territories. We have these, you know, incredible nationwide organization now doing a whole bunch of stuff. Incredible. 

Dan Drews: An amazing story. 

Brennen Roberts: Incredible. I mean, there’s so much to love about that. I was like, one of the things, like the fact that, you know, she’s 72 years old is not too late to change, make an impact, do something.

Brennen Roberts: I mean, look at the legacy that she has built and not starting too late. A lot of people, you know, we talk to. You are thinking about career and change and what do I do and stuff. And I would just say, you know, it’s, it’s not too late. 

Courtney Hedderman: You know, never too late. Absolutely not, never too late. And she is definitely an example of that.

Courtney Hedderman: And, and she really had an incredible mi like our mission is to serve, not to be served. And I think. Coming from that perspective she had from the beginning to where we even are now, is really an incredible legacy to have as an organization. 

Dan Drews: Now let’s talk a little bit, tie that into your origin story, like how you became to work for the AARP and now you’ve been with them now for 20 plus years.

Dan Drews: Yeah. Was [00:07:00] that story, was that mission part of your. Desire to join the organization. 

Courtney Hedderman: You know, I, from such a young age, I have always wanted to help people feel that I helped someone. And in fact, I remember being in high school and my, oh my goodness, my English teacher, I was out doing like the tag days.

Courtney Hedderman: For the Knights of Columbus. Mm-hmm. You know, like going up to the cars and you’re giving out, and he was just like, you are going to do something in your life. You’re gonna serve people, you know you’re going to help people. Mm-hmm. You’ve had that kind of mission or that energy. From very, very young. And, and so I, I have had, I feel like, an illustrious career in the sense of, you know, really having that mission be something that’s important to me.

Courtney Hedderman: I wanna be involved in, in helping people in the end and feel, you know, I might not do that every day, but I try Yeah. To, to really help as much as I possibly can. So, yeah. From. You know, I’ve been in advocacy for a [00:08:00] long time, community programming for a long time, and AARP was a really good fit, really from the beginning.

Courtney Hedderman: And now, I mean, I kind of thought, oh, maybe I’ll just be a few years. Mm-hmm. And then I’m moving on to something else as a lot of people do, and that’s okay. And then I just realized, no, wow, this is a really great fit for me. Yeah. Not only personally, but obviously professionally too. 

Dan Drews: Flash forward two decades later.

Courtney Hedderman: Yes. And yeah. Yeah. And I’ve had major life events, marriage kids. Yeah. And now I am, you know, again, I’m, I’m representing myself. Yeah. Which is a very different feeling from when I first started. I, I’m helping people. I’m, I am, you know, helping to connect them to services and supports, but now I have a different frame.

Courtney Hedderman: Mm-hmm. Which is. Yes, I’m doing those things, but I’m also thinking and have to think and should think about myself and what I would need as a person who’s, yes. Thinking about my kids and getting ready for college or, you know, raising teenagers. Yeah. And then also helping my own parent and making sure that her end of life and her fourth [00:09:00] quarter or whatever.

Courtney Hedderman: Mm-hmm. Is, is giving her the supports and services that she needs, and where do I fit into that and how, how do I help myself and not only for the situation I’m in right now. Yeah. But then in my future. 

Dan Drews: Let’s talk, let’s talk about that for a little bit too. Like the, the perspective that you being involved in this organization has had as you kind of reflect on your parents, right?

Dan Drews: Because as we said, you’re right in the sandwich generation with us right now. You got the kids, you got the parents that are aging too. Uh, how has your job or your work with the AARP kind of reflected on the way you kind of prepare your parents and or kind of view the, uh, uh, the resources maybe for AARP for your parents?

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. You know, I th well, first of all, I mean, uh, luckily, AARP is a, a large organization. We have a lot of services and supports, and I think that I, I tried to help having conversation with my own parents. Mm-hmm. I, you know, I like my husband and I just actually put our own affairs [00:10:00] in order. Mm-hmm. And there were certain things that I had to think about, we had, we had to think about.

Courtney Hedderman: And then I realized, wow, there’s some things that I don’t even know that my mom would want or need or think about or what, what kind of, you know, thoughts is she having around some of these things. Mm-hmm. And we hadn’t had that kind of conversation. I think for me is like, oh wow. We’re, I’m in a caregiver situation.

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. Although she’s very independent. Mm-hmm. She’s doing great. There’s still, I realize like that is only gonna, the need for me to be more involved is gonna be more and more sooner. Yeah. Um, and what, what kind of conversations do I need to have more upfront? Um, and I think that is, I’ve taken that a lot.

Courtney Hedderman: We do a lot around caregiving. And I think when I think about caregiving. Some people don’t ever think of themselves as a caregiver. They’re, it’s my parents raising their kid, that’s my mom. Mm-hmm. Of course I’m gonna help my mom. And then you are like, no, you are doing a lot. Um, you are [00:11:00] gonna, I’m gonna help my mom to the doctor, or I’m gonna.

Courtney Hedderman: You know, gosh, do I need to go and run and pick up her prescription? Or you know, why don’t you come over for a meal? ’cause you haven’t, you know, been over for a little while. Or are you feeling a little isolated? She lives alone. So I am thinking about her social connections and making sure she’s not just going to my kids’ game.

Courtney Hedderman: Mm-hmm. But she’s really connecting not only with us as a family, but then what other connections does she need to make with her own peers. And her own, you know, her own folks. So then she feels connected in this much, much larger way than just like with her family. Yeah. That’s important. But there’s other stuff, right?

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. Very great. 

Brennen Roberts: You know, we, we talked about this, uh, just in a previous episode with, uh, Keith Kiker Chen. Mm-hmm. We talked a lot about, he’s same as us, kind of the same boat. And, uh, we had talked about this idea of the 40 70 rule. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of that. Yes. It’s a framework, right? So it’s like you should.

Brennen Roberts: When you’re 40 and or your parents are 70, like [00:12:00] you need to start the conversation, but it’s, you know, you can’t just jump in and be like, where’s all your assets? How much money you got, kind of thing. Right. So we really, he, he talked about this framework which we really like is called the path to transparency.

Brennen Roberts: I know AARP’s got some great resources for it too, but like, how do you have those conversations where it doesn’t feel like intrusive and you kind of like. And you start ’em earlier and a little gently like, Hey, I just, we just did our estate. Did you guys do it? Yeah. And we’ve seen stats on, uh, you know, the, we saw like the, what was it, the 2025 Trusted will report, and it was like, what percentage of.

Brennen Roberts: People know where their parents’ estate documents are and it was like dismal, 40% or something like that. So like even something as simple like, I don’t need to know, but where am I look, where am I finding or who am I talking to? Right. In a bad event kinda thing. 

