Becoming a Villager with Missoula Aging Services

Have you considered what it takes to age in place? Infrastructure like handrails and ramps comes to mind, but what about a network of people with symbiotic relationships? That’s exactly what Missoula Aging Services' new Villages model creates: a grassroots network of vetted volunteers who offer their skills to others.

This week the commissioners spoke with Ria Overholt, community services director at Missoula Aging Services, about this innovative model that supports elderly residents and provides meaningful connection that goes both ways. 

 
Thank you to Missoula's Community Media Resource for podcast recording support!

Transcript

Josh Slotnick: [00:00:10] Welcome back to the agenda, everybody with the Missoula County Commissioners. I'm Josh Slotnick and I'm here with my fellow commissioner and friend Juanita Vero. Dave is out, but no fear. We have RIA Overholt here, community Services Director at Missoula Aging Services. And welcome Ria. Thanks for coming by.

Ria Overholt: [00:00:27] Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Josh Slotnick: [00:00:28] Yeah.

Juanita Vero: [00:00:28] We're excited that you're here. So what does Missoula Aging services offer the city and county?

Ria Overholt: [00:00:35] You know, we offer a variety of programs, but really what it's all about is helping people to age in the way that they choose independence with dignity and the way that we want to, because aging is one of those things that we're not without.

Juanita Vero: [00:00:49] Fear.

Ria Overholt: [00:00:49] Without fear, without fear, because it is something that we tend to dread. So we have about 30 programs in place that are just designed to help people in whatever stage of aging they might be in, to just overcome some of those little challenges. [00:01:05] So it runs the gamut between our Meals on Wheels program, which a lot of people are very familiar with. It's kind of our best known, but we also offer respite care, caregiver support groups. We offer help for people navigating the world of Medicaid and Medicare because talk about fear. That's where my fear sits, is how to navigate those programs. And so we have folks who are trained in willing and able to help us navigate those systems. [00:01:36]

Josh Slotnick: [00:01:36] So can an elder or even someone who just works with elders, just walk into your office and ask for some help navigating those super complicated systems?

Ria Overholt: [00:01:44] Absolutely. They can walk in the front door. One of the things that's really special about what we do is the people who are sitting at the front desk, and the people who are answering the phones are trained and certified benefits counselors. So they are knowledgeable in all of these systems. So it's not even a question of coming in and maybe being shuffled off to someone a few weeks down the road. The folks that you talk to from the get go can help you and answer questions.

Josh Slotnick: [00:02:14] Wow. What are some of the things that an elder or a person who cares for elderly people would be concerned with around Medicaid or Medicare? What's what's a typical type of issue?

Ria Overholt: [00:02:24] Well, just understanding which is which and when when you qualify for Medicaid, what sort of services Medicaid covers, what they don't cover with Medicare, it becomes much more difficult because there's so many different options. As far as the different plans that you can sign up for, some of them have benefits, some of them have some real consequences. Um, and so really understanding, finding the thing that's the best fit for you can become pretty complicated. So they can help you figure out whether you need the plan B or the plan D and do you want to have the advantage plan or just a standard Medicare plan? It's a lot to navigate, and thankfully they know a lot more about those things than I do because I will be sitting with them at some point saying, help me, help me through this process. Yeah.

Juanita Vero: [00:03:13] Well, what are some maybe, uh, atypical ways listeners can support their aging loved ones? So here's the friends and neighbors.

Ria Overholt: [00:03:22] Yeah. Friends and neighbors. I think this is the most important thing that we can all do is we can say hello. We can introduce ourselves to our neighbors, and we can make sure that we're seeing them and noticing them.

Juanita Vero: [00:03:38] It's interesting when you just said, like, I'm thinking of like, oh, saying hello and introducing ourselves. Like there is such a, I don't know, I feel like a, a stranger danger fear right now and, and always kind of second guessing another's intentions that.

Ria Overholt: [00:03:52] Absolutely.

Juanita Vero: [00:03:54] It's kind of tough to break through.

Ria Overholt: [00:03:56] It can be really tough to break through it, but there's some things that we know. So loneliness and isolation is probably one of the greatest threats facing our older adults in particular. Right. And the aging process. And when someone feels lonely and they feel isolated, there are real health ramifications that come along with that.

