4 The Hampton Roads Messenger Editorial


Become Wealthy Without Winning the Lottery


By the way, there is absolutely


nothing wrong with purchasing a used car with low milage. If one purchases a car that has been used less than a year rather than purchasing a new one, they can save thousands of dollars because a new car depreciates the moment it is driven off the lot.


Many African Americans are not good stewards of their money and salespeople and marketers are aware of it. Companies often take advantage of us. While others are offered discounts, we are asked to at least pay full price. There is nothing shameful about asking for a discount.


I was in California a couple of BY ANGELA JONES


We all know someone with plenty of money to spare who refuses to spend one penny unnecessarily. Being frugal is not necessarily a bad thing; however, those who are bombarding us with slick advertising are banking on the fact that we will spend our last dime to keep up with the Joneses. If we can avoid the urge to splurge, people with modest means can amass great wealth.


I have often heard stories of people who spent very little of the money they made and became rich; however, I only recently fully grasped the concept of how important it is to hold on to as much of your hard earned cash as possible especially during these uncertain financial times.


The pundits and politicians are


painting a bright economic picture to sure up consumer confidence but the word on the street tells a different story. People are hurting financially. We see it everywhere in our community--from unemployment to homelessness.


Many in our community are not


building wealth for future generations through home ownership because home loans are now more difficult to obtain for young adults. And many older adults have lost their family homes to foreclosure. For these families, renting is the only option.


What makes these tough financial


times even more tragic is the fact that the people facing them have made enough money during their lifetime to get through these difficult times unscathed; however, they did not save enough of the money they made.


Now is the perfect time to begin


to pinch pennies and become more mindful of overspending habits, just as people in other communities have been doing for years. I believe, if African Americans


collectively We have immense refrained


from spending, for one day, the entire economy of the United States would come crashing down around us.


economic


power; however, we waste it on hair weaves, fake nails and false eyelashes because we have been convinced that our self worth should be tied to something as superficial as our outer appearance. Or we spend our last dollar on a new car, often paying double the amount that other people are paying. Our pride will not allow us to tell the salesperson that they are out of their minds if they think we are going to pay more for a car payment than most people pay each month for their mortgage.


years ago when I discovered a store that sold accessories. It was going out of business. I learned a very valuable lesson that day, in that store, from a young Jewish girl; I knew she was Jewish because of the school uniform she was wearing. She looked as though she was about 15 or 16 years old. She picked up a purse and took it to the register.


Keep in mind, everything in


the store was already marked down more than 50 percent. The young girl asked the clerk if she could have an additional


discount. After the clerk Although


the clerk told her that would not be possible, she continued to try to keep more of her money.


calculated the


amount she was expected to pay, including the sales tax, the girl gave the clerk a rounded amount of money that was a few pennies short of the total. She then said to the clerk, “You aren’t going to make me give you those few pennies too, are you?” The clerk, looking defeated said, “That’s okay.”


I thought to myself, “This


child must have been taught from an early age not to pay full price for anything.” There are some people who have the motto: “Never pay full price for anything;” yet we are still paying full price, or more than full price, for the things we purchase. We often pay more interest on loans or fees because we are not being diligent enough about paying our bills on time or we are not buying items outright.


I once heard someone state that


we should look at every dollar we have like a soldier protecting us. Whenever we spend a dollar, one of our soldiers dies. I believe, if we adhere to this philosophy, we will keep more of the money we work so hard to obtain.


We have been so eager to give


our money away so freely, in the past. Let us try to be less of a consumer of goods and more of a builder of wealth. We must teach our children not to throw away their funds and their


future too. Adopting such a


fiscally responsible philosophy will also garner more respect for us and our future generations. Only then will we stop sending our youth the message that the only way they will be able to amass wealth is by playing professional sports; selling drugs; rhyming like


from Dr. Seuss or acting like a fool, while disparaging women; shaking their half naked bottom in front of millions, while “singing;” or winning the lottery.


Volume 8 Number 12


August 2014


Study: Pets a Prescription for Health, Happiness Among Elders


BY VIJI SUNDARAM researchers


LOS ANGELES--As UCLA went


about gathering


data on how care and services should be delivered to California’s poor and elderly, they stumbled upon an unexpected finding: for some, pets play a key role in keeping them healthy and happy.


That was not something researchers went looking for, asserted Kathryn Kietzman, a research scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research


and project the data gathering director of research called


The HOME (Helping Older-Adults Maintain Independence) Project. They discovered it while investigating how the state could develop and sustain a network of care that would allow low-income elderly people to remain safely in their own homes.


Actually, the therapeutic effects of pets have been well documented, and there’s a growing body of scientific research on this. Studies published in the early 1980s found that heart attack patients who owned pets lived longer than those who didn’t; that petting one’s own dog could reduce blood pressure; that


interacting with pets


could increase people’s level of the feel-good hormone, oxytocin.


The HOME study, funded by


The SCAN Foundation, followed 54 low-income, elderly Californians with long-term care needs over a period of four years. The study participants, who are enrolled in both Medi-Cal (California’s name for Medicaid) and Medicare, lived in five of the eight counties where the state is launching its


so-called dual-demonstration


program, Cal MediConnect, which hopes to deliver care in a coordinated seamless fashion to low-income elders.


“For some of them, the


relationship they have with their pets is very profound,” observed Kietzman. “We discovered pets were a big source


of social support.” HOME researchers found a


92-year-old virtually bedridden


woman who depended on her dog for her emotional needs. Aside from the six hours her two caregivers spent with her each day, she was home alone the rest of the time.


The companionship of her dog, Kietzman said, was as critical to her as the phone calls she received from her three sons living out of state.


Another elderly man with severe


neurological impairments was so fond of his service dog that he “talked to everyone who provided him some service”


to help him raise enough


money so his canine companion could have a much-needed surgery.


“He couldn’t consider life without his dog,” Kietzman said, noting that for people like him, their pets give them a reason to get out of bed.


Kietzman said that her team’s


finding about pets “is a good example of why it is important to take a holistic and


responding the needs and


preferences of this very physically, socially and financially vulnerable population.”


So when implementing Cal MediConnect, she said, health


and social service professionals need to assess the individual needs and preferences of older adults,


of taking a one-size-fits-all approach. Fortunately,


she said, the


MediConnect program already has in it “person-centered” language.


But it should go one step farther


and take into account “the role and meaning of a pet in these individuals’ lives,”


said Kietzman, noting that


the HOME project findings clearly show that in addition to in-home care, transportation and easy access to health care, the elderly need a “warm-blooded companion” to keep them from feeling socially isolated.


instead Cal


care


approach to understanding to


Established 2006 Angela Jones, Publisher Chris Parks, Editor


Rae Willis, Graphic Designer Ida Davis, Contributing Writer


a character PO Box 10414 ● Norfolk, VA 23513


Sales and Information 757-575-1863 info@hamptonroadsmessenger.com Copyright pertaining to contents of this edition. All rights reserved.


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