DRAFT
Salem Council on Aging
Board of Directors
Minutes from meeting of June 16, 2010.
Meeting was called to order by Chair Pat Donahue, at 6:33 p.m.
Roll call
Present: Pat Donahue (chair, PD), Elaine Heredeen (treasurer; EH), Dolores Nangle (DN), Domingo Alvarez (DA), Donna Clifford (DC), Pam Greaves (PG), Alice Williams (AW), James Willis, Joan Lovely (JL, City Council liaison to the COA).
Absent: Jane Sarnowski.
EH: Motion to waive a reading of the minutes of the May meeting.
PG: Seconded
PD: The board can dispense with meetings in July and August and members can come back renewed in September, ready to attend every meeting. Members should attend meetings or make an attempt to notify the board if an absence is anticipated. Starting in September, bylaws regarding dismissal from the board, in regard to successive or cumulative absences over the course of a year, will be enforced.
JL: The City Council approved appropriation of $15,000 to secure the services of an interior designer for the new senior/community center project. Interior designer Elaine Bello, who worked on the new Malden senior center, is likely to be retained by Salem. Details regarding her “scope of services” are being reviewed.
PD: Asks for Director Doug Bollen’s report.
Doug Bollen:
· The COA budget is likely to be level-funded.
· The Friends of the Salem COA will host a spaghetti dinner as a fund-raiser Thursday, June 17, 2010, at the Moose Family Center. Friends also recently sent a general appeal letter to approximately 6,000 senior citizen residents.
· Assistant Director Bill Woolley (BW) and DB taped a show at the studio of SATV to promote the services and activities of the Park, Recreation & Community Services Department, which includes the COA. It is being edited and will be broadcast at a later date. Subsequent shows will promote various functions of the Department.
· Principal Clerk Alice Leblanc, who handles approximately 20 park and recreation accounts, has been out of work for a month, due to illness. Principal Clerk Jacki Grimes, who handles COA accounts, has been doing what she can to compensate during her extended absence.
· BW has some items to discuss.
Bill Woolley:
· A license from the Federal Communications Commission, for the use of a frequency that serves the two-way radios used by the COA transportation service, will be acquired within the next few weeks. It will expire 10 years following receipt.
· North Shore Elder Services will be reviewing Title III-B (transportation) and Title III-C (nutrition) grants used by the Salem COA for FY 2010 and being sought by the Salem COA for FY 2011.
· Blackboard Connect, the California-based company that provides the City with its mass-notification (or reverse-911) capability, asked BW to present a Webinar designed to promote the adaptation of its Web-based program to enable a call-reassurance program for homebound senior citizens. The Webinar is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, June 23.
· The outreach effort to help Spanish-speaking senior citizens gain easier access to COA services and activities continues to be successful. “Jueves Sociales” will be weekly Thursday afternoons dedicated to social and recreational activities presented in Spanish. Also, Spanish-speaking senior citizens from the Town of Chelsea, Mass., are planning a summer visit to downtown Salem and the Senior Center on 5 Broad St. A Service Incentive Grant of $6,000 from the state for FY 2010 is helping support these efforts. Volunteer and COA board member Domingo Alvarez has been instrumental in the success of the outreach project.
Doug Bollen:
· Statistics: Transportation -- In May 2009, COA transportation provided 1,435 point-to-point rides; 1,509 in May 2010. Congregate meals -- In May 2009, 244 congregate meals were served; 530 in May 2010. Home-Delivered Meals -- In May 2009, 1,668 meals were delivered; 21,784 in May 2010. Social Services -- In May 2010, 186 senior citizens (60 and older) were served 293 times; 11 people under the age of 60 were served 21 times. From July 1, 2009 thru June 30, 2010.
· Social workers Sharon Felton and Lynne Barrett have referred senior citizens for financial assistance through trust funds or grant monies totaling nearly $17,000 ($13,427 for prescriptions; $3,365 for moving expenses, refrigerator, hearing aides, lift recliner chair, special arm brace, stove and other household items. This total does not include seniors assisted with public benefits applications such as food, fuel, Part B “buy-in,” Part D “Extra Help,” property tax exemptions, etc.
· Lynne Barrett is attending SHINE (Serving the Health Information Needs of Elders) training classes this summer.
· Activities:
-- Fathers Day lunch, 50 attended.
-- Ninety-one volunteers are actively serving the COA.
-- A pizza party is scheduled for July.
-- The MBTA will soon be distributing Transportation Access Passes at the Senior Center.
-- A trivia game has proven popular among senior citizens.
-- The schedule of Senior Recognition Days activities is available. They will be August 9-15.
JW: It has been a pleasure serving the COA board for the past five years but I am planning to resign, as of September.
PG: A TRIAD information day will, hopefully, be scheduled for September. A date will be set and an announcement will be made. Community members will be invited to learn about the programs and services of TRIAD.
EH: Motion to adjourn.
DC: Seconded.
PD: Adjourns meeting at 7:35 p.m.
The next COA board meeting will be September 15, 2010.
Respectfully submitted by Bill Woolley, having taken minutes at the request of COA board.
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