Juanita Vero: [00:04:18] And they might not even be aware that they're feeling even or isolated.

Ria Overholt: [00:04:22] Absolutely. But their world has started to maybe get a little bit smaller. And one of the things that we learned this in the pandemic was tough for all of us, but we learned some things. And one of the interesting pieces of research that came out from that was we all know the importance of relationships in our lives, right? Our, our major relationships, our relationships with our friends, our family members, with our coworkers.

Juanita Vero: [00:04:49] Pets.

Ria Overholt: [00:04:49] Pets. But what we hadn't put a lot of emphasis on is what they call the minor interactions, the minor relationships. So throughout your day, maybe you go to the grocery store and you go. Probably shop at the same grocery store all the time. Um, and maybe you often see the same checkout person. And you might not know that checkout person's name. You might not know anything about them. But there's a moment of interaction. Hey, how are you today? Can you believe this snow that we're having? This is crazy, right? There's just this interaction. And what happens in that point of interaction is those same feel good chemicals get released that you have when you walk in the door and your partner greets you or someone else of really important, those minor interactions are are critical. And they notice this when we all went into shutdown and we all maintained relationships with our friends and families, but we felt lonely and we felt isolated. And a lot of that was because we weren't having those interactions. So when we provide those little in-the-moment interactions to people, we're giving them those same release of, of chemicals, that same feeling of happiness that they would in a much greater. And so it's an interesting body of research that's come out super interesting.

Josh Slotnick: [00:06:14] I wonder too, if we're phrasing this as we're giving something to someone. We're also getting we're getting.

Juanita Vero: [00:06:21] So good point.

Josh Slotnick: [00:06:21] I found I found this in my own small little life of being a flaming extrovert. I'm standing in line waiting for my caffeinated drink, and I just say to the person in front of me, hey, what's up? What are you doing? You know, just making conversation. Ah, I get just as much, if not more than I might be giving.

Ria Overholt: [00:06:40] Absolutely.

Josh Slotnick: [00:06:41] As long as no one calls me away. The police don't come. The older I get, the less dangerous I appear.

Juanita Vero: [00:06:47] Yes, yes, but so.

Josh Slotnick: [00:06:49] So I'm just thinking about as we as we talk about this. And it's a really, really great piece of advice in response to Juan's question of what are the atypical things we can do? Saying, just make conversation. Say hello. And it's not a piece of charity we're offering because we get as well as we give. Also, it reminds me, I don't know if we can do this legally. Can we play the John Prine song hello in There as our outro? It's all about saying, it's all about saying hello to elders saying. And it's like the most poignant, powerful, like I can't I often just skip through that song because it makes me cry. It's such a powerful song. But say hello in there. There you go.

Ria Overholt: [00:07:25] There you go. We've been having a lot of conversations with folks around the community over the last couple of months, and I keep hearing these stories about their neighborhoods and they fall into two categories. There's the ones who talk about this loss. They don't know their neighbors anymore. They don't know who lives in the house next door to them, who lives across the street, who lives. And they miss. They miss that. And then there's a few, the fortunate few who are still in those little pockets of neighborhoods where they feel like they know. They know. They've watched the boy down the street grow up into a teenager. They know the person that lives across from them. And it really is driving home the importance. They're not asking for family dinners every Sunday night. They're not asking for those sorts of things. But just knowing the names of the people who live around them can feel comforting. Grounding, grounding. And it creates a sense of home. It creates that sense of place that we all long for. So, so yeah.

Juanita Vero: [00:08:32] And then the flip side, if you just can't stand your neighbors and. Then you talk.

Ria Overholt: [00:08:38] Then you talk about plants or their trees or the birds that have been in the backyard. Do you find them.

Josh Slotnick: [00:08:44] Moved to a ranch on an unmarked gravel road?

Juanita Vero: [00:08:47] There you go.

Josh Slotnick: [00:08:50] So I did notice something a couple years ago when I went on a ride along with Meals on Wheels, that it seemed like the human interaction between the driver and the recipient was a bigger deal than the food. It is. And it's sold as the food, like we're bringing meals and essential nutrition. And absolutely that's true. The meals were delivered, but the interactions were what I took away as the thing that I witnessed that was so powerful.

