#122. Aging in Rural Humboldt: Meals, Medicare, and the Care Gap | Maggie Kraft

Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, it's Scott Hammond with the 100% Humboldt podcast, with my new best friend and guest, Maggie Kraft. Hi, Maggie.

Maggie Kraft: Hi there. How you doing?

Scott Hammond: I am very well. It's good to see you.

Maggie Kraft: You too.

Scott Hammond: It's good to be back here in my podcast chair.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, after a little trip.

Scott Hammond: Yep, got out, got out of town. Took Joanie away for her 40- our 46th anniversary.

Maggie Kraft: I wa- I thought you were gonna say her 40th birthday, and I was like, "Ah."

Scott Hammond: My 40th.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you, you started way, you got married way before you were

Maggie Kraft: born.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Th- that math does not add up.

Maggie Kraft: Nope.

Scott Hammond: So te- tell me who you are, what do you do?

Maggie Kraft: Who am I? Well, I'm Maggie. What do I do? Uh, right now I'm the executive director at the Area One Agency on Aging, and I've been there for about, since '12, so going on 14 years.

Scott Hammond: Wow. Ran the show. Tell us, tell us about Area One.

Maggie Kraft: Oh.

Scott Hammond: A1AA, and you wanna call it triple A.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, we don't have to since-

Scott Hammond: We could call it that

Maggie Kraft: … this is a State Farm-enhanced show here.

Scott Hammond: It's not on purpose.

Maggie Kraft: No, no, I know. Um-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wait. Do I have… Oh, I had it on.

Maggie Kraft: Oh, wait. He, he does.

Scott Hammond: Oh, I didn't know.

Maggie Kraft: He does. Oh, he didn't know. Well. Uh, so, uh, the Area One Agency on Aging has been around since

Maggie Kraft: 1980, and the first director there, executive director, was Patty Berg-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … who passed, just passed recently this last year-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … already. And it was started when the Older Americans Act, which is a federal piece of legislation, passed to, uh, really

Maggie Kraft: encourage better services for older adults.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Just, uh, y- the same thing that was happening with Social Security and lack of revenue, money for people as they grew older, for a lot of people. Um, looking at the systems, looking at services, and so the federal

Maggie Kraft: government mandated that there would be area agencies throughout the

Maggie Kraft: country.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Each state does it a little bit differently.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Uh, but there's a state unit on aging always, and then there's triple As throughout the, the, the, the states.

Maggie Kraft: And ours, we have 33 area agencies on aging in the state.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.

Maggie Kraft: And our program serves Humboldt and Del Norte Counties.

Scott Hammond: So we serve two counties.

Maggie Kraft: Two counties. Some serve five, some serve seven.

Scott Hammond: How does it rank in terms of services? Do you, is it bigger, more quality in your, your mind compared to, say, Imperial or San Diego County?

Maggie Kraft: I think that's not a question-

Scott Hammond: Do, do we do pretty good?

Maggie Kraft: … that's not a question that is easy to answer.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Depends how, what you're ranking on.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: Um, I would say in terms of volunteers and commitment, we rank

Maggie Kraft: top.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: In terms of the people that work with us, the people who volunteer with us, our board, our advisory council, yeah, we're the best. But in terms of if you're talking funding-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … or available services, obviously, like any other rural area, we

Maggie Kraft: struggle.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: The, the funding is primarily based on population.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Maggie Kraft: So-

Scott Hammond: So we're behind the eight ball immediately.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: Because you have to, any business, you know, any business you have to have enough money to open your doors and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … keep your office going, and the- that costs pretty much a certain amount.

Maggie Kraft: And-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … and while we don't have the rents that they have in LA, our gas prices are better than any.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: So I mean, it, it's hard to putting a positive slant on it. Why am I doing that? Our gas prices are terrible.

Scott Hammond: We gotta do a hard stop on that one.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

Scott Hammond: We have the best gas prices in America.

Maggie Kraft: We do.

Scott Hammond: We're awesome.

Maggie Kraft: More is good. Um- Be better. Uh, so anyway, it's, um, but there are certain services that the federal government mandates you provide at some level.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And so those, uh, tend to be the ones that those of us who barely get in enough money to do those, do those.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, some of the areas that get more can do more things.

Scott Hammond: Right. And so volunteers are great.

Maggie Kraft: Volunteers, boy, without the volunteers in our programs, we'd, we'd be

Maggie Kraft: 20 people.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: Barely.

Scott Hammond: So-

Maggie Kraft: Barely

Scott Hammond: … and Patty Berg, she's legend, right?

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm. Yeah, Patty, Patty never slept, so that-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … she had the advantage in that she could work pretty much 24/7.

Scott Hammond: I met people like that.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Betty Chins claims she never sleeps.

Maggie Kraft: I think Betty, that's probably true.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: I have to.

Scott Hammond: I wanna do a shout-out to Patty Berg.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Even though she's not present in this dimension.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Hi, Patty.

Maggie Kraft: Hey, Patty. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Everybody loves her. I-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … what a go-getter, right?

Maggie Kraft: She was. She was great. And I, you know, when I moved up here, when I, I moved up here when I was 26-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … uh, to take the position as a director, executive director of a small agency called Redwoods Ombudsman.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And, um, that ran the long-term care ombudsman program and senior legal services back in the day. And she was the director then of, of the Area One

Maggie Kraft: Agency.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Maggie Kraft: And we got our funding, all of our funding really came through, through the Older Americans Act for the ombudsman program and for legal services, which both of those are mandated services and funded.

Scott Hammond: Who passed the act?

Maggie Kraft: Who?

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Was it, was that, like, Johnson or before that?

Maggie Kraft: God, you know, 'cause the funding didn't come until, like, the,

Maggie Kraft: the '80-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … um, or late '70s.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: But, but it, it happened, it was happening in the '60s.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Maggie Kraft: All the, this stuff was all kind of all those things that were happening-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … to recognize that we weren't supporting older adults-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … um, and the poverty that was being seen and things like

Maggie Kraft: that.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, but that it didn't really get funded and started up with any money until, until later, until the, that year.

Scott Hammond: Let's come back to the agency. I wanna know about-

Maggie Kraft: Okay

Scott Hammond: … uh, about Maggie.

Maggie Kraft: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Tell me, where, where were you, where are you from?

Maggie Kraft: I was born in San Francisco.

Scott Hammond: Wow. In the city.

Maggie Kraft: I was born there. I spent a great six months there, and then I moved-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … um, to Palo Alto.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And then, uh, grew up there. Had a great time.

Scott Hammond: Great.

Maggie Kraft: Not a bad place to grow up.

Scott Hammond: Great place.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Had good schools.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Had a crazy family. Still have a crazy family, but there's fewer of us.

Scott Hammond: Hey, who doesn't?

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. I mean, get in line. Um- And then I went to school in Santa Cruz.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: UC Santa Cruz.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Maggie Kraft: And after that, I moved to Sacramento and- After four years in Sacramento where every summer people would say, "It never gets this hot."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: I said, "I'm out of here." And so I started applying for positions-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … in Seattle, actually. I was getting my master's in social work and I thought, "Okay, I gotta get back to the ocean. I get back nearer-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … the water again." And so I was aiming for Seattle when the position that I told you about came open here and-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Maggie Kraft: … I applied and they picked me.

Scott Hammond: Pretty close to the ocean.

Maggie Kraft: It's darn, darn close.

Scott Hammond: This is where I point to my map.

Scott Hammond: See my map?

Maggie Kraft: I, I stare at your map.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wait.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, I'm staring at the map.

Scott Hammond: This is the best map ever.

Maggie Kraft: I love this map.

Scott Hammond: We're gonna show everybody that doesn't know where the ocean is. Wait. I have a light. Where's-

Maggie Kraft: Or maybe we will

Scott Hammond: … where's my… Oh, there it is. So this is Humboldt County, California. We're in Eureka.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And there is the ocean.

Maggie Kraft: Does he do this every show or is this just-

Scott Hammond: I try to use my map.

Maggie Kraft: Oh, okay. Okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: Okay. Now, where's Hayfork?

Scott Hammond: Hayfork? Hayfork is right out… Hayfork is east, so it's along this 36 out this way. It's probably right here on this edge right in here.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Okay.

Scott Hammond: This is… I've never done the quiz.

Scott Hammond: Go for it.

Maggie Kraft: Um, well, I do-

Scott Hammond: Do I, do I get a Dick Taylor bar?

Maggie Kraft: You do. I do wanna mention that, um… So funny thing, now that there's maps, you know, you can Google-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … places and how to get places, and we used to have state auditors come up. They don't come since COVID. And, you know, they'd al- we'd always be very careful. We'd say, you know, they're going, "Well, we're gonna come up 5, but we're gonna take 36." And we're like, "No, no, no."

Scott Hammond: No.

Maggie Kraft: "Don't do that. Don't do that, okay?"

Scott Hammond: No, Ned, no.

Maggie Kraft: And so, so we would tell them, "No, the best thing, come up 20. That's, you know, come up that way is-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Maggie Kraft: … probably the best way." Well, when we got audited, um, at, during COVID at some point, they were disallowing a cost because the person receiving whatever we were doing lived in Carlotta or whatever else is out there, and they couldn't find it on a map.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Maggie Kraft: So they were saying it doesn't exist, and we're like, "You don't have the right map."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: So from now on, if they ever come back, I'm saying, "You need to take 36. It's the best way to get here."

Scott Hammond: Then they'll know.

Maggie Kraft: 'Cause then they'll see Carlotta. They'll know. They'll see everything, but, um-

Scott Hammond: They're from Dinsmore.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It, yeah, it was, it was something like

Maggie Kraft: that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: It's like just 'cause you can't find it on a map doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Scott Hammond: We're from Mad River, California.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Where?

Maggie Kraft: It's crazy. Crazy stuff.

Scott Hammond: That's funny.

Maggie Kraft: So yeah. I'm looking forward to them auditing again, so I can give them good

Maggie Kraft: directions.

Scott Hammond: Early in our marriage, my mom came from Iowa and she said, "Hey, Bob, look. It's a shortcut through 36."

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: This is when 36 was like… This is 40 years ago.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It was just crap. It was still dirt road and-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and, and he got so mad when he, they arrived. He was fuming.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wanda.

Scott Hammond: Anyway.

Maggie Kraft: You are no longer my navigator.

Scott Hammond: E- ever.

Maggie Kraft: Yes. Ever.

Scott Hammond: So back to Palo Alto.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: I have, uh, two new hips from Stanford that are… Well, they're not new. They're 13 years old now.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Same day.

