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Town of Reading
Meeting Minutes
Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
Council on Aging
Date: 2017-03-13
Building: Pleasant Street Senior Center
Address: 49 Pleasant Street
Purpose:
Attendees: Members - Present:
Time: 6:30 PM
T 0 W N CL i?K
READING, M iCC-
1011 APR -b P b-- 301 ,
Location: Arts and Crafts Room
Session: General Session
Joan Coco, Jolyn Ek, Margaret Havey, Sally Hoyt, John Parsons, Thomas
Procopio, Sandy Shaffer, Marilyn Shapleigh, Brian Snell, George Wetmore,
Pooja Parsons (Associate Member), Jayna Stafford (Associate Member), Jane
Burns (Admin)
Members - Not Present:
Kevin Walsh (Associate Member)
Others Present:
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Marilyn Shapleigh
Topics of Discussion:
Call to Order: 6:30 by Brian Snell.
Acceptance of February Minutes: Minutes accepted.
Elder Services February Report (Admin): Jane Burns presented the report. Accepted.
Financia/ February Report (Admin): Jane Burns presented the report. Accepted.
MVES Report (Brian Snell): MVES attended an elder law advocacy day at the state house in
February and spoke with legislators to advocate elder -friendly legislation such as funds
needed by MVES. The potential budget gap issue discussed last month has been resolved;
no budget problems are anticipated for the upcoming fiscal year. A big fundraising event
will be held in June at the Stoneham Theater - "I lived, I loved, I ate spaghetti".
Old Business:
Focus Group Update (Tom Procopio/John Parsons): Representatives from fire, police,
veterans, the board of health, clergy, etc. attended. The challenge of keeping seniors in
their homes came up as a priority. Transportation is an issue. Thomas Procopio and John
Parsons made all of the points on the "COA checklist" that was compiled during the February
COA meeting. Other topics included: the need for evening activities to reach younger
elderly; food & security; ways to communicate Pleasant Street Center information to the
public (e.g., by something like the community notification system or social media); the
pluses and minuses of social media including the associated need for staff to keep social
media up to date; and the need for a new Senior Center with good access, including a first
floor bathroom and easy wheelchair access to & within the building. Focus was primarily on
crisis situations rather than other needs to keep seniors in town. At the end, all agreed that
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there appears to be a significant amount of "silo knowledge" and it might be a good idea to
get together again to learn what the various groups are doing.
Recap of COA Training (Marilyn Shapleigh): Marilyn Shapleigh attended COA training
conducted by Emmett Schmarsow of the EOEA in Andover on February 24th. Particular
emphasis was placed upon the role of COA members as advocates for the elderly.
Statistics presented at the meeting showed that Seniors (age 60+) are rapidly becoming a
larger segment in Massachusetts' towns than school age children, but expenditures are not
keeping pace with the shift. Mr. Schmarsow recommended advocacy initiatives such as:
contacting town and state officials to support elder -friendly legislation, speaking up at town
meetings, collecting and publicizing statistics on elder needs vs. current budget funding,
recognizing the monetary value of volunteers, promoting anti -ageism, and building
awareness of "boomer" population needs. Outreach activities were also recommended.
For example, initiatives might include gathering information by including surveys (to identify
elder needs) and/or donation envelopes (to fund a new senior center) in annual census
mailings. Mr. Schmarsow also described the advisory role of the COA, noting the COA's
responsibility to work with the Director to set and review agency policies (focusing on long
term goals representing elder interests) and to monitor the elder services budget.
Alzheimer Friendly Community Research (Jolyn Ek/Marilyn Shapleigh): Jolyn Ek and Marilyn
Shapleigh reported on their research about the Purple Angel program, characterizing the
program as a campaign to improve the lives of people living with dementia by making
communities more accessible and less discriminating. Discussion included
recommendations that we: invite a community (such as Marshfield) that's implemented a
Purple Angel program to talk about their experience at an upcoming COA meeting; consider
teaming up with the Chamber or Rotary Club, etc. If Reading adopted this program, we
might visit retailers to pitch the campaign, follow up, and possibly talk with staff. Jane
Burns and her staff are researching dementia awareness days nationally. Other age -friendly
community programs which go beyond the focus on dementia are also being considered
nation-wide. The Wakefield COA is working on making Wakefield an age- /dementia -
friendly community -they are at the same stage as Reading; there might be an opportunity
to work together. Jane Burns suggested dementia training with merchants as a "trial
balloon" to gauge interest. The state is also looking at the concept of age -friendly
communities.
Next steps: Jolyn Ek and Marilyn Shapleigh will Google age -friendly -communities in MA,
including certification programs, and report at the April COA meeting. Ms. Shapleigh will
download Purple Angel pamphlets to send to Jane Burns for COA distribution.
New Business:
Spring Meal Delivery: April 14th - Friday before Easter. Sandy Shaffer, Jolyn Ek, John
Parsons, Jayna Stafford, and Joan Coco volunteered to be drivers to deliver the meals.
They will meet at a location TBD at 12:30.
Volunteer Dinner - Request for Funding: Motion to approve $ 1400.00 from Patrons to
cover Volunteer Dinner expenses by John Parsons. Seconded by Joan Coco. All approved.
The dinner will be held April 20th 5:00 at the Pleasant Street Center. Discussion of new
ideas for the dinner included asking the Interact club to serve. Brian Snell will talk with
Interact and/or others at the high school to seek 6 to 10 volunteers to serve/deliver meals,
seat people, clear tables, etc.
Upcoming Events: Chair volley ball by National Honor Society. Prescription Awareness
program and the opiate crisis.
Adjourned: by Brian Snell at 8:03 with a motion by Thomas Procopio, seconded by Sandy
Shaffer, and approved by all.
Next COA Meeting: April 3, 2017 at 6:30.
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