Ria Overholt: [00:09:13] Absolutely. In fact, since the last time, because I think I might have gone with you on your last ride along, we've actually changed our our program a little bit to, I don't want to use the word require, but we've put more emphasis on the importance of that connection. So people have to open their doors. That's part of the program that they're signing up for is having that hand off of the meal. Um, during Covid, we started getting in the habit of leaving meals in coolers or leaving meals on doors and, and we were.

Juanita Vero: [00:09:45] Missing.

Ria Overholt: [00:09:45] Out.

Juanita Vero: [00:09:46] On that.

Ria Overholt: [00:09:46] It's not the same. So over the last year and a half, we've really started to put the emphasis and say, look, we want to see you. We don't need to have a long conversation, but we want to have. Make eye contact, say hello. And so that has become a much more emphasized portion of our program over the last.

Juanita Vero: [00:10:04] What sort of feedback have you received?

Ria Overholt: [00:10:06] So at first it was really fascinating because people. It felt intrusive to them, I think.

Juanita Vero: [00:10:13] Right.

Josh Slotnick: [00:10:13] Nobody likes being told what to do.

Ria Overholt: [00:10:15] Nobody likes being told what to do. And, and it had become a comfort place and a place, you know, where they didn't have to have that interaction. Since then, what we've been hearing since we implemented this change is our volunteers are enjoying the program so much more because.

Juanita Vero: [00:10:34] They're no longer just dropping stuff.

Ria Overholt: [00:10:36] They're no longer just dropping things off. We're hearing stories from the folks that we serve. We are able to intervene much quicker. So we're we're in fact.

Josh Slotnick: [00:10:50] Here something that might.

Ria Overholt: [00:10:51] When you hear something. Also, because we are making such an effort to.

Juanita Vero: [00:10:56] What's an example of hearing something.

Ria Overholt: [00:10:59] So, um, for example. Well, this is kind of a cool thing. About the same time we started delivering pet food along with the meals.

Juanita Vero: [00:11:08] So we actually, when did that start?

Ria Overholt: [00:11:11] I started about a year ago. So we have a partnership with the Humane Society and this is unbelievable. They have a, they get donations of pet food right from PetSmart and all the big, big companies donate pet food and they will distribute that pet food out. But you have to come to the Humane Society to pick it up. Well, in our world, that's not always possible. And I think when we were talking about loneliness before you mentioned pets, our relationships with our pets, our pets are critical. But if you're homebound and you have a challenge getting out to get food for yourself, getting food for your pets becomes even more difficult. And sort of the driving force was we had were doing some deliveries to a person who out in the county, not within town, out in the county. And um, one of our drivers reported they had gone in and they were actually taking their meals and putting them on the floor to.

Juanita Vero: [00:12:12] Feed their pet. Wow.

Ria Overholt: [00:12:15] And we thought, boy, we don't want that to happen. So now what happens is, is we get these bags of cat food and dog food and things from the Humane Society, and our drivers deliver it out with the meals. So they're we're feeding.

Juanita Vero: [00:12:31] Yep, yep. Oh that's great.

Ria Overholt: [00:12:33] Both the both the person and their pet companion. But that was something that came out of we wouldn't have known about that need without those conversations, without seeing the people. Right? Because it wouldn't have been something that somebody would have called up the office and said, hey, I'm really struggling to feed my cat. Can you help.

Juanita Vero: [00:12:52] Me.

Ria Overholt: [00:12:52] With this? But because we got to see this person, we got to see this thing happen. Then we were able to go, oh, you know, this is actually kind of a need here and put that out there. So that's.

Juanita Vero: [00:13:04] Nice. Thank you for sharing that. I had no idea.

Josh Slotnick: [00:13:07] Yeah. What a great what a great addition to an already excellent program.

Juanita Vero: [00:13:11] I think you were talking about earlier Missoula villages or the network. But can you say more about that?

Ria Overholt: [00:13:18] Yeah. So here's another this is another cool thing that has kind of happened over the past year. I feel like I have a lot to catch you guys up on.