Maggie Kraft: You had two what now?

Scott Hammond: Two hips.

Maggie Kraft: Oh, oh.

Scott Hammond: Bilateral hip surgery.

Maggie Kraft: I thought you were telling me you had twins.

Scott Hammond: No, no.

Maggie Kraft: But then you said 13 years, and then I said, "Oh, the hip." But you do kind of have

Maggie Kraft: twins.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: They're hipsters.

Scott Hammond: Tw-

Maggie Kraft: I, I swear to God

Scott Hammond: … two hipsters.

Maggie Kraft: You have two hipster twins. Or-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … no, that's repetitive, but yeah.

Scott Hammond: They're still working, though. That's the good thing.

Maggie Kraft: That's good.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Palo Alto's fun.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: We stayed up on the hill by the linear accelerator and the-

Maggie Kraft: Oh, okay. Um-

Scott Hammond: … whatever that's, it's has a-

Maggie Kraft: SLAC

Scott Hammond: … SLAC. Thank you. Ooh.

Maggie Kraft: Stanford Linear Accelerator s-

Maggie Kraft: cuz.

Scott Hammond: The beginning of micro, of, um, whatever that technology that gives us Google.

Scott Hammond: Anyway.

Maggie Kraft: Oh.

Scott Hammond: Um, beautiful area.

Maggie Kraft: I was gonna say microbrewery, but that's not it.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So did you see the Grateful Dead growing up and hang out?

Maggie Kraft: No.

Scott Hammond: No? Okay.

Maggie Kraft: No.

Scott Hammond: I figured that would be-

Maggie Kraft: No, I was-

Scott Hammond: … part of that

Maggie Kraft: … yeah, no.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, 'cause they were all part of Bay Area thing anyway.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. I was a little younger than them.

Scott Hammond: So you went-

Maggie Kraft: Still am

Scott Hammond: … you went to school in, in s- in Sac? Or s- no, you went to Santa Cruz.

Maggie Kraft: Santa Cruz. UC Santa Cruz.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Went there and then went to Sac for my master's in social work.

Scott Hammond: Very cool.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: UC Santa Cruz, what are they? The s- banana slugs.

Maggie Kraft: We are the slugs.

Scott Hammond: The slugs.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What a great school that is. I've been to that campus and-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. They changed it to sea, the sea lions at some point. They changed because they thought, "Oh, slugs."

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Maggie Kraft: It's so-

Scott Hammond: Slugs

Maggie Kraft: … but, but the slugs won, are back.

Scott Hammond: Lumberjacks were gonna be the marbled murrelets.

Maggie Kraft: Say that fast.

Scott Hammond: They didn't change that.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. No, it's, that's a no.

Scott Hammond: N- they wasn't su- they weren't successful.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, you came and started this new job with, uh-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … ombudsman.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, I did that for about 10 years.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Maggie Kraft: And then I, um, went w- and I started working with a senior center. I ran their social services and their adult day health, Alzheimer's services.

Scott Hammond: It's, it's down in Wabash over that way?

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, California.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Uh, which is where my offices were before. We were co-located there anyway.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: So, um, so then I transitioned to that, and then after we raised the money to build the Alzheimer's Resource Center-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … I said, "Geez, I need a break," and I joined the Peace Corps.

Scott Hammond: Wow, that's pretty rad.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What year was that? What-

Maggie Kraft: It's a joke 'cause you don't join the Peace Corps if you need a break. But- … anyway.

Scott Hammond: What year was that?

Maggie Kraft: That was '11, 2011.

Scott Hammond: Did you travel?

Maggie Kraft: I did some.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: I did some.

Scott Hammond: What'd you do?

Maggie Kraft: Well, I traveled around Botswana.

Scott Hammond: That's-

Maggie Kraft: Fun times

Scott Hammond: … pretty rad.

Maggie Kraft: Pretty flat. Pretty, uh, um… But I went, I went to South Africa, Cape Town.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Uh, Johannesburg. I went to, uh, um, where else did I go? Uh, Zambia. I didn't go a lot of places. Victoria Falls, I went there just because I wasn't there to travel.

Maggie Kraft: That wasn't-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … that wasn't why we were there.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: But yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow. How many years?

Maggie Kraft: I was, I was there for about a y- year and a half, and then I, they called me back. They s- you know, a friend of mine called and he goes, "You know, Maga, I've been in the Peace Corps. I know what you're doing, but we need you to come back here."

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Maggie Kraft: I won't name his name, but, um. And it was, my dad had died, um, a little earlier, and I was concerned about my stepmom.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Maggie Kraft: You know, how well… She wasn't doing that great, so I said, "Okay,

Maggie Kraft: fine." Yep.

Scott Hammond: I love it. I love a midlife Peace Corps-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Yeah

Scott Hammond: … journey.

Maggie Kraft: And we had, there were about 40 of us in the group.

Maggie Kraft: 39.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Maggie Kraft: One didn't get on the bus in New York. But, um, and About a quarter of us were

Maggie Kraft: over 40.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Maggie Kraft: And, uh, they call Botswana Peace Corps Peace Corps Lite.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Maggie Kraft: It's, you know, it's in terms of African countries, it's doing pretty well-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … or had been doing pretty well for itself.

Maggie Kraft: And so, um, but yeah, we had about 20, you know, a quarter of us were over

Maggie Kraft: 40.

Scott Hammond: That's really cool.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: I love that. So coming back, was it tough?

Maggie Kraft: I couldn't go into a Costco. That was too overwhelming.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Maggie Kraft: I mean, it still is for, for, you know, there are times you have to choose consciously, I'm gonna go in there with those people.

Maggie Kraft: But,

Maggie Kraft: um-

Scott Hammond: Those, those people

Maggie Kraft: … and then when you go, you have to just chill out and not be one of those

Maggie Kraft: people. So-

Scott Hammond: Oh, dear

Maggie Kraft: … I don't go to Costco unless I can just go with the flow.

Scott Hammond: Joanie goes weekly, and she said it's, there's never slow Costco anymore.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Used to be slow Costco times. It's never that way.

Maggie Kraft: You know where, I found out when it was, 'cause I didn't know this. But apparently on Sunday they close at 6:00. I didn't know that.

Scott Hammond: Yes.

Maggie Kraft: So I got in there at 5:30, and I'm wa- and I'm doing a slow wander looking at

Maggie Kraft: things.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And I start looking around and go, "God, it's so not busy here. What's going on?" And then I-

Scott Hammond: That's, that's the time

Maggie Kraft: … and then I see someone, she's looking at me, and I go, "Are you guys closing?" She goes, "Yeah, we're closing." So I, you know, I got myself, you know, I took that seriously. Got myself together to go out, you know, get in line, and there are still people wandering around not even caring.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Maggie Kraft: I'm like, yeah, it's 5:30 on a Sunday. Just go. They won't kick you out.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: If, I mean, eventually they, I didn't stay.

Scott Hammond: Eventually you have to go, but yeah.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. But it, oh, it was nice. It was like everyone was just focused and moving and-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Maggie Kraft: … and yeah.

Scott Hammond: We used to do a date night there, which is kind of weird. I guess maybe not if you're from McKinleyville, but- Love you, McKinleyville. But yeah, we would go down and get, uh, snacks and food, all the weekly stuff, and-

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … there was no children involved, so that was-

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … that was a win.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, no.

Scott Hammond: There was no k- no one yelling for anything.

Maggie Kraft: Well, not your kids.

Scott Hammond: None of our kids.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Somebody's yelling for something.

Scott Hammond: Funny thing is we'd see other people on date nights there.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: That was the, that was the s- the strange and funny part.

Maggie Kraft: That's pretty good.

Scott Hammond: So back to your current gig. Um, tell, what kind of divisions of A1A

Scott Hammond: are there?

Maggie Kraft: Well, we do a lot of different things.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, we have, uh, I mean, there's t- there's two main parts of what we do. One is we provide services ourselves, and the other is we, excuse me, provide funding to other agencies to provide some of the mandated services.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And so the part of that is then we have to monitor them. We have to track how they're spending the money.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Maggie Kraft: We have to do all that kind of stuff. Uh, we have, we also parted that administrative pieces to develop a plan, an annual plan, actually a four-year plan that we update every year-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Maggie Kraft: … um, that talks about the population, the needs, the issues, talks about what services we're gonna provide with the money we get to try to address those

Maggie Kraft: issues.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Get input from the community on those, uh, on, on ideas and services.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Maggie Kraft: So, and, and, you know, that whole idea is, in a way I think, originally predicated on the fact that you could actually talk to people about what is needed and do those things because you would somehow have all the money you needed to do those things, and everyone would agree on what those things

Maggie Kraft: were. And when, and once you did them for a while, if you were trying to solve problems, you would solve problems. But, uh, the issues are the same. They were, as they were 20, 30 years ago.

Maggie Kraft: I mean-

Scott Hammond: So they're the same, okay.

Maggie Kraft: Well, it's, you know, housing, healthcare-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … uh, transportation-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … caregiving. Uh, these are, I mean, we see it again and again, and why would they change?

Scott Hammond: Good point.

Maggie Kraft: And why would they change if, if, you know, if you haven't made, uh, locations closer to each other.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: If you haven't, you know, I mean, if you haven't made housing, built enough housing, if you haven't supported your healthcare system so it can actually, it's not run by insurance companies, but it's actually run

Maggie Kraft: by people-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … who are taking care of you and you're taking care of yourself.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And if we don't have a system in place for anybody but family members to really be providing the bulk of care for people, though, how would it

Maggie Kraft: change?

Scott Hammond: Good point.

Maggie Kraft: So, but, so we do that process on that end, and

Maggie Kraft: we, and then we have to give a bulk of some of this funding to three different services.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And by the time we give that to, uh, legal services, access, they call it, which is our information assistance, 'cause if you don't know who to call, then you're not gonna get anything.

