Twenty years ago, then-Gov. Rudy Perpich said that our method of subsidizing people in nursing homes with tax dollars was not sustainable. It’s a welfare system that has to be changed to an insurance system. We’ve done little to change that, and if we don’t change it, in 20 years it could bankrupt our state government.

The elephant in the room that we are ignoring is a U.S. and world population that is growing older and living longer. Currently more than 25 percent of Freeborn County population is over 65, and that number will continue to increase dramatically in the coming years. By 2030 people over 65 will be 20 percent of the U.S. population. The large boomer population is rapidly reaching retirement age and with it a need for more services that currently do not exist in our area in sufficient quantities — affordable housing, nutritional meals, regional transportation, services to help people stay in their homes. We are grateful and encouraged that Mayo is always addressing health care issues on our behalf. What are we doing to create services to keep people healthy and in their homes?

All of these issues are included under Communities for a Lifetime, a statewide initiative that is not yet being addressed here. Our Vitality Project is a piece of that initiative. No one is suggesting that these services be available free but rather at affordable rates or subsidized by insurance. All of these needs would create jobs and pump more money into our local economy.

In California the role of government has diminished and deteriorated for some years now. My California relatives like to remind me that we all need to lower our expectations, make do and live on less for the foreseeable future. As Matt Benda stated, things could get worse before they get better. According to Bread for the World, 26,000 people around the world die of hunger every day. Because of our safety net, that doesn’t happen in the U.S.

Aren’t both hunger issues and communities for a lifetime valid quality of life concerns for our Vitality Project in addition to health-related matters? How are we in Albert Lea and Freeborn County going to address these needs right here in our midst?

Lenore Fries

Albert Lea