Josh Slotnick: [00:13:26] Please let us.

Juanita Vero: [00:13:27] Know we're due for a ride along.

Ria Overholt: [00:13:29] You're due for a ride along. So we've always known that people want to age in their own home, right? Very few people go in life and say, boy, I just. I can't wait until I get into a nursing.

Juanita Vero: [00:13:40] Home.

Ria Overholt: [00:13:41] Or assisted living, right? They want to stay in their home. And there's a lot of things that need to happen for that to, to be effective, but a lot of times it's little things. It's a lot of little things that add up. So for example.

Juanita Vero: [00:13:55] Ramps and handrails and bathrooms.

Ria Overholt: [00:13:57] And handrails. But sometimes even smaller than that. So it's not uncommon for people to start to lose mobility in their shoulders as they get older. Right shoulder is a major joint.

Juanita Vero: [00:14:08] I just went through frozen shoulder this fall, and I had no idea how debilitating.

Ria Overholt: [00:14:13] How debilitating because like the whole world. So now imagine that the light bulb in your kitchen has gone out.

Juanita Vero: [00:14:20] There's no way. There's no way you're going to fix that.

Ria Overholt: [00:14:23] You can't fix it. And without that light bulb in your kitchen.

Juanita Vero: [00:14:28] You can't see what needs.

Ria Overholt: [00:14:29] To.

Juanita Vero: [00:14:29] Be cleaned.

Ria Overholt: [00:14:30] It's a much bigger issue. And so something as simple as changing a light bulb can be something that's really challenging. We also talk a lot about really basic transportation needs. We have an incredible community public transportation system in Missoula, right? It's great. We're so fortunate. But if you happen to live just outside of that, or maybe you don't need regular transportation, but you're scheduled for surgery on your eye, right? You've got eye surgery and you have to have a designated driver in order to have that procedure done. They won't let you show up and say, I'm going to call an Uber. You've got to walk in and here's the name of the person you're going to call. You've got to have that. We hear stories all the time of people who put off procedures because they don't have that designated driver, right?

Josh Slotnick: [00:15:28] That's heartbreaking.

Ria Overholt: [00:15:28] So it's just these things, which none of them are rocket science. They're not huge. But how do you create a network? And so around the country, there has been this movement of creating the Neighbor to Neighbor Villages network. And what it is, is it's, it's basically a platform of neighbors helping neighbors. The, the philosophy behind it's really simple. And that is that we all have something to give. Just because I get older doesn't mean that I lose value. I still have things to offer, but it's about finding the matches for what I have to offer with the people who who need that sort of assistance. So if you would imagine, let's imagine that the three of us are in the village, right? And Juan, your shoulders frozen up, you can't can't get.

Juanita Vero: [00:16:23] That.

Ria Overholt: [00:16:24] Light bulb change, right. But Josh, you've got some height on you. I believe in your ability to be able to change to change that bulb. Right? But so maybe you can offer that for her, but maybe you need maybe you need laser surgery on your eyes, or maybe you have a dental appointment where you need anesthesia, right? I love to drive. I'd be happy to drive you to your appointment and get you home afterwards. That could be something that. Right? And so what we do is we, we, we're creating a circle of support for each other that doesn't require an exchange of funds. It's not about hiring somebody to come and do this thing. For me, it's about a system of reciprocity, a system of saying, hey, we all have something to offer and how do we do this?

Josh Slotnick: [00:17:13] It's like the it's like the Robin Wall Kimmerer idea of an economy. Yes, yes. So how do people inside the village network know what's available to them?

Ria Overholt: [00:17:25] So it's all based on a website platform. Okay. Which I know everybody goes, oh my goodness. But it's older adults and that's technology. Let me tell you what, they are pretty savvy when it comes to they can navigate. My grandmother could navigate Facebook in a way that I never could. She knew some stuff, right. So it's a, it's a platform. And essentially they sign up to be a part of this platform.

Juanita Vero: [00:17:51] And this again is called Missoula villages.