Maggie Kraft: So getting-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Maggie Kraft: … letting people know we're there and call, and we may not ser- provide the service, but we'll help you find the service.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Maggie Kraft: And, and then the other one is in-home, which is trying to provide some kind of service to people in their home.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Well, what do people need? They need household chores done. They need laundry. They need shopping. They need cooking.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: They need personal care. They need all this stuff, and the problem with this is they don't need it once, one and done.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: If I need shopping or laundry done, I probably need that on a regular basis.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: So we're, a lot of these programs aren't funded to provide that on a regular basis.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: So that's challenging. Um-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Maggie Kraft: … and,

Maggie Kraft: and then, then we're supposed to be providing nutrition program, nutrition services, either a, a home-delivered meal, Meals on Wheels-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … or for f- that's for people who can't go into the centers or at the center what they call congregate dining.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: So we provide funding to the Humboldt Senior Resource Center and Del Norte Senior Center to provide meals.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: What we found out during COVID that, well, first of all, during COVID, a, a lot of people who would never have gone to the senior center needed meals, so, and we, they, we switched into drive-up meals so people could drive up and get their meals.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Maggie Kraft: Um,

Maggie Kraft: but there's just not money for that, and the food costs, transportation costs is just

Maggie Kraft: going up.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: So, so these rules have been laid out and made by this law, and the state is supposed to put additional funding into it to match the federal government's funds, and local communities are also supposed to pitch

Maggie Kraft: in.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, but it's harder and harder for all those entities to, to keep doing

Maggie Kraft: that.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: Um, and, and so the, the funding has not kept up simply with the number of people that are turning 60 every year-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … living longer

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's acute.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So it's kind of like a giant wave that continues to build.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. And, um, uh, I'll talk about that in… But I wanted the last service I w- two other services I wanna mention-

Scott Hammond: Please. Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … is really that are funded by the Older Americans Act. One is family caregiver support, which is something that a lot of family caregivers don't think they're caregivers.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: My, my s- my step-mom was the same. I, I remember showing up at, at their house one day, and she was stressed out. I've never seen her stressed out.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And she was saying kinda not such nice things about my dad-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Maggie Kraft: … which she's never done. And I looked, I go, "Lorna, what's going on? You are really stressed out."

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Maggie Kraft: I said, "We need to get you some support."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: She doesn't live here. She lives down in the Bay Area. I go, "We need to get you some caregiver." "I'm not a caregiver."

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Maggie Kraft: I said, "What do you mean you're not a caregiver?" "Well, I don't get paid."

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: That's not the dition- the definition of caregiving.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: But family caregivers-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … they just think this is part of what you do for your spouse or your parents.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: And it is, and you're also a caregiver.

Scott Hammond: And you're a caregiver.

Maggie Kraft: So a lot of people don't think about that, but-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … there's support groups. There's education.

Scott Hammond: I love it.

Maggie Kraft: There's counseling. Um, there's respite funds to pay for somebody to come in and give you a break-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … so that you can still go to your doctor's appointments. You can still go see your friends and all those things while you're caring for

Maggie Kraft: somebody.

Scott Hammond: Have a life.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: I mean… And then the last one is, it's health promotion, so-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Maggie Kraft: … primarily we do exercise classes.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Uh, because fall prevention is critical. The, the… People, once you fall once, you're likely to keep falling.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And then you start limiting what you do out of fear of

Maggie Kraft: falling.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: You don't wanna leave your house. You can walk around your house kinda holding onto things.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Maggie Kraft: You know? How many people– There's a lot of people who drive to the grocery store-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … grab a cart as soon as they can-

Scott Hammond: Ah

Maggie Kraft: … and that's how they move around.

Scott Hammond: That's their walker.

Maggie Kraft: And I mean, there's a… And, and it's-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Maggie Kraft: … but they're going. They're doing it. And, and, uh, we're always adapting to whatever we have to adapt to.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: But building strength, maintaining strength.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: We lose a lot of muscle. We lose a lot of-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … strength as we get older. If you're not doing something to maintain it, you're losing it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: So those are the main things we offer. In Del Norte, we also do a lot of digital divide classes.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: So teaching people how to use iPads and things like that.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.

Maggie Kraft: Our staff person up there is the one they come in to say, "How do I get my phone to do this, that, and the other thing." We also have those classes, uh, some classes

Maggie Kraft: here-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Maggie Kraft: … in, in Humboldt. We were heavy in Humboldt initially. Now we're heavier up in Del Norte.

Maggie Kraft: So-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Maggie Kraft: … we have a home share program.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: We match people with, uh, who have housing in a, a, a room that, to rent-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … with older adults primarily who can't afford a one-bedroom apartment in this community anymore.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: You know? 11, 13, $1,500 for a one-bedroom.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: What one single person can afford that if they're living on Social Security?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: So we're trying to do, uh,

Maggie Kraft: what we can-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … with a very limited funding base, and then we get other grants. We have our volunteer driver program-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … which is really important. We get money from the, uh,

Maggie Kraft: Caltrans.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And again, it's volunteers driving people to medical appointments and grocery

Maggie Kraft: stores.

Scott Hammond: Love it. I lo- I love this program. I think it's really, I mean, you're-

Maggie Kraft: There's one last one you know about.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Maggie Kraft: The one, the one you know about.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Maggie Kraft: The High Cap.

Scott Hammond: Well, let's talk about High Cap, and then let's talk about how… Let's do a shout-out. You can do a shout-out and websites and can we donate money? Is that okay?

Maggie Kraft: Oh, it's absolutely necessary, yes.

Scott Hammond: There's ways to do that?

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. You could, you could, uh, you could, uh, walk in and give us bags of cash. You can go to our website. You could send checks.

Scott Hammond: Can I bring a car?

Maggie Kraft: Can you bring a car?

Scott Hammond: Or a home?

Maggie Kraft: Um, well- You c- I bet you can't.

Maggie Kraft: Um-

Scott Hammond: Here's my home. I brought it with me.

Maggie Kraft: It's a tiny house.

Scott Hammond: It's, it's a mobile home.

Maggie Kraft: It's for elves. Um, yes. We, we also… You know, we're, we're working with a population, and many of them have re- uh, these are the people we help who have resources.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: They're having to do their, what, um, required minimum. What is it? The, the, out of their retirement funds, they have to, at a certain age, they have to pull the money out.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And if they don't, if they donate it, they don't pay taxes on it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: So we take those things. Um, but yeah, anything we can turn into cash or invest.

Scott Hammond: And how would we do that to get ahold of you before you talk about High Cap?

Maggie Kraft: You'd call me at my office.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Or there's a website?

Maggie Kraft: There's a website, but if you wanna talk about that kinda stuff, give me a call.

Scott Hammond: So estate planning, I could bequeath an estate.

Maggie Kraft: You could.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: You could.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Maggie Kraft: I know my, uh, when I look at… Don't let my family hear this, but my estate plan is basically any money I have left in my 403 is going to- …

Maggie Kraft: nonprofits.

Scott Hammond: That's cool. I like it.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, um, what's the website address?

Maggie Kraft: WWW.A1AA.ORG.

Scott Hammond: A1.A1AA.ORG.

Maggie Kraft: A1AA.ORG.

Scott Hammond: That's an easy one.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. And it's the letter one. Don't write out one.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. And how do we call you?

Maggie Kraft: I said the letter one.

Scott Hammond: You did.

Maggie Kraft: Okay.

Scott Hammond: The, the number one.

Maggie Kraft: I'm just testing.

Maggie Kraft: That's my-

Scott Hammond: It's a, it's a number

Maggie Kraft: … it's a number. The letter one. How do you what now?

Scott Hammond: How do we call you?

Maggie Kraft: Uh, our number. Seven-

Scott Hammond: With a, with a phone, I guess.

Maggie Kraft: Yo.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: How do I, how do I use this thing?

Scott Hammond: I really-

Maggie Kraft: I don't know. I-

Scott Hammond: I'm locked out.

Maggie Kraft: I think that… No. That's for, um, um, that's for cracking nuts, the one you have.

Scott Hammond: Oh, this one?

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. That's what that's for.

Scott Hammond: Oh, okay.

Maggie Kraft: Um, so it's 707-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … 442-3763.

Scott Hammond: 3763.

Maggie Kraft: Yep.

Scott Hammond: 442-3763. And if you're just joining me, Scott Hammond on the 100% Humboldt podcast with my amazing new best friend, Maggie Kraft. And as I'm looking over at Nick, he's amazing too, our producer. Nick Flores. He's-

Maggie Kraft: Yes, he is

Scott Hammond: … he's, he's the amazing guy. So, um, yeah, we're just talking about, uh, uh… Let's, let's top off with High Cap, but then I wanna know what's in the catalog over

Scott Hammond: there-

Maggie Kraft: Okay

Scott Hammond: … and kinda-

Maggie Kraft: Okay

Scott Hammond: … so High Cap does, does what?

Maggie Kraft: High Cap is, High Cap helps people with Medicare.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: It's one of our most popular programs because it really serves people of all, all income levels.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And, and many of the work, the services we provide, we tend to serve people more who are lower income, um, just by the nature of the kind of work we're doing. But HICAP hits everybody, and Medicare-

Scott Hammond: It did

Maggie Kraft: … hits everybody, and it hits-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … people really hard and really, really stupidly. Um, I just got an email, not personal email, but from this guy named Ke- Ken Dykewald, who is a, a 76-year-old, I guess he said, a guy that's been studying and talking about aging and all this stuff. He's been around doing this. And he says, "Hey, I'm 76, and I'm willing to admit right now that you, you could, you could offer me a million dollars to explain Medicare to you, and I wouldn't be able to take the

Maggie Kraft: money."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: He's like, "I can't figure this stuff out."

Scott Hammond: It's got complexity.

Maggie Kraft: And, um, I, and I was thinking he could probably figure it out for a million bucks. I mean, hire somebody.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: But any way to help you.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: But it's, it's unnecessary complex.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: I mean, most of us who you, if you have insurance or even Medi-Cal, if you have these things, it's all taken

Maggie Kraft: care of.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: It's one thing. Your, your prescriptions are paid for part of it, your-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … well, everything, and instead Medicare, they've got Part A for and Part B, and then you have Part D, and then you have these supplemental things and Medigap things and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … and it's, it's a scam. I mean, when people talk about wanting Medicare for All, what they mean is they want healthcare for all.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: We want healthcare for all. We, we don't necessarily want you to all have Medicare-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … but the idea of having that coverage. But Medicare doesn't pay for a lot of things too.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: So, um, you know, there's no dental, there's no eye

Maggie Kraft: care. All these things don't make a lot of sense.

Scott Hammond: Then there's MedSup policies that you can buy to-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … cover some of that.

Maggie Kraft: To cover some of that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: And, and so, you know, when people go, "Oh, I can't wait till I'm 65. I'm gonna be on Medicare," well, if you're… I mean, I'm gonna be 65 next year, and I will be paying out of pocket as much as I'm paying out of pocket now for my

Maggie Kraft: insurance.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Because my in- my, where I work pays the bulk of my insurance. So if I were unemployed-

Scott Hammond: Right

Maggie Kraft: … at my age right now, I would never have insurance. I couldn't afford it. It's too expensive.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: Um, and I know people who, who are in that situation.