Courtney Hedderman: And I think too, it’s really important for older adults to have to be open to.

Courtney Hedderman: Mm-hmm. So outside of us. Kids, I’ll say, I’m still a kid, right? Mm-hmm. [00:13:00] Um, I, I need to be having those conversations with my parent, right? Um, but also she has to be open. To, wow, I need to give up some of this information. I don’t want to be not prepared, I wanna be prepared. I want my kid to feel prepared, um, in any decision making throughout the entire process.

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. Um, we have like an incredible program called Prepare to Care, and there’s like five steps around, and one of the, like the very first step is about having difficult conversations. Mm-hmm. And the difficult conversation might not just start with like, I need to take your keys. Right. Because that’s a really big one, right?

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. Right. It could be just, Hey, I got my affairs in order. I got my will, I got my advanced directives. Do you, do you have that? Yeah. Have you done that? Mm-hmm. It could be very simple and subtle as that. Um, so then we were actually, I was just at a decluttering, if you can believe this. Mm-hmm. A, a program around decluttering and, and, and really downsizing to a, to an extent.

Courtney Hedderman: But we had this great conversation about. [00:14:00] You know, you have, people have a lot of stuff. Um, we all have a lot of stuff. Mm-hmm. And, you know, maybe you need to give your stuff before you actually pass. Why are you leaving it in a will? Why don’t you give your stuff beforehand? Right. So then you can maybe even like, say with jewelry, for example.

Courtney Hedderman: Mm-hmm. Then the person could wear it. You could see them enjoying it. Maybe it’s your card collection or your coin collection, but you see somebody actually enjoying your stuff. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And then you also have the wrap Well realization too that. They might not want your stuff. Yeah. It’s more stuff. It doesn’t mean anything to them.

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. That’s hard. 

Brennen Roberts: But yeah, which is maybe why people don’t wanna give it away. 

Courtney Hedderman: It’s like, that could be true. 

Brennen Roberts: It means so much to me. Are you gonna appreciate this flowery China set that I’ve got? Right. 

Courtney Hedderman: Hundred percent. Hundred percent. So, but you gotta put, you know, things in perspective. 

Dan Drews: Well, I like what you were saying there too about some of the resources of AARP and if we could, let’s go through some of the different areas that AARP can help folks because.

Dan Drews: At, at the first time I joined AARP mm-hmm. As a card caring [00:15:00] member now myself. 

Courtney Hedderman: Thank you for being a member. 

Dan Drews: Thank you. And, uh, but I, I had a very narrow vision of what they did. Mm-hmm. And boy, you, you really cover a wide gambit of topics mm-hmm. For the senior community. 

Courtney Hedderman: Sure. So, I kind of like to say we’re kind of in four buckets, so.

Courtney Hedderman: You know, our, we have a national board, we have priorities that we set as an organization, and it’s really based on the information we get from our membership. Like what, mm-hmm. What does our membership want us to work on, on their behalf. 

Dan Drews: Yeah. Even in politics, 

Courtney Hedderman: right? Yeah. Even in politics. Exactly. So we kind of fit into a couple of frames and, and really ultimately like there, depending on what’s going on in the world, essentially.

Courtney Hedderman: It depends on what our kind of number one priority or 2, 3, 4, and so we’ll always be, we will always work on healthcare related issues. We will always work on financial security issues. Those are the bread and butter, right? Because you have people who are fixed incomes, [00:16:00] you have people who are spending basically a tremendous amount of money or most of their money around healthcare coverage costs and just that whole piece.

Courtney Hedderman: So our, our financial security and our healthcare are kind of almost hand in hand. And depending on what’s going on that, that bucket of. A priority might be healthcare one year, and it might be financial security the next year. Um, we work on utility issues. A lot of people don’t actually know that. Um, but those are very, um, Liv livability, um, is a big piece.

Courtney Hedderman: And so you think about pocketbook issues and nothing ever goes down, right? I mean, we’re talking about the cost of. Our utilities like gas and water and electric, that never goes down. Right? Inflation is not a negative. Yeah. It is never a negative number. And so we, we look at that. We also look at livability, livability communities.

Courtney Hedderman: You know, you wanna age in place. We’re talking about that. Right? And, and there’s an element of making sure that people are in a, in a community. That allows them to, to age in place [00:17:00] so they have some, you know, supports and services so they can stay in their home as long as they possibly can. How is a community, livable?

Courtney Hedderman: Housing, transportation, all of those types of things. We work on that because that, again, that is what, uh, people want to live as long as they possibly can be, as healthy as they possibly can, have as much money as they possibly can. Mm-hmm. And, and be, be and live in the most respectful and dignified way.

Courtney Hedderman: And that also depends on what’s going on around their community and around, you know, their actual physical space. So. It’s all kind of into that, I’d call it four buckets. But, um, there’s a lot of nuances within each bucket. Those are big buckets. Yeah. Big buckets. So we go into advocacy, which is obviously you made mm-hmm.

Courtney Hedderman: Reference to this. So we. You know, our community, state, national group, um, does, that’s where our, we’re on the hill in Washington. We are in state legislatures. Um, we are, you know, as a state office here in Illinois, we are, are [00:18:00] representing our folks, our membership with the general public and their families that 50 plus in, in Springfield, in local, um, you know, advocacy government areas.

Courtney Hedderman: Um, and at the, at the same time, then we’re doing community programming because if in fact we have a, a, a piece of legislation that was just passed mm-hmm. People need to know about it. How, how is it gonna affect them? Um, and so we’re doing a lot of community programming at the same time too, which is gotta take that complicated material and issue, break it down so people understand how not only they can take advantage of those, you know, supports and services.

Courtney Hedderman: But also at the same time, wow, you, you’re gonna need supports and services. Yeah. What do you need? And then here, take action. That’s where the advocacy piece comes in. Well, and I would assume by the size and scope of AARP, you probably have a good ear to bend in when it comes to political, uh, uh, uh, advice orli, uh, political, uh, uh, nudging, if you will, in regards [00:19:00] to policy, because if I’m a senator.

Courtney Hedderman: And I know AARP wants to have a word with me. I think that probably should carry quite a bit of weight, I would think. Yeah. I mean, I would like to think so. I mean, we, we are non, a non-partisan organization. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So we’re working with both sides of the aisle. Yeah. Yeah. Um, we, we do not have a political action committee.