Ria Overholt: [00:17:53] Missoula villages. And within that, they have access to this community of people who have all been background checked. They've all been vetted. Like they've all gone through those processes, but now they're in this network and within that network, they can share services so they can support each other with services, but they can also have access to events, to curated calendars. That's another thing that we hear from people all the time. There is so much going on in Missoula all the time, right?

Josh Slotnick: [00:18:27] They can't go.

Ria Overholt: [00:18:28] But they can't go or they don't even know where to look to see the stuff. Like how many times on the weekends do you guys like, oh my gosh, I didn't even know that activity was taking place. So the village kind of curates their own calendar of here's events, here are things that are happening, but now it's a little bit more than that because now it's going. String orchestra of the Rockies is playing on Sunday. And Juan, you're going, but you've got an extra spot in your car and you put that on there and I say, I would love to go, can I ride with you? And now I have somebody to go with. I'm not walking in by myself. I've got a ride to this event. We have this shared experience. So this, this program has been highly successful all around the country. About seven years ago, Kalispell started one and it's called My Glacier Village. And it's phenomenal what's happening, what they're doing, what they're accomplishing up there. And so about a year and a half ago, we were in these conversations trying to figure out how do we provide some of this extra support. And we started talking about the village, and we reached out to Mike Glacier Village and said, hey, tell us about how did you do this? They said, you know, it's the funniest thing because we just got contacted by a group of folks in Missoula who were interested in starting a village. So they put us all in contact with each other. And I don't know how to even explain this group of volunteers that have come together over the past year. But this program we're providing, the umbrella agency, but the entire program is being put together by this group of folks from the community who are volunteering their time and their efforts and their energy to form this group within Missoula. And it's sort of it's organic in nature. It's it's grassroots. It's they're looking at what.

Juanita Vero: [00:20:33] How it's.

Ria Overholt: [00:20:33] What.

Juanita Vero: [00:20:34] Works.

Ria Overholt: [00:20:34] How it's meant to be. And I'm just really privileged to be along for the ride with them. And so we actually have a representative from Public Health, Christie Scheele is part of that group. We've got a representative from Missoula, Parks and Rec. Kalena from the the city neighborhoods groups is part of that effort.

Josh Slotnick: [00:20:56] So all of this wonderful stuff begs the question how do people learn more? How do they get involved? Somebody wants to be part of this village. What do they do next?

Ria Overholt: [00:21:03] So phone call, just call us. Call Missoula. Aging Services. You can go to our website. We try to make it as easy as possible. If you called Missoula Aging Services and said, hey, I want to talk to someone about the village, they would get you to the right person.

Juanita Vero: [00:21:19] There's a button on the Missoula Aging Services website for the village.

Ria Overholt: [00:21:23] There is a button on the website for the village.

Juanita Vero: [00:21:25] I've been on the website and I just. I hadn't even noticed that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ria Overholt: [00:21:30] But really we want to just make it. Just just call us. It's one number. Um.

Juanita Vero: [00:21:36] And do you know how many folks are participating or being served?

Ria Overholt: [00:21:40] So we're in the process right now of onboarding. So we just onboarded our first two members on Friday.

Josh Slotnick: [00:21:48] Oh, so this is just.

Juanita Vero: [00:21:50] Super fresh.

Ria Overholt: [00:21:51] And brand new. You are you, you're like breaking news. You guys are getting like the inside scoop here. Look at you.

Juanita Vero: [00:21:58] Okay, so now I don't feel so bad about, like, not.

Josh Slotnick: [00:22:02] Typical with a bimonthly.

Juanita Vero: [00:22:03] Podcast.

Josh Slotnick: [00:22:04] Right on the edge

Ria Overholt: [00:22:04] Right on the edge! So we just onboarded the first two, but we've got a list. Goodness, we're somewhere 40, 50, behind that, that we're, we're in the process of onboarding. Yeah.

Josh Slotnick: [00:22:18] That's super good. Hey, so Juan, I hear that you are doing an event that has some crossover with, uh, mas on April 28th.

Ria Overholt: [00:22:27] Yeah. Look at look at Juan looking at us going. I am.

Juanita Vero: [00:22:31] Yes, I am. Tell me about this event.

Josh Slotnick: [00:22:34] It's a 35 minute keynote.