Maggie Kraft: Um-

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Maggie Kraft: So what we do at HICAP, the main thing where we get really super busy is during open enrollment for the drug plans-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … which is in the fall.

Scott Hammond: Coverage D.

Maggie Kraft: Coverage D.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Because these drug plans can change. Uh, you know, you could have a plan you like and everything's going on fine.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: They might decide to take the drug you're taking off their plan.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Maggie Kraft: Or you might have another drug coming into your life that wasn't, you weren't taking last year, and now-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … it's not on that plan. So it's always a good idea to compare the meds you're taking with the plan you have to make sure it's the best for you, 'cause things change.

Scott Hammond: And you have people that can guide that process.

Maggie Kraft: We do. Unfortunately, we can't do it for, like, the 30,000 plus or, uh, however many there are people 65 and over in the two

Maggie Kraft: counties.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: But we teach people how to do it themselves.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, we do some workshops to just introductory, but, but you can do a lot of this on the website. But if you don't have internet-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … or you can't see your phone enough, uh, having a phone and a website, ugh.

Scott Hammond: It's a combo, yeah.

Maggie Kraft: So we do it for a lot of people who, um, just… We have people come in, though. Some of them, it's like their annual fall trek.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Maggie Kraft: I mean, it's almost like, "Well, we're getting ready for the holidays. Let's go have our Medicare appointment."

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Maggie Kraft: And they come in and they go, "This is what I think I should do," and, "Oh, hi, good to see you," and then they-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … you know, and then they get… We re- reassure them that they thought it through well, and they, you know, they picked the right plan or-

Scott Hammond: That's really cool

Maggie Kraft: … but, but it's hard because I'm, you know, I'm kinda like, "Hey, staff, let's help the people who can't figure it out by

Maggie Kraft: themselves."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: "Let's help the people with, like, 15 drugs."

Scott Hammond: Let's coach those guys.

Maggie Kraft: Let's help those people, or the low, or help-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … the people who qualify get some of the low-income, um, stipends and things that-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … to help lower their costs. So it's a balancing act, 'cause we want to help everybody, but there's

Maggie Kraft: no way.

Scott Hammond: I love this. I love your heart toward this whole…

Scott Hammond: It's so daunting. There's such… It, it's, it sounds like a huge challenge, and it's beautiful.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. It's a huge challenge, and it's… Sometimes it's ugly, but-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … it's ul- ultimately the work that our volunteers and staff are doing is just

Maggie Kraft: fantastic.

Scott Hammond: I bet there's a bunch of wins too, where it's-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … like, we helped.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: We helped Nova. She's great.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: She's, she's rocking. She's got, she's dialed in.

Maggie Kraft: There are, there are some things, uh, that are, you know, happen that you realize if it weren't for our staff or somebody, but we are the ones.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: If, if our staff hadn't stepped in and helped, nobody would have known.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Maggie Kraft: Or they would, uh, you know, there are things that happen all the time that, that those of us in the system just assume that the hospital and the insurance and all the par- players in the process are all doing it right.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And everything's gonna work out fine, but that's not always the case.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: And, and people don't know. You don't know what you don't know.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: Um, so we do from time to time see situations where, yeah, that's not against the law, but it's against good ethical practice.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Maggie Kraft: And, and, um, and so we're there to kinda support the person-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … 'cause people don't wanna stand up to the system. They don't wanna, you know, make a stink so that they don't have, you know, all of a sudden they can't see their doctor, they can't go… I mean, they need advocates.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: Uh, same for the ombudsman program, going into nursing homes and advocating for

Maggie Kraft: those folks.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, tho- a lot of those people, they're like, "This is where I live."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: "These people take care of me. If I rock the boat, I worry."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: And, and,

Maggie Kraft: you know- Maybe nothing's gonna happen, but you can't tell somebody who's dependent on someone else not to worry.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: So what we have to do is build, you know, gain trust, work with them, and try to help them resolve the problems-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … in a way that they're comfortable with, and that takes time and a certain… It takes, uh, sensitivity and a, um-

Scott Hammond: Relationships

Maggie Kraft: … relationships, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So ombudsman, do they just do only care homes?

Maggie Kraft: They do long-term care facilities.

Scott Hammond: Primary. Okay

Maggie Kraft: So nursing, skilled nursing facilities-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … and what we call residential care facilities for the elderly, which-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Granada is the-

Maggie Kraft: … now we call them, uh, assisted living. But like Granada is a skilled nursing facility.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: So, um, and-

Scott Hammond: Timber Ridge

Maggie Kraft: … Timber Ridge is a- an assisted living facility.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh. Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, the m- the primary, I mean, the main differences is, well, some of it is re- resources.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Nursing homes can be paid, reimbursed by Medicaid, Medi-Cal, or Medicare, but the Medicare is limited.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, Medicare is usually gonna reimburse them if you're in the hospital and you break your hip and you need rehab.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Medicare will pay for rehab, but once you get through the amount of days that they think you need to rehab-

Scott Hammond: You're on your own

Maggie Kraft: … you're… And if you, and if you don't keep getting better, you know, if you're, if you're custodial versus improving, they won't, Medicare won't pay. But then you have to pay privately-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Maggie Kraft: … or you are, get on Medicaid or Medi-Cal. I keep saying Medicaid-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … 'cause it's, that's the world. But, um, so that's a hardship for many people.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: Assisted living is all, for the most part in our community, private pay.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: So you can't even really get in there, um, if you can't s- pay the monthly amount.

Scott Hammond: Which is not cheap.

Maggie Kraft: Nope.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: When I was a kid, as the ombudsman, um, when I moved up here, we still had a number of facilities that would take

Maggie Kraft: SSI-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … which is Supplemental Security Income-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … which is a low, a low bar. I mean, it's-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … people living on SSI aren't making very much money.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Maggie Kraft: But they would take people, a certain number of people who were just SSI recipients. Um-

Scott Hammond: No more

Maggie Kraft: … and they don't do that now.

Maggie Kraft: There's n-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … I don't think there's any facilities. There might be, there might be one facility that has a mix, not just for older adults, for others-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … but then it's challenging. You can't, it's not just… You can't afford to only take that.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: I mean, you have to run a business, too, so that's, that's the problem. We're not investing in the care of our elders.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So it's education and belief systems-

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … to start that results in, hopefully, funding.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And, um, so how can we help? I guess we can volunteer. We can send donations-

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … um, of all sorts of… You know, I always think about money. It's not just money.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-mm.

Scott Hammond: It's, like, what if I was amazing at technology and I could help get older folks

Scott Hammond: tech-savvy?

Maggie Kraft: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: I mean, that'd be great.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. We have, we do have volunteers who do our tech, um, you know, our

Maggie Kraft: digital-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … divide tech classes.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, we have volunteers, different parts of the community.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: And you know, volunteers, most of our volunteers are older, they're retired, and so their schedules change-

Scott Hammond: Right

Maggie Kraft: … or they wanna travel. But it's the, the, one of the things, the volunteer driver program is awesome for a, a volunteer who wants to make their own schedule because we have a system where you go online-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … you see the rides that are needed for the week, and you sign up for them.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Maggie Kraft: And if you're gone for a few weeks, you're gone for a few weeks.

Scott Hammond: So entry is easy to c- become a volunteer with you guys?

Maggie Kraft: For some programs, yeah. For that, yes. For becoming a Medicare counselor or an ombudsman, no.

Scott Hammond: There's training, yeah.

Maggie Kraft: It's like huge amount of training because-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … we want you to tell people the right thing.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Maggie Kraft: Um, but you know, for the exercise classes, there is training to become instructors. Um, volunteer driver program is the lowest bar, but you have to be-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … have the insurance levels and a good driving record-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … um, that we require. Because when you're driving for our agency, and if there's an accident, whether it's your fault

Maggie Kraft: or not-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … they're gonna go after you, they're gonna go after us, they're gonna go after whatever. And-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Maggie Kraft: … so we have to have our volunteers have good records-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … and the higher levels of insurance that you'd want to have.

Scott Hammond: And good insurance.

Maggie Kraft: And good insurance.

Scott Hammond: Good insurance.

Maggie Kraft: Oh, see, now I'm going there.

Scott Hammond: See? See?

Maggie Kraft: People don't- Yes. People don't realize that it, it's like, it's not how much your car is worth. It's how much you might have in assets in case somebody went after you.

Scott Hammond: It's true.

Maggie Kraft: And I, and you know, it's like, "Oh, yeah, my car is not worth that much." But no, you're insuring against the worst case scenario of you-

Scott Hammond: If you hurt-

Maggie Kraft: … something terrible happening or some-

Scott Hammond: If you hurt somebody's body

Maggie Kraft: … yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: Or somebody coming after you just 'cause they can.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: Um, and then you might lose your house.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Which we don't want that.

Maggie Kraft: No, we don't want that.

Scott Hammond: We don't. That's why you have good insurance. Um, so if there was, say, a woman aged 65 who lived in McKinleyville-

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … who's retired, kids are gone, husband still works or he's gone or whatever, and she had, like-

Maggie Kraft: He works or he's gone. Those are different.

Maggie Kraft: But anyway.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: He's gone working? Anyway, pick one.

Maggie Kraft: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Go- gone somewhere.

Maggie Kraft: He's gone.

Scott Hammond: Uh, out to lunch.

Maggie Kraft: Okay.

Scott Hammond: And so she had this time on her hands.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: She had this block of time-

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … Monday through Friday.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: I don't know, 9:00 to 3:00 PM every day. Uh, five, four days, five days a week.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: That person could actually give y'all a call and have an assessment-

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … of her, his skill le- skill levels-

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … skillsets, and get plugged into something really meaningful.

Maggie Kraft: Absolutely. And if they wanna, if this woman wants to actually work that much, she can have my job.

Scott Hammond: Wow. Okay. We have a open position, folks.

Maggie Kraft: No, but, uh, most people don't volunteer that much, but obviously. But yes, those are, I mean, our prime time for most of the work

Maggie Kraft: we do-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … is 9:00 to 5:00 kinda thing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: But we do some outreach weekends. Our, our rides are mostly during the medical work schedule.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: But if we had more volunteers-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … we could, we could do gro- more grocery driving. You know, we can do more things.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: There are doctors, there are now appointments people are getting on weekends.

Maggie Kraft: You know?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Sure.

Maggie Kraft: There's things that are happening.

