Just an FYI, I completely spaced my eye appt on Friday 1/16/26. Due to my Diabetic Retinopathy, I’ll need to have injections in my eyes on Friday making it impossible to can Saturday 1/17/26 as planned. I wont be able to open my eyes for a couple of days. Unfortunately I have to get this done every 6-8 weeks. But not to worry, the Queen of the Canned™️ will be back on January 31st. Stay tuned!

Still Standing, Still Called™️ By: Vera McBride ©️2026 I’ve come to understand something that hardship tries to hide from us: pain is not proof of failure. It is often proof of preparation. Everything I’ve lived through, poverty, delayed education, long nights of worry, raising children without guarantees, mentoring others while carrying my own weight, has given me something no degree alone ever could: credibility of the soul. People don’t listen because life has been perfect; they listen because I’ve survived what they are surviving now. This is how I influence, not by standing above others, but by standing with them. I speak to the people who feel ashamed of where they are and remind them that a steppingstone often looks like a stumbling block when you’re standing on it. I help them reframe their struggle, not as a sentence, but as a signal, proof that something greater is being formed beneath the surface. I tell them, “This is not the chapter where you quit. This is the chapter where your strength is being named.” I influence by telling the truth. By saying, faith does not cancel fear, it carries it. By saying, you can believe in God and still feel tired. By saying, delay does not mean denial. When people hear that, something loosens inside them. They stop measuring themselves by their moment and start measuring themselves by their mission. I am teaching others to inventory what they already have, their skills, their stories, their resilience, and to stop waiting for permission to use them. I show them how knowledge, experience, and faith can be turned into leverage, even when resources are low. I help them see that greatness is not reserved for the unbroken, but for the willing. Most of all, I remind them that influence begins the moment you decide not to hide. When you tell your story out loud, you give someone else language for their own survival. When you stand firm in a hard season, you become living evidence that storms do pass, and that the ground they’re standing on can become the foundation they build upon.

Continued from Part 1 Mental health challenges weave through all of these difficulties. Depression is not simply feeling sad, it's a clinical condition that saps energy, destroys motivation, and makes even simple tasks feel insurmountable. Anxiety transforms every unexpected phone call into potential disaster, every medical appointment into an ordeal, every financial decision into a source of paralyzing worry. These conditions are common among older adults facing health and financial challenges but remain chronically under-addressed. Stigma prevents many from seeking help. Shortage of mental health providers, particularly those who accept Medicare and/or Medicaid, makes treatment inaccessible even for those who overcome stigma. Assistive technologies and community support offer hope but come with their own barriers. Hearing aids cost thousands of dollars and often aren't covered by insurance. Mobility devices require homes modified to accommodate them. Vision Impairment is a whole different ball game. Having recently been diagnosed with Diabetic Retinopathy, makes navigating the world almost impossible. One moment your vision is clear, and the next instant. bright lights are blinding, watching television is painful and to boot, injections are required in the eyes to combat the swelling, making it difficult to just open your eyes and enjoy the sun on your face. There are community programs that provide transportation, meals, or social contact but they are chronically underfunded and often unknown to those who need them most. For someone struggling just to get through each day, researching and accessing these resources represents yet another burden on already depleted reserves.

The grand challenges of unemployment, disability, and housing insecurity manifest in countless daily struggles that erode quality of life and hope in equal measure. For someone at 61 managing health issues while fighting financial instability, every day brings a gauntlet of obstacles that most people never consider, challenges that compound isolation, increase danger, and chip away at mental health already strained to the breaking point. Mobility Barriers Limited mobility affects access to transportation, making doctor's appointments, grocery shopping, and social activities. From a personal standpoint dealing with Peripheral Neuropathy, especially in my right foot, makes is difficult to drive when the foot falls completely numb. Vision Impairment Declining vision affects reading, driving, recognizing faces, and navigating environments. True story, I inadvertently scared two of my former colleagues when my vision turned stark white. I could not see the monitor and barely made it home without incident. If I am to be completely transparent, I scared myself. Hearing Loss plays into this as well. Mental Health Depression and anxiety are common companions for physical disability and financial stress but remain under-addressed in older populations. The Isolation Trap Mobility impairments create perhaps the most pervasive daily challenges. Transportation limitations mean that essential errands, picking up prescriptions, buying groceries, attending medical appointments, become logistical nightmares requiring careful planning and often depending on the availability of others. Public transportation, where it exists, may be physically inaccessible or require walking distances that pain and fatigue make impossible. Paratransit services offer alternatives but typically require advance booking that doesn't accommodate the unpredictability of chronic illness. The result is increasing isolation, as the effort required to leave home eventually exceeds the energy available. Vision and Hearing loss compound these difficulties in ways that aren't immediately obvious to those who haven't experienced them. A person with hearing impairment may avoid social gatherings because following conversations in noisy environments is exhausting and embarrassing. Someone with declining vision may stop reading, once a source of pleasure and escape, because the strain triggers headaches and frustration. These sensory losses also create safety concerns: not hearing approaching vehicles, not seeing obstacles on sidewalks, not being able to read medication labels or expiration dates on food.

The specter of homelessness haunts an increasing number of older Americans, transforming what should be golden years into a daily struggle for basic survival. Justice in Aging reports staggering numbers (See Table below): over 8 million seniors live in poverty, and nearly 5 million survive on less than $1,000 per month. In an era of skyrocketing rents and stagnant benefits, these figures translate to impossible choices between medication and meals, between utilities and housing, between dignity and desperation. I can personally attest to the impossible choices. A Growing Crisis Older adults are increasingly represented in the homeless population, a trend driven by the convergence of economic insecurity, health decline, and housing instability. Someone who has managed to maintain housing on a fixed income for years may suddenly find themselves unhoused when rent increases outpace Social Security cost-of-living adjustments. And, given today's Administration, Social Security is at risk every day. The psychological impact of the unknown is quite significant. A medical crisis that depletes savings can cascade into missed rent payments and eventual eviction. If married, the death of a spouse or partner may eliminate a second income that made housing affordable. Unlike younger homeless individuals, older adults face unique vulnerabilities on the streets. Chronic health conditions worsen rapidly without stable shelter and regular access to medical care. The psychological trauma of homelessness compounds existing mental health challenges, creating a downward spiral that becomes harder to escape with each passing day. Systemic Failures Eviction protections, while improving in some jurisdictions, remain insufficient to meet the scale of the crisis. Even where legal protections exist, many older adults lack the knowledge or resources to assert their rights. Landlords may use harassment to force tenants out and once someone loses housing, the barriers to regaining it multiply poor credit and gaps in rental history,