Courtney Hedderman: We do not endorse candidates in any elected official. Mm-hmm. Um, but what we do do is voter education. What we do do is issue related things, and we have 38 million members across the country and 1.7 live of, of them live in Illinois. Wow. So, I’d like to think that Okay. We, we, we have some people that we know what our membership is, is interested in maybe Yes.

Courtney Hedderman: A, a, a candidate and or, you know, that elected official should policy, 

Brennen Roberts: policy, not parties. 

Brennen Roberts: Right. Partisan. Yeah. 

Courtney Hedderman: You know what things, non-partisan things. Yes. 

Brennen Roberts: Yeah, retain an anecdote early in AARP or. Tasked with chasing down Governor Blagojevich in the city, something like that. 

Courtney Hedderman: Yes, yes. Yeah, no, I mean there, the best part is, and I, I like [00:20:00] being in this space of, of Nonpartisanship, like we are working with both sides of the aisle.

Courtney Hedderman: There it, it is wonderful to concentrate on issues. We live in a very polarized society right now. Right. When I, not to get too political. Yeah. It, we really, people are passionate on both sides. That’s wonderful. There’s a lot, I think less in the middle. I think we are very, like I said, very polarized. So for, for AARP and me, particularly in what I do.

Courtney Hedderman: Is, I don’t have to think in those terms. Mm-hmm. I get to concentrate on issues. What does an older adult and or their family member need to have a dignified life? To have senior, you know, to have supports and services, to have their healthcare, have their financial security, all of those things. It is a great position to be in instead of.

Courtney Hedderman: You know, 

Dan Drews: having the referee in the middle. 

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. 

Dan Drews: Well, and I know AARP too focuses on a lot of timely issues right now, and if we can go to the next slide too, one of the, uh, topics has really come up a lot of [00:21:00] fraud and scam alerts too. I know. I talk to my parents about it all the time.

Dan Drews: Being careful what you click on and be thoughtful of what’s real and what’s not, and what’s AI and what’s not. Yeah. Uh, I am, I’m glad to see that that’s a focal point for AARP as well. 

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah, no, that is a major priority for us as an organization. Um, frauds and scams are, it does not matter what your age is, frankly.

Courtney Hedderman: Um, however, uh, the, the amount of fraud and scams, particularly to the over 60 and 65 plus. Is extraordinary. So the actual, uh, FBI comes out with, it’s called the Internet Crime Center report. Mm-hmm. And they, they, they deliver that every single year. And in 2024, they had the amount of people that were being scammed.

Courtney Hedderman: And that’s what’s reported. Yeah. So let’s just say that’s not, everything’s only reported only. No way. And they reported it A lot of times there’re. It’s embarrassed to tell you a hundred percent. There’s so much shame and embarrassment. Mm-hmm. Which we want to debunk because mm-hmm. [00:22:00] People should report if, if hopefully they can get maybe money back.

Courtney Hedderman: But they’re also not only helping themselves, they’re also helping then someone else too in reporting. So, but o out of that report for 2025. Um, there, the, there was 80% of people scammed, and billions and billions of dollars was over the age of 60. Yeah. Um, and the amazing part that just, it, it, it just literally makes me wanna cry.

Courtney Hedderman: Um, the, the largest around and, and just financial fraud, just so people are losing tremendous amount of dollars is around cryptocurrency. Oh. And it went from 2024. It went from like almost $4 billion lost. To 2025, over $11 billion lost. 

Dan Drews: So it is bel It really is. It’s, I mean, people throw around terms like unbelievable.

Dan Drews: That really is almost unbelievable. 

Courtney Hedderman: It’s unbelievable. And so like, so last year was the, not the first time, but like for AARP Illinois, it was [00:23:00] where we really dived into fraud advocacy. So not, yes, we wanna talk about prevention tips and we wanna make sure people are safe. But we really need to move into an advocacy.

Courtney Hedderman: We need policies and procedures that help protect people. So we actually, uh, passed, um, a bill sent a bill 2319. It was around cryptocurrency kiosk, which around 95% of those transactions at kiosks, which you can see a grocery store. Yeah. You can see at a gas station. They just look like regular ATMs. Yeah.

Courtney Hedderman: Um, the 95% of those transactions at those kiosk are fraudulent. 

Dan Drews: Oh my. You are kidding. 

Courtney Hedderman: And so I, I, I, it’s in incre. I didn’t know that. Yeah, that’s, it’s insane. It’s insane. Um, and so they’re, the cryptocurrency has not been regulated. Um, and it was not regulated in our state. And those kiosks, those operators of those kiosk, there was no regulation at all.

Courtney Hedderman: So that’s what, that’s what that, um, now law sets up, is that regulation. Um, and now there are states like. State of [00:24:00] Indiana is now looking, you know, they actually just passed a ban on crypto kiosks. We have actually local advocacy efforts going on. Will county’s looking at, um, banning, you know, kiosks in the county.

Courtney Hedderman: Like, so I think that there is this trend of, of taking what, you know, like what we know is fraudulent activities and where it’s taking place and putting some parameters, and that’s where the policy and the advocacy pieces come in. 

Brennen Roberts: That’s fascinating. 95%. Fraud. That’s a pretty easy number I would hope.

Brennen Roberts: Putting in front of somebody like I think so we, do not need these around, 

Courtney Hedderman: so, no, for sure. And so anyway, AARP, um, April 1st, like hard launched an effort called Becoming an Illinois Fraud Fighter. And it is all about getting those prevention tips, those alerts, what are the latest frauds and scams so people feel informed as much as possible and they can then spot a scam hopefully before it ever takes.

Courtney Hedderman: Place, and then there’s reporting measures. So then if in fact, heaven forbid they do, [00:25:00] they then know how to then report and what they would need to know. Um, and then hopefully, eventually take action too. Like, Hey, state senator, state rep, my congressional member, this bill is up in, you know, uh, if for a vote, this is, this would help me help our, you know, citizens to, um, to protect ourselves against fraud.

Courtney Hedderman: Like we have a, a measure in Washington right now around. Um, it there, in fact, it wasn’t that long ago, there was a couple in Aurora that they got caught in that grandparent scheme. You guys probably heard about the grandparent scheme. They thought their grandson was in a jail. Yeah. In Europe. 

Dan Drews: And for, for our listeners who don’t know about it, walk ’em through what that scheme is real quick.

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. So they got a call. Yeah. Um, they got a telephone call and they literally were hearing from a criminal who was indicating that their grandson and they knew the grandson’s name. Mm-hmm. Um, that, and he was traveling in another country and said that he, um, had some sort of an event and [00:26:00] has now jailed and needs bail money and that they need to send that money immediately so he can get outta jail.

Dan Drews: Oh my gosh. 