Maggie Kraft: So- The beauty about having volunteers for a lot of this work is you can just expand exponentially-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … um, compared to the idea of having a staff person,

Maggie Kraft: and I mean-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … what the expenses around that.

Maggie Kraft: So, and it's, I have a friend who moved up here from, from Palo Alto.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, and he moved up here and he became a volunteer driver, and-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Maggie Kraft: … and he loves it because it was one way for him to get to know people-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … since he was new, but also get to know the community where, where things were because he had to drive around.

Scott Hammond: What a great idea.

Maggie Kraft: Um-

Scott Hammond: So if I wanted to volunteer-

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … or suggest that I talk to this said person-

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … we would call you at 707-442?

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: There's some ones in there.

Maggie Kraft: No, 3763.

Scott Hammond: 3763.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: When we talk to you, it'd be somebody in staff, right?

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. What you'd call, you know, you call, we have our different program managers who-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … will kinda help you figure out what's… And we have an application that you can kinda, you know-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … and, and information about all the different pos- possibilities we have.

Scott Hammond: Is that online too?

Maggie Kraft: It might be online because we just had a big volunteer

Maggie Kraft: expo.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Maggie Kraft: And, um, uh, that our, our team came up with the idea, a volunteer expo out at, uh, Dorney last week, and I think we've, we've got a lot of the stuff online.

Scott Hammond: Cool. Can I volunteer too?

Maggie Kraft: Yes, you can.

Scott Hammond: Thank you. I'd like to do that.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Hey, uh, so if you wanna volunteer,

Scott Hammond: 707-442…

Maggie Kraft: 3763.

Scott Hammond: 3763, or the online is, uh, www.a1aa.org. Org.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: That's really easy.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Yeah. And we'll help you figure it out. I mean, the different vol- you know, our ombudsman and our high cap volunteering

Maggie Kraft: are-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … serious. Like, you have to put a lot of stuff in your head, you have to pass tests, you have to,

Maggie Kraft: uh, y- I mean, it's, it's a commitment, and it's an important commitment.

Maggie Kraft: And-

Scott Hammond: It's beautiful, yeah

Maggie Kraft: … yeah. And some people are really looking for that kind of really knowledgeable, technical kind of work, and others are like, "Hey, you know, I'd love to give somebody a ride." I do. I give rides. I'm a, I'm a volunteer.

Maggie Kraft: We have-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … at our agency, staff get a certain amount of volunteer hour- paid volunteer hours-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … so they can volunteer doing things.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's cool.

Maggie Kraft: And I, I do rides every once in a while.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, mostly when it's somebody just really needs to go and can't reschedule and we didn't get a ri-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … a driver. And that happens. We don't wanna drop rides-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … but if we don't have a volunteer. So I do it, and it's fun.

Scott Hammond: Nice. So volunteer, donate. Do you guys do Venmo-

Maggie Kraft: We-

Scott Hammond: … or PayPal?

Maggie Kraft: I think we have PayPal.

Scott Hammond: We'll look at that.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. I don't know if we have the Venmo yet.

Scott Hammond: So-

Maggie Kraft: The Venmo.

Scott Hammond: The V- the Venmo. We're going to the Venmo.

Scott Hammond: That's sounds like a concert. We're gonna go to the Venmo and watch, uh, Jackson Browne.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um-

Maggie Kraft: The Venmo.

Scott Hammond: So-

Maggie Kraft: Oh, you just confused, like, two different-

Scott Hammond: I know, just threw everyone-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … through the loop. So before I ask you what you like about Humboldt-

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … we do the quiz. I gotta get my, my bell here.

Maggie Kraft: Oh, we have a quiz. A, a quiz.

Scott Hammond: Oh, there's a quiz, yeah, 'cause you get to win a fabulous…

Maggie Kraft: Oh, no.

Scott Hammond: Oh, do you… You know what I really like the dark chocolate and peanut butter. That must mean you might like it too.

Maggie Kraft: Mm, absolutely.

Scott Hammond: Do you like chocolate?

Maggie Kraft: I love chocolate. Who doesn't?

Scott Hammond: Now, my wife tells me that most women, and she could say this 'cause she's a woman-

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … and I, I'm just repeating it, dude,

Scott Hammond: that, um, most women like chocolate.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Is that true?

Maggie Kraft: I, uh, well, I, I have not done a scientific study, but the amount of chocolate that's being sold and, and eaten in this world would indicate that not just women like chocolate.

Scott Hammond: But mint.

Maggie Kraft: Otherwise, whoa, women, we need to slow down a little bit.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: But yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, this is amazing.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Amazing chocolate.

Maggie Kraft: Yes.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, having said all that, what do you like about Humboldt?

Maggie Kraft: What do I like about Humboldt?

Maggie Kraft: I like… Well, can I give an example-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Maggie Kraft: … of-

Scott Hammond: Please

Maggie Kraft: … um, a few weeks ago they did the party that Duane Flatmo's, um-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … naming of the alley.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: And, um-

Scott Hammond: Were you there?

Maggie Kraft: I was there. And, and what I like about Humboldt is one, we do crazy things-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … like that, fun, and just the whole nature of that-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … that race and, and that you can live here and really make a difference in your

Maggie Kraft: community as an average person.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, and just going to that event, looking around and seeing all the people I knew-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … you know, of all ages, I love that. I love being able to go places and, and see people enjoying all kinds of fun things.

Maggie Kraft: Um, yeah. So I, I think I like that. I like being able to go. I, I like to be able to, for work, I like to be able to call people that I know and I've built relationships with, and we-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … can help each other with different things. I, I'm sure that happens at some level in larger communities, but I think it happens more readily in smaller communities.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: And I like that. I like that.

Scott Hammond: Sorry we missed the Duane thing. Du- Duane was on our show. He's great.

Maggie Kraft: He's crazy great. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: He's so much fun.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What did he say? I said, "So how's your day going?" He goes, he goes, "Pretty good. What did I say?" And he said, um, "I don't know, I just thought I'd go on your show. I don't know." He was, it was quite funny.

Scott Hammond: He was-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, he's great

Scott Hammond: … happy to be there. Um, what do you n- what do you not care for in Humboldt? We haven't started the quiz yet. This is the-

Maggie Kraft: Oh, yeah. This is the lead-up

Scott Hammond: … this is the war- the war- this is the lead-up.

Maggie Kraft: I, what I don't care about, for so much, I mean,

Maggie Kraft: I…

Maggie Kraft: Hmm. Well, I had a visitor this last weekend who was from Rockaway Beach-

Scott Hammond: Ah

Maggie Kraft: … in New York.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: And she came over. Her, I call her the, my newest oldest friend 'cause I just met her.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: But she came to the coast to get away from the heat.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And then she was just, I guess they don't have fog the same way in Rockaway Beach as we have here, and sh- and she was h- she was here when you were trying to fly back in, so she, you know, she's like, "This fog," you know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: "I don't know if I can handle this fog." Um, I like the fog. This is not not like, but I like the fog because it does

Maggie Kraft: keep-

Maggie Kraft: … people from just moving here.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: I mean, if, if we had everything we had here-

Scott Hammond: With great weather all the time

Maggie Kraft: … with great weather all the time. And in fact, I know so many older adults who've moved here. You know, they come for a weekend, it's great weather. Oh, they love this place. And, and they're like, "Oh, you know we don't have Kaiser, right?"

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: And they just don't check out all the, you know, but they think it's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … it's a great place.

Scott Hammond: There's no Macy's here.

Maggie Kraft: There's no Macy's.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Maggie Kraft: Oh, thank God, actually. Um-

Scott Hammond: Sh- There's no Trader Joe's either

Maggie Kraft: No Trader Joe's. Oh, thank God. I mean, that- that's the thing. Those things exist somewhere else-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Maggie Kraft: … and it's okay. They don't have to all be here. The things I don't like is how hard it is for people who don't drive to get around.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, and I think our communities are doing a l- They're doing what they can with

Maggie Kraft: buses and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … and stuff. But, uh, it's not enough, and yet our society, we're so tuned into trying to drive our own car that-

Scott Hammond: Always

Maggie Kraft: … those of us who could be more involved in riding public transit- … and making it more effective-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … we're not doing it enough. But even then, I mean, even if it was running 24/7, if you're a person who can't get to that bus stop-

Scott Hammond: Right

Maggie Kraft: … physically, it means nothing.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: So, um, but that, that's certainly the case anywhere. But we just, it's people, a lot of the folks here live remote.

Maggie Kraft: They are-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … you know, or they live, like McKinleyville, that's remote.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, we're remote.

Maggie Kraft: Um, not like W- Willow Creek, but, um-

Scott Hammond: We have a daughter in a wheelchair. She can't get to a bus stop.

Maggie Kraft: No.

Scott Hammond: It'd be impossible, the roads and-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … you know, it's kind of laughable to think of Makayla-

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … getting there. Yeah, so the fog is a deterrent. That's interesting. And Rockaway Beach, the, uh, Ramones punk band. Remember?

Maggie Kraft: Was that it?

Scott Hammond: Remember the Ramones?

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, Peter and Sarah, my friends, will ch- check this. I think there's a song called Rockaway Beach.

Maggie Kraft: There's a song called Rockaway Ba- Beach. I wouldn't have been able to tell you who sang it.

Scott Hammond: All right.

Maggie Kraft: So, but-

Scott Hammond: I got Nick fact-checking that right now-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … by the Ramones.

Maggie Kraft: This is like-

Scott Hammond: It's one of their-

Maggie Kraft: Wake up and fact-check. What-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … okay. Um-

Scott Hammond: I, I think you can do that on the fly.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Do that as, while you're asleep. I, so that and, um… What else do I not like? I mean, there's, you know, there's all kinds of things to not like no matter where you go, and I think most of those things are comparable everywhere.

Maggie Kraft: Um-

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … um, I, you know, I went to, uh, the Friday night market on Juneteenth.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And it was great to see all the different people out and,

Maggie Kraft: um, and, you know, the diversity of folks that were out.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Maggie Kraft: Um, because we, we see our… I think one thing I would say I don't like is I, I, I wish we weren't as white

Maggie Kraft: as we were.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: I mean, not individually. I can't help it, but I-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … I, I do always wish that, you know, that, um…

Maggie Kraft: And so, but that's not something I hate. It's just something I would-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … prefer there was a lot more diversity.

Scott Hammond: It was different.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Good one.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. That's enough.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Okay. Quiz time.

Maggie Kraft: Uh-oh.

Scott Hammond: Are you ready?

Maggie Kraft: I'm ready.