Juanita Vero: [00:22:35] My birthday. Yeah. 27th. Yes.

Ria Overholt: [00:22:38] Yeah. Didn't you know? I mean, when you're launching, you're launching the whole thing.

Josh Slotnick: [00:22:42] Yeah, you're doing the launch. There'll be some national media there, but they're mostly friendly. Mostly.

Ria Overholt: [00:22:47] Mostly.

Juanita Vero: [00:22:48] So tell us about this event that we're doing.

Ria Overholt: [00:22:50] That you're doing. So this is part of this curated events that we're doing through the village, right? So, so just to kind of give you a framework, um, on Sunday, we did, um, a Tai chi and tea event, um, down.

Juanita Vero: [00:23:07] At.

Ria Overholt: [00:23:07] Sacred Ally downtown. They, they did a tai chi. It was amazing.

Juanita Vero: [00:23:12] I never knew how to pronounce that. I think I was calling it Sacred Alley. Well, I was.

Ria Overholt: [00:23:17] Too, and then I'm like, but there's.

Josh Slotnick: [00:23:18] Not a bad name.

Ria Overholt: [00:23:19] Right?

Juanita Vero: [00:23:19] Either way, it's funny. I've just driven by it. I didn't read it very carefully. So thank you for saying that.

Ria Overholt: [00:23:26] So Tai Chi, um, we're doing an event in a couple of weeks at the butterfly house. So we'll be meeting for breakfast and then touring the butterfly house together. We're doing a special event with the home resource crew coming up.

Josh Slotnick: [00:23:42] And what is this all about?

Ria Overholt: [00:23:43] Fix it. These are all village events. So these are opportunities for people to come together and learn more about Missoula villages. And then also just enjoy, enjoy the event Missoula, whatever cool Missoula stuff. So because we're hanging out with all the cool people, I mean the butterfly house resources.

Josh Slotnick: [00:24:03] We.

Ria Overholt: [00:24:03] Obviously we obviously have to hang out with you as well, right?

Juanita Vero: [00:24:08] County commissioners.

Ria Overholt: [00:24:09] Absolutely. Um, so it's going to be a lunch and, um, just a really quick primer on how the city and county government work. You're going to give us a little inside scoop on, on just how all these pieces fit together and a day in the life of, I think.

Juanita Vero: [00:24:30] Super fun. At Headwaters Foundation.

Ria Overholt: [00:24:32] Yes.

Juanita Vero: [00:24:33] Come on down. Yes. Yeah.

Ria Overholt: [00:24:35] She's Wan's very excited. I can see the enthusiasm is radiating from her at this moment.

Josh Slotnick: [00:24:41] April 28th. April 20th. Foundation at noon 1130 1130, 1130.

Ria Overholt: [00:24:47] Call us if you're interested in participating and we'll put you on the RSVP list. So yeah.

Josh Slotnick: [00:24:53] Thanks for that.

Juanita Vero: [00:24:55] Yeah. And we never asked you like how, how long have you been involved with Missoula Aging Services and how did you get started?

Ria Overholt: [00:25:02] Yeah, yeah. So so I've been there for five years.

Juanita Vero: [00:25:07] Oh, I thought it was much longer than that.

Ria Overholt: [00:25:08] I know it feels longer, but here's the thing. So I'm a derby girl. I was raised down in Derby. I'm a I'm a derby girl, a barbarian. I am a barbarian and proud of it. Yes, proud of it. And then I worked in Hamilton for a lot of years. I was in the Hamilton School District for a long time, a teacher. I did all of their enrichment programing and all gifted programing. It was it was a lot of fun. But through that process, I became a caregiver for my grandparents, and that was one of the hardest things that I've ever done. It was really, really challenging. My grandfather had dementia. He wanted to be kept in his own home, and we needed support doing that. And we reached out to Missoula Aging Services, and we actually got hooked up with the veteran directed care program through Missoula Aging Services. And Shelly and her team helped us get caregivers in to to help us in that process. And I, I tell people all the time that that was a game changer for us. It was it was the thing that allowed me to fulfill my promise to my grandfather to keep him at home. So we went through that process, lost grandpa, lost grandma, and then I saw a job opening at Missoula Aging Services. And I thought, you know, that could be a place where I could feel really, really good. So I, I made that shift and then I was living in Hamilton, commuting to Missoula, which was horrendous. It was awful.