Courtney Hedderman: And, you know, um, I, you, you, it is so, and I really want everyone to hear this and really understand this. We might be talking now and be like, how did they fall for that? Oh, mm-hmm. But it’s so very easy. The, the conversation, they be coming, they, they literally take you, they know enough detail to like go, so you really think it’s real.

Courtney Hedderman: Mm-hmm. Um, and there’s so many other ways to do that. They do that online now. They do that on a phone call. People come to, they text messaging, which is a whole other thing. Mm-hmm. There’s so much in that AI piece too, which you made reference. They’re, they’re so sophisticated and it was, it can be so easy to fall for it.

Courtney Hedderman: And so they, they did. They did. And they ended up taking out retirement. They took out money from their retirement savings. So here, here’s what then happened. They took out money. They wired the money, so they lost that money. So that’s [00:27:00] already a problem. Mm-hmm. But then what happened is they got a tax bill from the IRS.

Courtney Hedderman: Oh. ’cause they took out that money and it wasn’t ta like, so now it’s taxable. So we have legislation pending in Congress right now around if you have a fraudulent activity that happens to you and you’ve now, you know, you’ve done the steps of reporting so you know that you, they know it’s fraudulent.

Courtney Hedderman: They should not be being taxed, double penalized for it. So you’re, you’re double penalized. Can you imagine? That’s how awful that is. Oh my God. 

Brennen Roberts: It’s like kicking somebody while they’re down. 

Courtney Hedderman: A hundred percent. It’s like, it’s like putting the like gasoline on the fire. Yeah. Yeah. And not necessary. So like those types of policies and those types of, um, advocacy really efforts.

Courtney Hedderman: Mm-hmm. I think we could go and do more than we even have on the books now. 

Brennen Roberts: Yeah. And that’s what we’re trying to, and that really benefits like a local area, like the Neighborville. Police department, they do a great job. There’s social workers going out and talking to organizations about, here’s the top scams and stuff.

Brennen Roberts: So the fact that you’re out there fighting mm-hmm. To make change, and then you’re providing education and information, [00:28:00] and then you’ve got people locally like. The Neighborville Police Department kinda out there helping educate people. Kind of the boots, boots. Boots on the ground as, as boots on the ground.

Brennen Roberts: Ground. For sure. It takes, it takes a village, my friend. 

Dan Drews: Well, it does. Absolutely does. Right? I mean, it’s kind of interesting, right? You’ve gotta be advocates for illegal money activities. Mm-hmm. But then you’ve also gotta be advocates for. Actual money and life planning. And I, and I know AARP does a lot of that too.

Dan Drews: I mean, there’s a lot of fraud and scams, but in addition to that, AARP focuses a lot on, you know, what you can do to kind of manage your life. Mm-hmm. And be thoughtful of where the next five or 10 years are gonna take. 

Courtney Hedderman: Oh, no, for sure. So, I mean, I think when, especially for somebody who maybe is getting closing in on retirement mm-hmm.

Courtney Hedderman: You know, they’re, they’re wanting information on those retirement days and those years they’re about to hit, right? Mm-hmm. So like what decisions do they need to make, um, in, in that timeframe to set themselves up for success in [00:29:00] retirement? But then those folks that are currently in retirement. They wanna keep their money.

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. They wanna grow their money, right? Mm-hmm. So then they can live out the golden years, as they say, right? Yeah. And so there is a portion of our membership that is thinking before retirement, and then there’s those that are past retirement are like within the throws of retirement and they’re looking to grow.

Courtney Hedderman: And so you put all that together. It, it comes down to making sure that social security is solvent, making sure that financial, um, regulations are. Are sound, so then people are in a position of making sure there is retirement savings. Mm-hmm. And that it is protected, that it is growing, is all of those things.

Courtney Hedderman: So again, people have what they need when they need it. 

Dan Drews: Yeah. And I think it’s been great too. Like I’ve been impressed since becoming an AARP member myself. Mm-hmm. I’ve got the AARP app on my phone. Oh yeah. And that’s a pretty robust app. And it’s, and with that are a lot of. Articles and, and just information pieces on some of these different kinda life planning [00:30:00] topics that while AARP is not a financial advisor, financial planner boy, they really give you a good encyclopedia of different things to think about as you’re trying to navigate those years.

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah, no, definitely. And I think, yeah, yeah, you bring up the app, I mean the magazine, the bulletin, those publications. Um, our, I really do have a lot of sound advice, and, and I would, I’d like to think that we’re an organization that’s advice and referral and, and really connecting a connector. So sometimes we don’t do that direct service, right.

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. That sometimes people really hone in on. We we’re not direct service providers, however, we’re connectors and information, um, givers and, and all of that. And I think that. Um, ultimately our brand becomes a trusted, hopefully, mm-hmm. Where we are, um, a trusted friend and then a fierce defender. 

Brennen Roberts: Oh, that’s a nice way.

Brennen Roberts: So, yeah, and you, I, I think you also, like, you enable and educate. [00:31:00] Some of those people like us that are doing direct connections to Right. Be better service to seniors and help ’em out. 

Courtney Hedderman: Right, exactly. So then when somebody, a member’s calling and saying, Hey, I’m looking for this, or I’m looking for that, that’s when we are able to, you know, hey.

Courtney Hedderman: Come, we know exactly where you should go. We know exactly what you should be doing. You should be going to senior helping seniors, you know, like that kind of stuff. So, yeah. Yeah. 

Dan Drews: Well, and, and in addition to a lot of common questions and common referrals too, I also appreciate the fact that AARP reflects on some kind of uncommon conversations.

Dan Drews: Like one of the next slides talks about the way that families really support being caregivers. And I don’t think, you know, I think a lot of people have the perception that as people age, they. You know, just miraculously have this ability to live in their house or they just go someplace else, but kind of ignore some of the ways that families need to move mom in or go see mom every day or do something to kind of help [00:32:00] support the aging population.

Courtney Hedderman: No, definitely. So there, here’s a few little stats. So in Illinois we have 2.2 million. Unpaid family caregivers. Wow. So meaning they are not individual, they are family. They might actually, you know, again, be a, a trusted friend. Um, they are not paid, they are not working for an agency, nothing like that. So they are an unpaid family caregiver.

Courtney Hedderman: That’s how we define them. 2.2 million in our state. Um, and that’s amazing. They are providing ready for this, they are providing almost $22 billion worth of care. Yeah. Unbelievable. So if you then extrapolate that out, you have, we’re like, they’re literally saving our healthcare system a tremendous amount of money in this kind of situation.