Scott Hammond: Welcome to the quiz. And we still g- need to look at your magazine when we're done

Scott Hammond: here-

Maggie Kraft: Okay

Scott Hammond: … 'cause I want you to show our catalog.

Maggie Kraft: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Are you ready?

Maggie Kraft: I'm ready.

Scott Hammond: Question number one.

Maggie Kraft: Do I get the bell?

Scott Hammond: No, that's my bell.

Maggie Kraft: Okay. Oh, crap.

Scott Hammond: And you don't get the ch- don't reach for the chocolate yet either.

Maggie Kraft: No, no.

Scott Hammond: It's my chocolate.

Maggie Kraft: Hmm.

Scott Hammond: Well-

Maggie Kraft: There are so many rules here, guys

Scott Hammond: … this is pretty heavy, man. You gotta earn-

Maggie Kraft: I'm sweating

Scott Hammond: … earn this. Um, question number one. What do you, uh, what's your best day ever?

Maggie Kraft: My best day ever?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Maybe one of them, but a best.

Maggie Kraft: You mean a, a day that's already happened or my f- my, um,

Maggie Kraft: my hypothetical, or not hypothetical, dream?

Maggie Kraft: I mean-

Scott Hammond: You're getting ahead of the quiz.

Maggie Kraft: Oh, shoot.

Scott Hammond: Your best day that's happened.

Maggie Kraft: Oh, my best day that's happened.

Scott Hammond: I will get to the best day. I will get to a best day.

Maggie Kraft: Well, you know, I, my memory doesn't go back as far… I mean, it goes back to childhood, and then there's like a 40-year gap, and then it goes back to yesterday.

Maggie Kraft: So-

Scott Hammond: Me too.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I do the same thing.

Maggie Kraft: So, I mean, I will say that I, uh, my best

Maggie Kraft: day ever… Oh, you know, it was actually this new friend of mine, um, because she lives so in the moment-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … and just does stuff and wants to do-

Scott Hammond: East, East Coaster?

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. And, and my, I have not been able to do that for so long with-

Scott Hammond: What's her first name?

Maggie Kraft: Her first name is Frankie.

Scott Hammond: Frankie, what's up?

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, Frankie. I'll have to tell her.

Scott Hammond: Is she still here, or is she in Rockaway?

Maggie Kraft: She, well, you know, she, she left like a few days ago, and I think she got as far as Crescent City. So, 'cause she just, you know, was exploring things and-

Scott Hammond: In the moment

Maggie Kraft: … at one point, I go, "Where are you?" Thinking, oh, she might be in Oregon. "I'm in Trinidad." She's like, "I'm really glad I didn't come to Trinidad first 'cause I might never have met you. I may never have gone further south than that."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: I mean, that's how, how spontaneous she is, so-

Scott Hammond: Well, that's how cool Trinidad is.

Maggie Kraft: Yes. Also. And so just the- … the best day for me is to be able to, like, let, just do what comes.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: 'Cause my life is so planned out.

Maggie Kraft: So much-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Maggie Kraft: … of my life is planned out.

Scott Hammond: Me too.

Maggie Kraft: So I would say that would be, that, that week, the weekend with just doing stuff on the fly, um, that was pretty cool.

Scott Hammond: That's, I love that.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Just kind of be, be in the moment.

Maggie Kraft: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Be present.

Maggie Kraft: Yep.

Scott Hammond: I love that. Okay, question number two. Worst day. What was the worst day that you can remember?

Maggie Kraft: Hmm. Well, I'm not gonna talk about work-related worst days.

Maggie Kraft: How's that?

Scott Hammond: No. That's fine.

Maggie Kraft: I, I would say, um, 'cause nobody cares. And, um, I think my worst day in recent memory was probably the day

Maggie Kraft: my mom died.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: But it was also good-

Scott Hammond: Sorry

Maggie Kraft: … I was there with her, and I got to spend, because of COVID, I got to be in San Luis Obispo a lot more than I ever would've been.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Maggie Kraft: Life slowed down enough, so I was, and I could work from home, and I got to be with her and care for her and, and laugh with her and-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Maggie Kraft: … um, but that, you know, that's always a sad day when you lose a

Maggie Kraft: parent.

Scott Hammond: It's hard.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Even if you see it coming.

Maggie Kraft: We, and she took, she took herself out. She, I think she decided. She sent it, her last check she wrote was to the

Maggie Kraft: mortuary.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Maggie Kraft: And, um, she even got so there wasn't money. I mean, there's just enough money in her checking account for us to do what we needed to do. I, it's like-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Maggie Kraft: … it was uncanny.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Maggie Kraft: Um- And, uh, so, and you know, she always joked, you know, "You should bounce your last check." She didn't, but- … you know, thank you, Mom.

Scott Hammond: Close.

Maggie Kraft: Um, but she worked hard, and she had savings and stuff, but in terms of the money available, um, yeah, it was a hard day, but she did it. She had a great life. She was a wonderful person, and so-

Scott Hammond: Lovely

Maggie Kraft: … um, it's sad, but also,

Maggie Kraft: you know.

Scott Hammond: What was your mom's name?

Maggie Kraft: Eleanor.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Eleanor. Hi. Hi from here.

Maggie Kraft: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Okay, number three. What's the most thing that… What's the… Where do you find fulfillment? What's most fulfilling?

Maggie Kraft: Hmm. I think for me it's, it's helping people.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And, ugh, I know how it sounds, but I will, what I will say is, you know, the work I do at ERA Agency, we, we are helping people in a, like, my staff are helping people on a daily basis.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: I'm a little removed from that.

Maggie Kraft: Um, I'm trying to keep the wheels turning and keep the money coming in so we can do what

Maggie Kraft: we do.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: But I also have this business that I do on the side, which is helping people transition, um, downsize, move, move into a new place, whatever.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And that I get to see the results.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Maggie Kraft: Um, I'm helping people with something that most people find very stressful, which

Maggie Kraft: is moving-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … especially if they've been in a house a long, long time, and they don't know what to do with their stuff, and their stuff, they have memories.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And, and, and all the emotion tied to things.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Maggie Kraft: And then the physical challenges that some people have in being able to move and do the work. And so I come in, and my team comes in, and we just help them see that it's all gonna happen, it's all gonna be

Maggie Kraft: okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: And that is very rewarding for me.

Scott Hammond: There's a roadmap for it.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's pretty kind of a niche.

Scott Hammond: I like that.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: That'd be really, really neat.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. There's, there's, it's a na- We have a national organization, but I'm probably the only m- s- certified senior move

Maggie Kraft: manager in

Maggie Kraft: 150 miles.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Maggie Kraft: You know, they have some up in Oregon, down in the Bay Area, but I'm the one

Maggie Kraft: here.

Scott Hammond: I love it. That'd be really useful.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: So there's Life Plan Humboldt, too, which has changed its name, right?

Maggie Kraft: Humboldt Commons, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Dr. Anne Lindsey.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Oh, my God.

Scott Hammond: Hi, Anne.

Maggie Kraft: Hi, Anne.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: Not, "Hi, Anne," like, "Hi, Mom, Anne," but, "Hi, Anne." I mean-

Scott Hammond: Hi, Anne

Maggie Kraft: … we've been, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Anne and Phil Bricker, McKinleyville, wherever she was.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're doing a fantastic work. They really are.

Scott Hammond: Are they, have they broken ground yet?

Maggie Kraft: Anne-

Scott Hammond: I think they're getting there

Maggie Kraft: … they're getting close. I do know that they're starting to get people to seriously sign up and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … pick the apartments they want, things like that.

Maggie Kraft: But, um-

Scott Hammond: Such a great idea.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I love that.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: All right, question number whatever this is.

Maggie Kraft: 47? Oh my God.

Scott Hammond: So who are you, and what do you want?

Maggie Kraft: Who am I?

Maggie Kraft: Hmm. I don't know. How do people answer that question? I am, I am is who I ams.

Scott Hammond: That's Popeye.

Maggie Kraft: I know.

Scott Hammond: I am what I am.

Maggie Kraft: Or, or there's what, was it Steve Martin? "I was born a poor Black child." There, uh, that's not it either.

Scott Hammond: That's funny.

Maggie Kraft: That's not it. Um-

Scott Hammond: No. What, well, let's start with what do you want. W- what would you like to see happen?

Maggie Kraft: W- What do I want? I would just like to see people get

Maggie Kraft: along.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um-

Scott Hammond: Wouldn't that be a thing?

Maggie Kraft: That, you know, that would solve, like, probably most problems-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … if people would just… And I think part of being able to get along is us not making so many assumptions about-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Maggie Kraft: … the thoughts that are going on in other people's heads.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And-

Scott Hammond: Or intentions-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … motivations.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. We don't know. You don't know me. You don't know, I mean-

Scott Hammond: You don't know me, man.

Maggie Kraft: I mean, people don't know what we're go- Peo- None of us know what someone else is going through unless they tell us, and even then we don't know the half of it.

Scott Hammond: You still don't know their pain.

Maggie Kraft: We don't. And, um, I've always f- felt very fortunate. Whenever bad things might happen to me, I would-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … I would, you know how s- a lot of people are like, "Why me?" I go, "Well, why not me?" I mean, theoretically-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … why somebody else? When you say, "Why me?" you're s- kind of implying that it should be someone else.

Scott Hammond: I like that.

Maggie Kraft: It's like, no, why not me? Um-

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Good one

Maggie Kraft: … so, you know-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … that's who I am.

Scott Hammond: It's my turn.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: My turn for something tragic.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. I mean, it's gonna happen, but saying, "Why me?" you know,

Maggie Kraft: it's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I like that. That's a, that, you flipped the script on that one.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Well, it turns out that you've done…

Scott Hammond: Wait. Bonus question.

Maggie Kraft: Okay.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause this plays to your earlier question. Uh, you have your whole day off to do-

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … whatever you wanna do.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And I'm writing you a check. What are you gonna do? 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, and you gotta stay there in Humboldt County.

Maggie Kraft: Okay. Oh, in Humboldt. Okay.

Scott Hammond: Whatever you wanna do. Frankie could come, too.

Maggie Kraft: Oh, Frankie. Well, then, you know, it's, the plan's gonna go all like this,

Maggie Kraft: but, um-

Maggie Kraft: … we can start on one thing. What would I do? Um, I'd sleep in late.

Scott Hammond: Oh, good one.

Maggie Kraft: I mean, so, I mean-

Scott Hammond: What's late for you?

Maggie Kraft: Well, late for me could be really late, but what I try not to get, late for me is maybe 10:00.