Josh Slotnick: [00:26:48] It's a lot. It's a lot of windshield time.

Ria Overholt: [00:26:51] So my husband and I made the decision a year ago. We moved to Missoula. So I feel kind of like, you know, the country kid coming to the big city. I'm a little I'm a derby girl at heart, but I'm sure enjoying being here in Missoula.

Josh Slotnick: [00:27:07] I'm glad you saved all that commuter time off. Use that time in other ways.

Ria Overholt: [00:27:10] I can use that time in other ways. And so it's, it's been, um, it's been phenomenal. But yeah, I'm coming up on my five year anniversary.

Josh Slotnick: [00:27:19] I have to ask how was finding housing?

Ria Overholt: [00:27:22] So here's the thing. We decided to rent for a year because I didn't know where I wanted to be in Missoula. Do you want to be right? And we found a place right at the base of the rattlesnake. We border.

Josh Slotnick: [00:27:34] It's not a very desirable neighborhood. No, one wants.

Ria Overholt: [00:27:36] Not at all. Nobody wants to be there. I overlook Waterworks Hill like I'm right on the edge of Waterworks Hill. And so that's what the view from my from my living room is, right? And I tell people all the time, I am more in the country now than I was when I was living in Hamilton. Like the birds and the coyotes and the. It's amazing. And but now I'm never going to be able to move anything after. That's going to be a letdown, right?

Josh Slotnick: [00:28:05] Kind of. I think so, because you're so close to the all the things that big city has. Yeah. Big Montana City has to offer except for.

Ria Overholt: [00:28:13] I do have to tell you, this is the funny thing. And I, we talk about this a lot, so I haven't ridden my bike since we moved to Missoula. There's that little hill that goes up.

Josh Slotnick: [00:28:23] Right.

Ria Overholt: [00:28:24] Duncan.

Juanita Vero: [00:28:25] Oh, Duncan is steep. It is steep.

Ria Overholt: [00:28:27] It is steep. And so my fear is, is that I'll ride my bike and go somewhere and then not be able to get home again. Then I'll be stuck at the bottom of Duncan Hill, and that'll be it. That'll be the end of it.

Juanita Vero: [00:28:39] You can get you can get the the pedal assist bike.

Ria Overholt: [00:28:41] Okay. I might have to get a pedal assist bike.

Josh Slotnick: [00:28:44] I think.

Ria Overholt: [00:28:45] I think it is.

Josh Slotnick: [00:28:46] Well done.

Juanita Vero: [00:28:47] Or just on a lovely day. Just try and put it in granny gear and just not be as bad as you think it is.

Ria Overholt: [00:28:52] So if you see me, if you see me like pushing my bike up the hill one of these days, you know I might have to be the. Yeah. Because this is it has been kind of sad, but yeah.

Josh Slotnick: [00:29:02] Wow. Well, welcome to Missoula.

Ria Overholt: [00:29:04] Thank you.

Juanita Vero: [00:29:05] Yeah. So glad you're here. Yeah. Well, before we close, we, um, this is kind of our tradition. Do you have a good book or read or nugget of wisdom or.

Josh Slotnick: [00:29:15] Anything you've come across?

Juanita Vero: [00:29:17] Yeah.

Ria Overholt: [00:29:18] Um.

Juanita Vero: [00:29:19] Who guides you or inspires you? It could be a piece of art.

Josh Slotnick: [00:29:22] It could be something wonderful.

Ria Overholt: [00:29:24] Somebody said so I have to tell you, I just got back from the Baja, I was down.

Josh Slotnick: [00:29:32] What town were.

Ria Overholt: [00:29:32] You? So we're we're in Los Barillas. It's about an hour.

Josh Slotnick: [00:29:37] Yes, yes.

Ria Overholt: [00:29:38] Have you been there? Okay.

Josh Slotnick: [00:29:39] Barely any gringos. It's amazing.