Courtney Hedderman: However, you have family caregivers that are drowning every day. It is a thankless job. They’re doing tremendous amount of things. They are, you know, helping their person mm-hmm. [00:33:00] Day in and day out. They are helping with wound care, they’re helping with medication management, they’re helping with daily tasks, cooking, taking transportation.

Courtney Hedderman: Mm-hmm. All of these things. And they, they really sometimes become almost more unwell than the person they’re caring for. And I’m sure everybody’s heard a story like that or they know somebody in that situation. They are working so hard to care for that person and then they’re struggling themselves.

Brennen Roberts: Yeah. It tough Add in a full-time job or kids and all that stuff. 

Courtney Hedderman: You have those folks. Yes. They’re, they’re helping their kids. They’re helping these folks. They’re helping their parent. I mean, this is where there is a tremendous burden on those folks. 

Brennen Roberts: We, we see that all the time. I mean, part of our mission is just, I like we are there as much for the families as for the clients.

Brennen Roberts: Mm-hmm. You know, you really want people to be, continue to be a husband and wife or a son and daughter first, you know? Right. It’s a blessing that people have the support network that can provide [00:34:00] that. They, they don’t always, which is where we can summon to help, but, you know, when we come in, I just see it as much as anything.

Brennen Roberts: We’re helping the family as much as that. ’cause you’re right, it’s, it’s just the levels of stress and you can stretch at both ends and you’re just. Life, happiness and health and it just impacts everything. Yeah. When you’re giving so much to somebody else. 

Courtney Hedderman: No, a hundred percent. And let’s face it sometimes, right?

Dan Drews: We love mom and dad. But we don’t always see eye to eye with mom and dad. Right. And so there’s this, there’s this, uh, family dynamic mm-hmm. That’s probably exacerbated many times by having to care some for someone in that situation too, so. Right. Um, I think you’re, you’re right, Brennan, when you talk about.

Dan Drews: The way that, um, seniors helping seniors or other organizations and the AARP can shine a light on this segment of the population that is like, as you said, carrying so much weight for the entire healthcare system. 

Courtney Hedderman: No, definitely. And I, you [00:35:00] know, I think that they need a, like. Unpaid family caregiver caregivers need a lot of support.

Courtney Hedderman: Mm-hmm. Um, we, we’ve actually the last, I mean outside of, I would love to see, uh, a, a tax credit for those folks. Mm-hmm. Which is something we’re working on. Yeah. Um, I mean, they’re just. Spending a tremendous amount of their own money mm-hmm. To help, help their family. Um, and, and we actually just passed two years ago.

Courtney Hedderman: Um, it’s called, well, we’re calling it a, um, we initially, I think, started really calling it like a hub and like a digital hub, but then it moved into a caregiver portal. And it, it’s really about, you know, the person who’s in the hospital with their mom or their dad or their uncle or, or aunt or whoever, family member.

Courtney Hedderman: And they’re, they’re finding out, oh, this, your, your person’s getting discharged from the hospital in three days. Mm-hmm. And they have to make major, major decisions. Are they going home? Are they going to facility? What do they need? What do they need at home to be at home? What do they need in a facility?

Courtney Hedderman: You know, where are they gonna go? [00:36:00] And then they’re Googling like, what am I gonna do with my mom? 

Brennen Roberts: Here’s the sheet of resources that you got. 

Courtney Hedderman: A hundred percent. And our, sadly, our, we’re getting better. But our aging network, um, really across the country, not just here in Illinois, is very fragmented. You go in one door, but it doesn’t mean it opens up everything someone’s eligible for.

Courtney Hedderman: And so we’re hoping that the caregiver portal is, it’s obviously a resource that will be. Initially for caregivers, obviously, because they’re gonna not just have to Google like, what should I do for my mom? Mm-hmm. Yeah. They’re gonna be able to then access a whole host of information and resources and multiple situations and scenarios, like maybe they need home delivered meals, meals, but they need adult day, they need transportation.

Courtney Hedderman: They need. All these other things instead of, okay, I’ve I’ve gone here and then there I don’t even know about anything else. ’cause what do you, you don’t know what you don’t know. Yeah, yeah. And you don’t know what you need until you’re in it and you’re like, I really need this. 

Dan Drews: Well, I told Brennen, it’s kind of relays back to what you were talking about.

Dan Drews: The, [00:37:00] uh, expo sponsored by the Triad Organization here in Naperville was an excellent way to kind of get this broad view of all the services available. 

Brennen Roberts: Mm-hmm. It is, it kind of opens your eyes of like, oh, I didn’t know that, or I didn’t know there was a service for that. Mm-hmm. And you know, they’re, they’re, if you think there’s a need, there’s probably somebody out there helping to solve it.

Brennen Roberts: You just gotta find them. And like you said, it’s fragmented. There’s basically organizations like AARP, you’ve got, you know, the. Government entities like the police force, you’ve got not-for-profit, for-profits. It’s, it’s a big, it’s a big puzzle for sure. Which is, I think part of the reasons why we got excited about this podcast is kind of like helping educate people what they are.

Brennen Roberts: But I was just gonna build, it was, it’s kinda interesting the whole idea of like the stress and the caregivers. ’cause it’s obviously we, we have caregivers left and right, but it’s probably, I would say probably because we usually are, we’re, we’re, we’re appealing to like a. Mature caregivers is what we’re looking for.

Brennen Roberts: Mm-hmm. And I would say probably, I don’t know, it’s probably like 80 to 90% of our caregivers I always wanna start the conversation with, it’s like, well, [00:38:00] what led you to us? And mm-hmm. To talk about it. And it’s like 80 to 90% are probably like, you know, I had to be a caregiver for my mom or my dad or my grandma, or somebody like it was a family member.

Brennen Roberts: Like they did it. They took on that personal burden and they were saying like, I saw. You know, how impactful it was and what it was needed and stuff like that. And I’m at a point in my life where I thought I wanted to do something for somebody else who, yeah. I saw what it, I saw an impact it can make. So it’s a, it’s a nice story.

Brennen Roberts: But yeah, the whole, uh, impact on the families and mm-hmm. You know, it’s, it’s, it’s, you said it’s such a hidden. Hidden benefit for the healthcare system and also like such a, like a, there’s a cost associated with it. 

Courtney Hedderman: Well, and you think about too, just the term caregiver, that really didn’t exist in our vocabulary mm-hmm.

Courtney Hedderman: As a society 15 years ago. Really? Yeah. It’s, it’s relatively a new term ’cause and most people don’t consider themselves a caregiver if they’re caring for their mom or their, again, other relative. That’s just who you. Mm-hmm. [00:39:00] That’s what you should do. Mm-hmm. That’s just what I do. I’m not really a caregiver.