Scott Hammond: That's so late.

Maggie Kraft: It is so late.

Scott Hammond: I would love to sleep at 10.

Maggie Kraft: It's so late. But-

Scott Hammond: 9:00, 9:00 would be like-

Maggie Kraft: But you have to stay up late to make it work, so this is a thing.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Maggie Kraft: I mean, it, it, I, yeah. So-

Scott Hammond: It presupposes some late night something.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Just, just, I don't…

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Um, I would… What would I do? I'd like to go to have breakfast with somewhere nice. There's lots of nice places.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: But, um, Brio's right up the street. I like when I, I live in Arcata, and I like- I kind of have this rule that if I'm doing anything in Arcata, I walk.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Maggie Kraft: Unless, you know, it's raining or I'm carrying a bunch of stuff.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: But so I'd like to go places in, where I can walk.

Maggie Kraft: Um-

Scott Hammond: That's good. I like-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and Brio's delicious.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. I'd, I'd go to Brio.

Scott Hammond: Is their coffee good?

Maggie Kraft: I believe so, yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. They have some Blue Mountain something.

Maggie Kraft: I don't know. I just love it. They're, they're there.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: I like going there, and, uh, you know, they're great. People are great. They're friendly.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Nice. Um, so yeah, breakfast. I like reading. I wouldn't wanna spend my whole day reading, but I don't get to read as much-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … you know, fun stuff.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, so I, I would wanna have some time reading.

Scott Hammond: Hmm. What do you like to read?

Maggie Kraft: Well, you know, I, I read mostly fiction, but I just read a book about, uh, the tallest redwood trees.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Maggie Kraft: And I, and I'm really bad at remembering authors and names, so don't ask.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Sure.

Maggie Kraft: But it was about… It- it's… The, the guy that wrote it is not from here. He's a journalist, but it's about a lot of people who are from here and-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Maggie Kraft: … teach at the university now, and, and this quest that they had over, you know, since the '70s, '80s, to find the tallest

Maggie Kraft: trees.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Maggie Kraft: And, and how they found them and climb, climbed them-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … and measured them and studied what's up there that none of us even have any idea.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Maggie Kraft: There are, the, the life forms, the, the flora. Yeah, the flora. I don't think fauna. But yeah, I mean, salamanders that are s-

Scott Hammond: There'd be some fauna too.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, there'd be some fauna. They're… A salamo- salamander's a fauna. Um, but they don't normally live in the very tops of trees 'cause they need water.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: But there's water in these redwoods. I mean, it just-

Scott Hammond: So they can live up there.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. I mean, it's like-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Maggie Kraft: … I would never have thought this would be something that I would wanna read a

Maggie Kraft: book about.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: But it was awesome. Um-

Scott Hammond: They found the one tree down in Mendocino, right, that really… There's a big one down.

Maggie Kraft: Yep.

Scott Hammond: And then I wonder if Jim Campbell-Spickler is part of that, that team, 'cause he, he's the director of the zoo.

Maggie Kraft: He-

Scott Hammond: But he's the guy, the major climbing guru.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, and it's, um, you know, some professors of, of, I think his name's Steve

Maggie Kraft: Sillett-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … up at, at Humboldt, Cal Poly.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, and this guy that would never climb the trees, but, uh, just was convinced that… And he would like, he would call him up and say, "Let's

Maggie Kraft: go," I think, "Let's go here and look for some trees," and they would just literally go through brush and dig. I mean, it would take them all

Maggie Kraft: day to even get close to the, where they thought trees might be.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: And then he would always wanna climb them.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Maggie Kraft: But it was like, I'm like, "You guys, you're…" I mean, and they're in the middle of nowhere. And-

Scott Hammond: There's no roads, yeah

Maggie Kraft: … and they keep, you know, the thing is these trees, they don't want anyone to know where they are because they're scientific, they're studying them.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Maggie Kraft: And if everyone gets wild about climbing these trees, they're just gonna ruin

Maggie Kraft: them.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: So, yeah, I mean, I'm so excited about this. It's crazy. I'm excited. But-

Scott Hammond: That's a cool book

Maggie Kraft: … it, it surprised me, and I very much enjoyed it.

Maggie Kraft: I-

Scott Hammond: Who was the author again?

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. I am not gonna go climb any of these trees, but

Maggie Kraft: it made me really admire that-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … and understand it better. And yeah, I, I might climb a, like, a

Maggie Kraft: short tree.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: Like a, a s-

Scott Hammond: Harnessed and-

Maggie Kraft: Like a stump.

Scott Hammond: Like…

Maggie Kraft: A really big redwood stump.

Scott Hammond: I would go upstairs to do a zip line through trees.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, they did that too.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: That was cool. So anyway, that was a pretty cool book.

Scott Hammond: Good one.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So you've g- went to Brio. Now you read.

Maggie Kraft: Oh, yeah. Sorry.

Scott Hammond: You slept in, Brio.

Maggie Kraft: Um-

Scott Hammond: Read a book

Maggie Kraft: … I read a whole book.

Maggie Kraft: Um, I used to always go up to Patrick's Point when it was Patrick's

Maggie Kraft: Point.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, I always enjoy going to there. So I might go up to Sue Meg-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … um, and hike around a little bit.

Scott Hammond: Sue Meg's cool.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Um, it's accessible and, you know, no big trees to climb.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Or-

Scott Hammond: It's pretty flat.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's fun. A lot of fl- a lot of changes-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … of biome.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Cool.

Maggie Kraft: I'd, um, you know, there's lots of things that I'd like to do. I, I mean, and some of these things are inside things. I like to go to movies. I hardly ever go.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: So, like, if I had a random day off and could go see a matinee, that would be kind

Maggie Kraft: of-

Scott Hammond: That'd be cool

Maggie Kraft: … fun, 'cause I don't get to do that anymore.

Scott Hammond: A big screen movie.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, super loud, like-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … Dolby stereo.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Um-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Maggie Kraft: … I'd do that. I'd have, find some place to have dinner, you know, with some friends, go out and have dinner. I'd probably go to Plaza Grill-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … or The Basement and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … and have Shane, um, at The Basement p- you know, pick a, uh, the, my whiskey or bourbon. I always let him pick what he's gonna serve me.

Maggie Kraft: And Shane-

Scott Hammond: Shane is good. Hi, Shane. Is he a good server?

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, he's great.

Scott Hammond: And then-

Maggie Kraft: He's great

Scott Hammond: … is that Bill Chino? Does he still part of all that?

Maggie Kraft: He, that's his, those are his places.

Scott Hammond: Hi, Bill.

Maggie Kraft: Hi, Bill. I'm gonna see Bill tonight probably at the party I'm going to, so.

Scott Hammond: Tell Bill I said hi.

Maggie Kraft: I will. I will.

Scott Hammond: So Shane's a pretty good bartender.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, he's pretty good.

Scott Hammond: What kind of whiskey do you like?

Maggie Kraft: Um, I like, I, I seem to like all of it.

Scott Hammond: I have no preference.

Maggie Kraft: So this is how, this is how my whiskey drinking story starts. Okay, my dad… No, no wait, this goes way back. My dad, that was his, whiskey was his thing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And back then, you know, we didn't have all the different kinds. But he would, I think he'd pour himself a… What was that? One of those, either a

Maggie Kraft: Manhattan-

Scott Hammond: Or an Old Fashioned

Maggie Kraft: … an Old Fashioned.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And, you know, and I'd, so it looked, it looked yummy.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And I would sneak sips, and it was always awful, right?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: And, um, but at some point, I… Oh, well, I have a friend. She drinks Jack and, um, Coke.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: And we were at a conference, and she introduced me. I go, "Okay, I'll, I can do this here." And then I started thinking about it. I go, "You know, Coke has a lot of sugar in it. I'm g- just, just gonna drink it straight."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: "Because I'm already getting enough poison with the alcohol."

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Maggie Kraft: "Why add that extra sugar poison?" So-

Scott Hammond: Why kill yourself? Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: Why kill yourself twice as fast? I'm gonna, I'm gonna do the slow one.

Scott Hammond: I'm gonna pace myself.

Maggie Kraft: And the other thing is- … you drink it slower when it's When it's whiskey-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … if it tastes like Coke, I'm gonna drink it like it's a Coke, so.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Maggie Kraft: And then once I started doing that, I'm like, "Okay, Jack, I need to find something

Maggie Kraft: else."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: That's not what I wanna drink straight.

Scott Hammond: No.

Maggie Kraft: So-

Scott Hammond: So Scotch?

Maggie Kraft: So yeah, uh, Scotch, you know, I'm not a, a, so much a peat.

Maggie Kraft: I- I-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … don't think I like peat as much-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … as Paul. Um, sorry. Um-

Scott Hammond: Good one

Maggie Kraft: … good one, huh? Hi, Paul.

Maggie Kraft: Hi, Pete.

Scott Hammond: Not all sc- not all Scotch is peaty, though.

Maggie Kraft: No, but that's-

Scott Hammond: But that's what it's kind of-

Maggie Kraft: … but it's more likely.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um, I, so then I went to Jameson's, which is Irish.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: I was doing that for a while, and then I thought I'd, I'd join the Rotary, um, they have a whiskey, uh, fellowship or something.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Maggie Kraft: And all over the world, they get on a Zoom meeting, everyone's sitting there drinking something.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Maggie Kraft: And they go around the room and introduce themselves and what they're drinking.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Maggie Kraft: And with 40 people in the room, by the time you get around, if you start again, everyone's gonna be pretty… I mean, people are pretty, you know, they've been drinking.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: So I thought, "This is amusing." And, and so I took some suggestions from them, and I went back and bought three little bottles, the smaller ones, to taste.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Maggie Kraft: So I bought these, and I tasted them. I tried to figure out which ones I liked. And, and then when it came time to put the bottles in recycling, I realized the flaw with this is they all got empty at the same time, so I was putting three bottles, three empty bottles of whiskey bottles in the recycling- … at the same time. I'm like, "That's not a good look." So.

Scott Hammond: No one will, no one would ever know.

Maggie Kraft: No one. Well, now they know. Um, I told you. But- … so anyway, so I've just tried different things

Maggie Kraft: and, um-

Scott Hammond: So what, what's, what's your jam of those three? Or of those nine-

Maggie Kraft: What I'm-

Scott Hammond: … or whatever you tried

Maggie Kraft: … what I'm doing, yeah, um, I had some, what did I have the other day? It was called

Maggie Kraft: Redemption.

