Seniors advocate honored at Saints game

St. Mary Council on Aging Executive Director Beverly Domengeaux proves life doesn’t simply end once you hit retirement age.
Domengeaux, 81, was recognized Sunday as a Peoples Health Champion for her advocacy work with St. Mary seniors during the New Orleans Saints game.
The Peoples Health Champions program honors the achievements of Louisiana residents age 65 and older.
Peoples Health, in collaboration with the New Orleans Saints, celebrates seniors in the community who shatter the myth that getting older means slowing down, according to the organization’s website.
A Peoples Health Champion is someone who proves the adage, “We become better as we age.”
And if you’ve ever been to any of the Tri-City area council and parish council meetings or community meetings or gatherings, Domengeaux is sure to be in the mix as a representative for seniors.
She informs city, parish and state leaders about the issues affecting seniors in the area.
Or she’s offering advice and ideas beneficial to community members based on her experiences and those of her peers.
After serving professionally as a nurse and hospital administrator, Domengeaux pursued her calling as an advocate for seniors. And it was at the urging of her late husband.
At 81, “this is the best job I’ve ever had advocating for seniors,” Domengeaux said to the Peoples Health Champions program.
Domengeaux opened the first of three thrift stores in 2014. The purpose was to raise money so that more seniors would benefit from the meal programs provided by the organization.
Limited state and federal funding left many seniors out and hungry.
But with the creation of three thrift stores now in place, generated revenues allow the council to serve approximately 4,500 meals a year.
The downside, meals are only served Monday through Friday.
“I identified there was a greater need than what that contract would cover,” Domengeaux said. “And so therefore, I had to start figuring out ways to raise the money because I can get more meals.
“The agency has to pay for it, so that’s how we came up with the thrift stores.”
Receiving healthy meals are not the only benefit of store revenues. Seniors are able to use their skills as seamstresses and crocheting to create crafts and sell them in the thrift stores.
It’s a way to keep seniors busy. Plus, with the economy, thrift stores provide a place for people to shop looking for “treas-ures,” Domengeaux said.
“It’s an opportunity for us to get this story out that we’re a very large population. And there are a lot of needs that need to be met. That’s why the council on aging … we’ve been in business for 47 years.
“Our program is based on a need, not a want. Fifty-seven percent of our seniors live by themselves and have no support system,” Domengeaux said.
Although Domengeaux was in the spotlight Sunday for achievements at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, her dedication to senior advocacy work remains selfless.
“When they first took me out on the field, and I’ve been to a lot of Saints games, it never dawned on me, the amount of people there,” Domengeaux said.
While people were watching Domengeaux’s video at the superdome, she hoped people were listening to what Irma Thomas was saying about the council’s work. “Because this is for the seniors,” Domengeaux said.
Riding back home from the game in a limousine with one of her sons, he asked her how she felt.
“It’s the first step,” Domengeaux said.
“We’ve been talking about being advocates for the seniors and this has been a first step of going to put seniors out there, putting the aging out there. And that’s what we need to do.
Seniors still have a lot to offer, Domengeaux said. And the more seniors that are immersed back into the community, the better off communities are going to be.
“We’ve been there,” Domengeaux said. “We’ve made the mistakes. I say let them make their mistakes, too. But I think we can help them.”
Personally and professionally, it’s been an excellent year for Domengeaux.
Before the Peoples Health Champion recognition, she was selected as the 2015 Louisiana Council on Aging Directors Award recipient.
“The only thing that I’ve got to look forward to now is winning the Powerball,” Domengeaux said. “And I can do all the things that I have dreams about.”