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. When No, you really are. 

Dan Drews: Yeah. It’s one of those, and it’s not only the expense associated with taking care of mom or dad, but you then can’t go get a job. Right. You limiting your income simultaneously. And so that tax break I think is a fantastic idea for it too. 

Courtney Hedderman: Yes, we think so too. Yeah, we think so.

Dan Drews: Joe, politicians and uh, government, please, uh, tune into that. Well, you talked about Brenda a few seconds ago. You talked about the kind of the wide scope of. Things that this, uh, expo put on. There’s a wide scope of things that AARP can help with too. And one of the things that I really want to talk about is just this wide portfolio of advice that AARP can give, right?

Dan Drews: Because it’s not just, I mean, you do a lot of wonderful things here in Illinois. You’re doing terrific, right? But across the nation, you’ve got this really cool. United States slash global view of retirement and what it [00:40:00] looks like in Illinois and Wisconsin and Florida and everywhere else. And it’s a great place to go for some of this advice.

Courtney Hedderman: Yes. So we have a network called Age Friendly, and we are affiliated actually with the World Health Organization. And so, um, age friendly is a designation that a state could get, A community could get, um, all the way from like a local municipality to a township for example. Um, and that age-friendly network essentially is about sharing.

Courtney Hedderman: Those best practices on having a livable community. So someone can age in place, someone can have that, those supports and services, and they’re going to live this dignified life. Right? And so this network, which I think is super cool, um, it, it, it not only can, um, provide, you know, resources and all sorts of other types of information, but then you can, it’s like say here, we’re here in Naperville.

Courtney Hedderman: We can get [00:41:00] information on an an initiative that’s going on in Maine or in New York or California or wherever. I mean, like they’re. Is age-friendly designations, again, per state, per community. And we have 15, um, in Illinois right now, and they’re like smaller municipalities, but the state of Illinois is actually looking to be an age-friendly state.

Courtney Hedderman: Oh, wow. Which is really awesome. There is the Illinois Department aging just did an, and it was in conjunction with a lot of organizations including AARP called the Multi-Sector Plan on Aging. Mm-hmm. And it’s really looking at a 10 year trajectory of. Of really aging in our state and what, what are the supports and services that are gonna be needed so we can really ultimately support our older adults.

Courtney Hedderman: Mm-hmm. And part of that multi-sector planning was we need to be an age friendly state. We want people to stay here, live here. For the rest of their life and what do they need to have that happen? Mm-hmm. Um, and that’s a big part of what then, not only getting that designation will do, but it’s really [00:42:00] then planning for, wow, what do they need?

Courtney Hedderman: How are we gonna deliver that? Who’s gonna deliver that? Yeah. And all of these other kind of connecting points. So we’re super excited, but we, we have a whole division of AARP around livable communities and age friendly. And we’re super excited about that work as it continues to go on. 

Dan Drews: Well, I love that too, because people, you know, have some default places that they think they should retire to, but having this wide scope, like.

Dan Drews: Uh, we got into a discussion just the other day, like, oh man, it’d be nice to maybe retire to Wisconsin. Well, Wisconsin’s got some very specific, uh, uh, taxation laws that you better be aware of, come to retirement account, right? Mm-hmm. And, um, if, if it’s not for an organization like AARP to kind of shine a light on some of these differences, you could seriously make a bad choice and not even know you were doing it.

Courtney Hedderman: That’s true. You do really have to think through these other kind of points, right? And other, um, moments in your life that you’re gonna have to think about. Okay. Yeah. Those tax [00:43:00] implications, you know, how is my home going to be fitting me, my car? Even like learning those types of things as, as we age and how we can benefit from that.

Courtney Hedderman: I think some of the resources AARP offers is really great in those spaces. 

Brennen Roberts: Yeah. Outta curiosity, I put you on the spot, but how does. Like the Naperville area, Western DuPage, are they, have they received that designation or are they. 

Courtney Hedderman: They’re thinking about it. Okay. So that’s actually one of my goals is to have, uh, DuPage County.

Courtney Hedderman: Okay. Be an age-friendly county. Um, and there’s many other than individual municipalities as well. Um, but I think, and, and really this area is doing a lot, right. I mean, they’re, they’re really thoughtful and I think the leaders are, are truly trying to mm-hmm. Incorporate. Wow. What, what, how do we make sure our, our safe, you know, our streets are safe.

Courtney Hedderman: So like you think about lighting and curbs, like things that. People don’t always, like planners, might not expect [00:44:00] to think about. Mm-hmm. But like, as someone ages and our community gets older, what do they need? Well, okay, so we’re gonna need to make sure our sidewalks have, you know, ramping type of things.

Courtney Hedderman: Mm-hmm. So where it’s, it’s safe for folks to be coming off of a curb or coming onto a curb if they were even, in fact on a wheelchair. In a wheelchair, or, you know, having, having some sort of other medical device all the way from just again, lighting. Uh, lighting on making sure that there’s enough light for all of us.

Courtney Hedderman: Like, I don’t know about you guys, but I can go into a restaurant. The eyes are not as good as they used to. 

Brennen Roberts: That’s where you pull out your phone, you’re like, I can’t read this. 

Courtney Hedderman: It’s, it’s like, why did, all of a sudden, no one ever tells you that in age, by the way, the eyesight changes. 

Dan Drews: Who hit the dimmer switch for crying out loud?

Courtney Hedderman: Why does that do that? 

Brennen Roberts: What, why is, why is mom using a flashlight? 

Courtney Hedderman: Right. So, I know that sounds so silly. Yeah. But it’s something that we, we deal with. Right? And so, making sure though, that when you think about livable community. Yeah. So you think about a, a, [00:45:00] a person who’s aging in that community, what are those things?

Courtney Hedderman: And it could be just as simple as just great lighting as someone’s driving. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it and or just their walking. Right. 

Dan Drews: Well, I think one of the areas too, certainly I’ve noticed that Naperville is really working on too, is the engagement, the civic and social involvement there up on the slide that I think is a.

Dan Drews: Is a big, proactive piece of the game plan for Naperville. Yeah, so my hope is that they do earn that designation. ’cause I know they’re working well. 

Brennen Roberts: I feel like based on the. Energy and the people I saw at the expo. And then if you personally are putting your spotlight on, then I feel pretty confident we’ll get there here pretty soon.

Courtney Hedderman: I don’t doubt it for a second. Yeah. 

Dan Drews: Well, I, I wanna move to another topic that AARP Most people think AARP retirement. I’m on the beach, my pina colada, right? I’m golfing all the time. But there are people that really wanna stay active, right? And there are professional services that AARP offers. In order to help aged people mm-hmm.