Ria Overholt: [00:29:41] It's like. It's like me and all the Canadians. But, you know, it's great. Um, but I always have to find, like the, the, the, the local artists and, um, we went into this little, little town kind of up in the mountains of, uh, in the Baja. They're not really mountains. They're big hills, but, you know, um, and just seeing the colors and the brightness that they, that they just sort of encompasses them. It's pretty inspiring. But as far as reading, I would say, um, read, read up on that study that, that came out about those minor interactions and that.

Juanita Vero: [00:30:24] How would we, how would, uh, someone find that?

Ria Overholt: [00:30:26] Oh my goodness. I'll tell you what. See, now, that wasn't a good recommendation because I can't think of what it is. I may have to Google what the. I also just read the correspondent. Have you guys read that one?

Josh Slotnick: [00:30:36] Oh, my wife just read that. Yeah, I really liked it.

Ria Overholt: [00:30:39] It was really interesting.

Juanita Vero: [00:30:41] I know nothing about it. What is what?

Ria Overholt: [00:30:43] So the book is written entirely. It's just a collection of letters and emails back and forth with this woman as she's aging. So she's getting near to friends and family. And so the whole narrative unfolds through.

Juanita Vero: [00:31:02] Her.

Ria Overholt: [00:31:02] Her letters and her emails, and it's kind of beautiful and fascinating.

Josh Slotnick: [00:31:09] Kim would stop in the middle and be like, check this one out. It's really, it's really a, it's a really interestingly done way to tell a story.

Juanita Vero: [00:31:16] Did you guys ever read Griffin and Sabine?

Ria Overholt: [00:31:18] Griffin and Sabine? Oh, there's these.

Juanita Vero: [00:31:20] Beautiful books that you're kind of flipping the pages and then you, um, you're opening the envelopes and reading people's letters, and it's just.

Josh Slotnick: [00:31:30] Wow.

Juanita Vero: [00:31:30] Over years and years, it's a correspondence between two people and it's really beautiful.

Josh Slotnick: [00:31:36] The study was highlighted in Psypost. So p s y p o s t. Yep yep yep. If you were to go to c p o s t I post, you could read about it. These are about the study was about minor social interactions often referred to as weak ties.

Ria Overholt: [00:31:52] Yep.

Juanita Vero: [00:31:52] Oh.

Josh Slotnick: [00:31:52] Weak ties that have a significant impact on psychological well-being and life satisfaction.

Juanita Vero: [00:31:56] What was the the the date of the study?

Josh Slotnick: [00:31:59] 2023 is.

Juanita Vero: [00:32:00] Great.

Josh Slotnick: [00:32:01] Yeah.

Ria Overholt: [00:32:01] Yeah, I think it might be this. Gillian Sandstrom might be the the one that that I read. Yeah.

Juanita Vero: [00:32:09] Fantastic. We'll we'll check it out.

Ria Overholt: [00:32:11] Yeah. There you go. So those.

Josh Slotnick: [00:32:13] Weak ties everybody.

Ria Overholt: [00:32:14] Weak ties. That's the the I love it. The challenge for today go out and find one person to say hello to and just see what happens. Yeah.

Juanita Vero: [00:32:24] Well, thank you so much for coming by.

Josh Slotnick: [00:32:26] And for choosing to live here. Yes.

Ria Overholt: [00:32:29] I'm, I'm pretty thrilled to be here, so thank you.

Juanita Vero: [00:32:31] Yes, thanks.

Josh Slotnick: [00:32:32] Thanks, everybody. Thanks for listening to the agenda. If you enjoy these conversations, it would mean a lot if you rate and review the show on whichever podcast app you use.

Juanita Vero: [00:32:42] And if you know a friend who would like to keep up with what's happening in local government, be sure to recommend this podcast to them.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:32:48] The agenda with the Missoula County Commissioners is made possible with support from Missoula Community Access Television, better known as MCAT, and our staff in the Missoula County Communications Division.

Josh Slotnick: [00:33:00] If you have a question or a topic you'd like us to discuss on a future episode, email it to communications@missoulacounty.us.

Juanita Vero: [00:33:07] To find out other ways to stay up to date with what's happening in Missoula County, go to Missoula dot. Updates.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:33:15] Thanks for listening.