Scott Hammond: Redemption, huh.

Maggie Kraft: I remembered that. I liked that. It was a, I think that was a bourbon.

Scott Hammond: My son-in-law's a Scotch guy. The, the Green Dot, Yellow Dot, Red Dot.

Maggie Kraft: Yellow Dot.

Scott Hammond: Yellow Dot's delicious.

Maggie Kraft: He served us Yellow Dot one night.

Scott Hammond: And Blue Dot is, is extremely amazing.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Ta- it has notes of, uh, guava and papaya, which is-

Maggie Kraft: Huh

Scott Hammond: … in a whiskey?

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What? Anyway.

Maggie Kraft: Anyway.

Scott Hammond: Hi, Matt Mullaney, what's up? He's in Medford. You can't see him right now.

Maggie Kraft: Oh, okay. I was going, "What?"

Scott Hammond: He's… How did he get here?

Maggie Kraft: The way you said that-

Scott Hammond: Hey, Matt

Maggie Kraft: … I thought he was behind me. It's like, oh. Um, so, so I would, you know, I would, I would go and have maybe that before dinner and, and have dinner. I don't know where I'd have dinner. I'd have to see what I was in the mood for.

Scott Hammond: All right. Get a snack at Plaza Grill and wind up-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … wherever. Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's a really colorful d- I like your day. That's a good day.

Maggie Kraft: I mean, just chill, nothing crazy, but just-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … kind of s- spending more time doing things that I don't have time to

Maggie Kraft: do normally.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I like it. I like it a lot.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Uh, I like you a lot. You're fun.

Maggie Kraft: Thank you very much.

Scott Hammond: You're welcome very much. Thanks for being here. Uh, tell us about your legacy. What are we gonna say at your funeral and, um-

Maggie Kraft: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … your, your, um, celebration of life, or just gravestone, or all of it?

Maggie Kraft: Well, I, I'm looking forward to, uh, doing a green burial.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: So there will be no gravestone.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: You'll just be out there going, "I think Maggie's around here somewhere."

Scott Hammond: She's around here somewhere. I have a sense-

Maggie Kraft: Stepping on her

Scott Hammond: … like if you're in someone's backyard type of thing?

Maggie Kraft: No, no, no, no.

Scott Hammond: Or just out in the-

Maggie Kraft: I'm not a cat

Scott Hammond: … in the woods?

Maggie Kraft: Um, no, there's a group here locally, Rebecca Stauffer-

Scott Hammond: Right

Maggie Kraft: … uh, is working. I know her name. It came up recently. I mean, I know her again.

Scott Hammond: Is it the Neptune Society or-

Maggie Kraft: No

Scott Hammond: … something like that?

Maggie Kraft: … it's a different thing, but, but they've got some land up at Kneeland-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … and they're starting to work on that locally, so.

Scott Hammond: Mm. Spread the ashes type of thing?

Maggie Kraft: Um, no, it's a green burial. Well, they might do that, but what they do-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Maggie Kraft: … is they actually wrap the body-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … untreated-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … in something, and it just becomes part of the earth again.

Scott Hammond: They've done it for eons, right?

Maggie Kraft: Yeah, before we could em- Well, yeah, except for when those embalmers, I think the Egyptians, did they do the… Who, who made it so we can find bodies?

Scott Hammond: Proba- probably the Chinese, but yeah, probably Egyptian. They made it famous.

Maggie Kraft: I'm so sorry. Who made it so we could find bodies?

Scott Hammond: Those bodies…

Maggie Kraft: Although you think about it, I mean, they're finding bodies all the time, and they're not, I mean, it's random.

Scott Hammond: My best joke e- ever is do you know where they hide the dead bodies?

Maggie Kraft: Where?

Scott Hammond: Page two of Google. You wanna know why?

Maggie Kraft: Why?

Scott Hammond: No one ever goes there.

Maggie Kraft: Page two of Google.

Scott Hammond: Somebody asked, somebody said the other day- … "Is there a page two of Google?" I go, "My point. You just made my point."

Maggie Kraft: I think there is, but those, if you search that far down, you're, you're not getting as credible stuff as at the top.

Scott Hammond: You're getting something else, yeah.

Maggie Kraft: Well, and who knows anyway what's credible?

Maggie Kraft: But, um-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, anymore

Maggie Kraft: … anymore.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, uh, legacy.

Maggie Kraft: So I don't know what they'd say.

Maggie Kraft: Um-

Scott Hammond: So, so green, green burial.

Maggie Kraft: And I don't know what people would say at my, I was gonna say at my wedding, wedding, funeral, Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Maggie Kraft: Um, I don't know what they'd say.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Maggie Kraft: But I don't know.

Scott Hammond: They'd say something.

Maggie Kraft: They'd say something.

Scott Hammond: They'd say, "Gosh, she did a great podcast with that Scott guy."

Maggie Kraft: They'd say something. Something would be said.

Scott Hammond: Something. They would say something.

Maggie Kraft: Do you ever want… I mean, I go to different things like that, and sometimes, you know, they plan it out very formally because they don't want a lot of people getting up and riffing-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … uh, which is often a good plan.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: But sometimes they need a little riffing.

Scott Hammond: A little riffing's fun.

Maggie Kraft: And so I had a good friend of mine pass away, and they ended up doing the thing at the Elks Lodge. And so he was an Elk, so they did the formal

Maggie Kraft: Elk.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: I don't know if you've ever been to one of those. They did the formal Elk remembrance in the-

Scott Hammond: Haven't, haven't seen it

Maggie Kraft: … in the special room.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Um-

Scott Hammond: Been to the special room, became an Elk

Maggie Kraft: … special room, became an Elk.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: And then-

Scott Hammond: If I told you what happened, we'd have to kill you.

Maggie Kraft: That's right. I became an Elk.

Maggie Kraft: Oops.

Scott Hammond: You did?

Maggie Kraft: You didn't see it. Okay. I touched the microphone.

Scott Hammond: Oh, no.

Maggie Kraft: Um, accidentally.

Scott Hammond: He didn't see it.

Maggie Kraft: He didn't see it, but he might have heard it. I don't know. It's like over there almost.

Scott Hammond: So you became an Elk, and they did a-

Maggie Kraft: So, no-

Scott Hammond: Or-

Maggie Kraft: … he was an Elk. He died.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: They did that there. Then he was a veteran, so they did a veteran thing.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Maggie Kraft: And then we all went out Into the bar area

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: And then there was food. And there was nothing planned for him, for the rest of us to say anything.

Scott Hammond: So the riffing happened.

Maggie Kraft: No riffing happened.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Maggie Kraft: It was, it was one of the, nobody was in char- the, the family, and I kept saying, "Oh, let, let, l- l- let us help you ch- plan something. People are gonna wanna talk." And that-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … it didn't happen.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Maggie Kraft: And I, it just felt like-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … it just, it felt awful.

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Maggie Kraft: That, so I still ta- I, I, I riff about him all the time.

Scott Hammond: Good.

Maggie Kraft: But, um, but no, so that shouldn't happen.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: I need-

Scott Hammond: And after, riffing.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. There needs to be a riffing.

Scott Hammond: I like it. I, that's fair. Yeah. Let's, let's say stuff.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. Say stuff.

Scott Hammond: Well, cool.

Maggie Kraft: Okay.

Scott Hammond: I think we said a lot of stuff today.

Maggie Kraft: I hope so. Oh, do you wanna hear about this real quick? I think I have the-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, real quick, and then the shout-out to your website.

Maggie Kraft: Okay. So what this is, I don't have to, I can just show it to you.

Scott Hammond: Sure, right over here.

Maggie Kraft: Oh, look. This is, um, another project we're deeply involved with-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Maggie Kraft: … which is the Aging and Disability Resource Connection.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Uh, it's our organization along with Tri-County Independent Living-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … along with the, um, IPA, which is Independent Practi- Practitioners

Maggie Kraft: Association-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … and, um, and NSCHN. Um, all these acronyms, but it's about trying to help people find resources with better coordination and referrals. So we're not just saying, "Here's a phone number.

Maggie Kraft: Have-"

Scott Hammond: Right

Maggie Kraft: … "a good time with that."

Scott Hammond: Here's the book.

Maggie Kraft: Here's the book.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: But also, let's hand you off. Let's do a warm handoff.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: Like, you need a resource-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … and you don't know, you want us to help connect you, let us help you connect

Maggie Kraft: you.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Maggie Kraft: So we put this resource-

Scott Hammond: I love it

Maggie Kraft: … is a bunch of different, and this is like-

Scott Hammond: Big, big print. Yeah

Maggie Kraft: … big print. What we did is we took the best elements of what Tri-County used to do in their resource guide-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … and the best elements of what we had been doing forever in our senior information guide and put them together.

Scott Hammond: Love it.

Maggie Kraft: Big print, 'cause nobody should have to strain to read things. And because we couldn't make as many of these as we h- would've if they'd been out of paper-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … or, you know, the, the little newspaper, it's also online. So we have these cards where you can scan the QR codes.

Scott Hammond: Beautiful.

Maggie Kraft: So people who want something in hand, don't have internet, we got this. If you've got internet-

Scott Hammond: Smart

Maggie Kraft: … you can go to the website for that.

Scott Hammond: Oh, brilliant.

Maggie Kraft: So we have a different website for that, which is called, it's northcoastadrc.org.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Maggie Kraft: And it's, it's not a new agency. It's more about coordinating the services-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Maggie Kraft: … of agencies that already exist.

Maggie Kraft: And-

Scott Hammond: I love that guide. I have a copy.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah. So.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Beautiful. So we could reach you at, uh,

Scott Hammond: 707-442…

Maggie Kraft: 3763.

Scott Hammond: And your website is?

Maggie Kraft: a1a.org.

Scott Hammond: And if we wanted to give things, we could give time, treasure-

Maggie Kraft: Or talent

Scott Hammond: … or talent.

Maggie Kraft: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Love it.

Maggie Kraft: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Thanks for being here, Meggy.

Maggie Kraft: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: And thanks for joining us. It's Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt podcast. Uh, like us, love us, send us, uh, gifts. And, uh, we're on all the, all the podcast platforms, and we're on, uh, uh, Humboldt Access TV, and we're on, uh, YouTube. And thanks to our producer, my main man, Nick Flores. Thanks to Advanced Security. Thanks to Dick Taylor Chocolate. Thanks to Quality Body. Thanks to Joni Hammond. I'd like to take a minute and just thank many people in my life, but I won't. Thanks for being here.

Maggie Kraft: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: All right. See you again.