Dan Drews: [00:46:00] Still become very active and part of the workforce too. 

Courtney Hedderman: Right. Okay. So I’m gonna probably blow your mind right now. Um, so when AARP was first created, uh, it, it, its name was actually the American Association of Retired Persons. Mm. That’s what the letter stood for. The AARP. We no longer have that. We just stand for the letters AARP, because actually the majority, and again, we have 38 million members across the country.

Courtney Hedderman: Wow. The majority of our membership is still working at some capacity. Wow. It could be, they’re not a full-time person anymore. They could be they, they could be a part-time situation or some sort of other transitional type of work, but they are working and there are so many folks that are certainly over the age of 50.

Courtney Hedderman: That either a want to work mm-hmm. Because they, they love it, they love what they’re doing, or they’re re-imagining their work and they’re re-imagining their career. Maybe they work 30 years and an X thing, and they are now dreaming something new. They have a new dream and they started their own business.

Courtney Hedderman: They have, [00:47:00] um, done, they’re, they’re really creating and reimagining again, their life as, as it relates to work. Then you have folks that. Cannot, they cannot not work because of financial reasons, other scenarios. Mm-hmm. They are sometimes even out of their control and they have to actually work. And so we wanna make sure those folks are supported.

Courtney Hedderman: So we have, it’s called Work and Jobs and we, we have a workforce, um, a board so people can actually look and see, uh, what jobs are available. We are working with employers. To make sure that they realize well, you know, having a mature worker mm-hmm. Is really vital to their mm-hmm. Their ultimate bottom line that they’re, they should be hiring an experienced worker.

Courtney Hedderman: They, you know, and, and nothing against our younger folks. Right. Um, but the, the work ethic that’s an older adult brings. Is usually pretty extraordinary. They have experience, they, they wanna be there. They have loyalty, they have, they have, they do have [00:48:00] technical skills. They have a lot that they can bring and mentor, even those younger folks.

Courtney Hedderman: Mm-hmm. So, concentrating on. An older worker and giving them the shot and giving them the opportunity is really good. Um, good practice. It’s, it’s super smart. And again, nothing to our younger folks, but they’re, they’re, um, they, they’re in a different boat right now. Um, and so I think, uh, employers looking at hiring.

Courtney Hedderman: An older worker is so valuable to not, again, not the product or the service that they’re providing all the way to the bottom line. 

Brennen Roberts: Yeah. I tell you what that is. My dad and he, we had to help move into a supportive living thing. Mm-hmm. And I remember the conversation as we were moving him in with. The, uh, the director there and she had to tell him that he could not have a part-time job.

Brennen Roberts: He was 85 at the time. I’m like, okay, I buy that. But, you know, he, but I, again, he wanted to be a contributing member of the society forever. And I, I gotta be honest with, it’s [00:49:00] for our, for our business, ’cause that’s, we really focus on retire. It is such a, like, untapped labor force. Like, there’s so much like skill and talent and art and giving and stuff.

Brennen Roberts: And, and I love, I see a mix of like, you know, I. Was a stay at home mother and like. Kids have now kind of gone off to college and I need to reimagine kind of what my life looks like. Mm-hmm. And I’m gonna get back, or again, somebody today, a teacher retiring in May and she’s like, okay, I’m gonna enjoy the summer, but come fall, what am I gonna do?

Brennen Roberts: Kind of thing. And I love the opportunity to do that. And you know, for us, at least in our role, which again, they contribute everywhere, but you know, in our role it’s like this, you know, Hey, you’re supporting seniors, you’re are a senior. Like what? Great way to connect. Right. Make it personally. But I, I, I love the, like, such a great labor force and mm-hmm.

Brennen Roberts: Like reliability, dependability, you know? 

Courtney Hedderman: Oh no, for sure. And you know, I think too, you know, people sometimes [00:50:00] have, they think of retirement that, you know, ’cause I think all of us, especially in our younger years, like we value the work that we have done. And so when you then cut that off. That was such a huge identity marker.

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. Because people like, mm-hmm. Think about anytime you’ve met somebody brand new, what do you say? Usually, what do you do for a living? What do you do? What do you do? So what do you say to a retired person? What do you do? Right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. People do need a purpose, and so I think when older adults, maybe they, again, they’ve worked their whole life.

Courtney Hedderman: They now are flipping the switch and then they’re retiring, but they get to have a purpose. Then that also brings them in some additional income that they get to think about somehow. Something else that’s going to get them up every day, because they don’t, you don’t wanna just sit at home. Mm-hmm. Like nobody should be just sitting at home.

Courtney Hedderman: Um, they should be doing something that keeps them active, right? So social, uh, you know, involvement and all of those things. And if you get to then actually add some income to it. [00:51:00] I don’t know. It seems like a win to win thing. 

Brennen Roberts: Win, win, win. 

Dan Drews: Yeah. Right. Yeah. And great for the community overall. Right, right. To have people being productive in it too, so 

Courtney Hedderman: For sure.

Dan Drews: I, I just get the sense from talking to you too. You talk about blowing our mind, you’ve blown our mind like five different times in this interview, and I, I, I’ll take that and, and I get a feeling that part of your job is actually. Shattering the perception of what people believe the AARP is, right? Like I, I even look at your magazine here and you and Eva Longoria, right?

Dan Drews: Oh, geez. That, uh, she’s gorgeous. But, but, but really talking about like the perception of what your organization is. Mm-hmm. Who you represent. And the initiatives, the wide, wide, uh, range of initiatives you have. I believe you’re, you know, that’s gotta be just a big part of your job is awakening people to what a AARP does.

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. I mean, I think sometimes people think of AARP and they’re like borough people, you know, like it’s totally, but now the, mm-hmm. What somebody say Eva Longoria? No, definitely [00:52:00] not. And I think, and there’s actually a great commercial that’s running, um, for AARP that makes reference like. You know, the younger you are, the more you need AARP.

Courtney Hedderman: It’s not the older you are, it’s the younger you are. Oh, yeah. And I think, like, I, I hear from people all the time, like they’ll, the people come up to me. We were at the expo for example, and, and uh, a woman came and said, oh my gosh, I just got, ’cause we were talking about fraud and things like that. She, I just got the bulletin.

Courtney Hedderman: It was all about fraud. Yeah. I learned so much. She’s like, I read those publications cover to cover and I, I’ve been a member since I was 50 and she was somebody who was in her eighties. Now she’s like, I, I have, I, I learned things even at the 50 mark. Yeah. And they’re still relevant to me as an 80-year-old.

