Fairfax County Department of Family Services
12011 Government Center Parkway
Fairfax, VA 22035
For media inquiries, contact: Belinda Buescher, 703-324-7758, TTY 703-222-9452

For Immediate Release - October 19, 2004

Ruth Beacom, a long-time volunteer with the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging, is this year's recipient of the Louis B. Wagner Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by the Fairfax Area Commission on Aging. The award honors individuals whose outstanding volunteer achievements span at least a 10-year period of community service devoted to aging-related concerns for older adults in Fairfax County and the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church.

The award was presented during the October 18 meeting of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

(Photo available upon request.)

Ruth Beacom has been serving seniors in the Fairfax area since 1976 when she managed the Telephone Reassurance Program for the Fairfax County Chapter of the American Red Cross. In 1990, when the Red Cross turned the Telephone Reassurance Program over to the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging (FAAA), Mrs. Beacom continued to work with the program as a volunteer caller.

In 1992, Mrs. Beacom took on two more important volunteer roles: as program coordinator of the Friendship, Senior Program (a volunteer visiting program for isolated seniors) and as the Fairfax City representative to the Fairfax Area Commission on Aging (COA) where she served for 10 years, including two years as chairman (1996 to 1998). Mrs. Beacom now co-chairs a council for the City of Fairfax called “TRIAD S.A.L.T. (Seniors and Law Enforcement Together),” that brings together public safety, social services, and other community resources to provide safe communities for older adults.

Throughout the years, Ruth Beacom has been a strong advocate for the rights and needs of seniors. She successfully organized grassroots support and petitioned the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 1997 to retain home-based care services that had been targeted for elimination. Because of her leadership, many seniors throughout the Fairfax area have been able to stay in their homes and remain independent.

Mrs. Beacom continues to manage the FAAA’s Friendship, Senior Program, which provides companionship and emotional support for socially isolated senior adults. Since 1990, Ms. Beacom has contributed approximately 8,000 hours as a FAAA volunteer.

For more information about helping older adults in our community, call the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging (FAAA) at 703-324-5411 (Text telephone: 703-449-1186) or visit the county’s Web site: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/service/aaa

Fairfax County is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination in all county programs, services and activities and will provide reasonable accommodations upon request. To request special accommodations, call 703-324-3535 or Virginia Relay 711.