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. And I think that is a cool part of ARP too. We can be relevant to that whole age trajectory. Um, and, and really tried to disrupt aging. Yeah. 

Dan Drews: Yeah. And shattering perceptions too. I know you [00:53:00] also have a video out there too. We’re gonna, we’re gonna add a link to this video because it’s so good. Uh, but the, the essence of the video is shattering perceptions.

Dan Drews: Give our audience a little tee up on what the video’s about, 

Courtney Hedderman: so yeah, I do, I do love this video. It’s one of my favorite. So it’s, it’s with millennials and, and those that are older adults, right? And so they bring in these millennials and they, they’ll say, you know, like, what is your age? And they’re, they’re 20 year olds.

Courtney Hedderman: There’s I think one girl’s 19 and, and then they’ll, they ask them what is, like, what do you think old is? And, and they’re, they’re saying age numbers of like forties and fifties. And for me now I, my fifties, I’m like, what? Right. Ah. Um, and, and then they say 

Brennen Roberts: knuckleheads. 

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. Really? Right? Yeah. And then they say like, so what, what do you think like, uh, how would an older person look like if they’re text messaging and they’re the, you know, these folks are doing the flip phone.

Courtney Hedderman: Flip phone. Yeah. And they’re just kind of like, you know, like, no, they don’t get it. Um, and then they bring in these older [00:54:00] adults and they say, okay, you know what? We’re gonna introduce you to somebody. And they, they kind of come in, it’s pairs. And they tell them, you know, you have two minutes to teach each other something that you’re good at.

Courtney Hedderman: And the one of the best is this woman who’s in her like mid fifties is teaching that 20 year olds how to do a yoga pose. And he couldn’t do it. Yeah. He could not do it. His facial expressions are like, I am a, I can’t do that. And then he really can’t. And then the best part is they, they do that whole kind of segment of sharing.

Courtney Hedderman: Um, both on both sides, you know, which I think is so great. And then they ask them, okay, so like, what do you think is old now? Like, what, what age do you think old now is? And the one, the one is, so speech like, um, a hundred. Yeah. You know, like, and, and, and then there’s, 

Brennen Roberts: she had to recalibrate. 

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah, she did. She did.

Courtney Hedderman: And then had to go into this whole thing of like. You know what? A age doesn’t matter. Yeah. Like you can still do things. Mm-hmm. You still have things you wanna do no matter what your age is. It’s really a wonderful video that helps really [00:55:00] debunk age and just it disrupts it. 

Brennen Roberts: I’ll just saying that millennials defense.

Brennen Roberts: I can’t do that yoga pose either. 

Brennen Roberts: It was pretty, it was pretty impressive. No, I love that. 

Dan Drews: Uh, that’s the one yoga pose. You can’t, okay. 

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. I just love though that whole perspective of that intergenerational, you, we, we are in a mm-hmm. A, a stage right now mm-hmm. Where we still have people that are from the depression era.

Courtney Hedderman: Yeah. And then you have now what I think the new generation’s called Alphas. Yeah. Like, that’s like the younger like. You know, 12, 13 year olds and, and younger. We have like four or five generations living at one time right now. Yeah. That’s an incredible thing. And we can all learn from each other as much as, and I know, I know that there’s folks that are, are, are watching and listening mm-hmm.

Courtney Hedderman: Who are like, I need to ask my, my grandchild how to access. You know, my, something on my smartphone. Yeah. Um, and, and guess what though? That that older adult can also share this amazing thing that they’re great at, with those, with their [00:56:00] younger, younger family members. 

Dan Drews: Yeah. So cool. From the, from the wake of World War ii Yep.

Dan Drews: To the advent of artificial intelligence. 

Brennen Roberts: We, yeah. That was. Very good. 

Courtney Hedderman: I love that. 

Brennen Roberts: That should be come up with after head the wake of, that’s good. 

Courtney Hedderman: That’s the title for sure. 

Dan Drews: Well, listen, I write a book then. That’s what it’s gonna be. But, uh, listen, you have been fantastic. I mean, I, we, like I said, you’ve blown our mind four or five times in this, uh, in this article.

Dan Drews: What other things have we not touched on or any other critical nuggets that you wanna leave our audience with? About AARP. 

Courtney Hedderman: Oh, thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. What a wonderful conversation. I appreciate you so much. You’re doing great work and to have me is it’s, it is a thrill. So thank you so much.

Courtney Hedderman: Um, you know, I AARP is, is an organization that wants to be, uh, there for people, be relevant, whether it’s we’re, you know, on the hill advocating for something all the way to, you know what, let’s, let’s be at a Triad Expo, right? Mm-hmm. Yep. And we’re at a table and we’re giving [00:57:00] out information and, and wonderful giveaways.

Courtney Hedderman: And everything in between. And so, you know, we have a website, aarp.org. Um, we have lots of divisions of ourselves, so there’s a lot of re advice and referral and, and resources. And I just want people to know that they’re not alone. Like AARP is there for you. We wanna be there for you. If you need something, give us a shout.

Courtney Hedderman: ’cause we’re, we’re here. 

Dan Drews: Yeah. I, I think that’s great. Right? Be a member and reach out what you need. 

Dan Drews: Brennen, any other advice for leveraging AARP? 

Brennen Roberts: Well, no, I mean it’s amazing the breadth of resources that are out there and be honest with you. So much of it that you don’t see in a database, like to know that you guys are out there fighting for seniors and you know, doing the good fight is, uh, very reassuring.

Brennen Roberts: And I hope you said this, be sometimes I know no matter. The, the job you might get caught up in the, you know, the mundane or paperwork and all that kind of stuff. So I, I hope the, I hope the opportunities to [00:58:00] realize like the purpose and meaning and mm-hmm. What good you’re doing in the world, uh, certainly are much more prevalent than kind of the grind of all that kind of stuff.

Brennen Roberts: ’cause you guys are doing amazing work and, uh, uh, we, and. The communities all appreciate it. 

Courtney Hedderman: Aw, thank you so very much. Well, thank you Courtney. You’ve, you’ve been excellent. Uh, thank you again for taking your time with us today and our audience for helping us in our efforts to find ways to assist people to age in place in their golden years.

Courtney Hedderman: Brennan, thank you as always too, for helping sponsor, uh, the program with seniors helping seniors. We really appreciate you being a Naperville area guide on topics like this. And thanks to our audience too, for. Watching and tuning in, be sure to make sure and watch our next episode with a valuable guest.

Courtney Hedderman: We’re gonna have. Until then, folks, just remember that it takes a village, so do your part in the village. Thank you everyone for joining.