HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-06-12 Council on Aging Minutes Town of Reading
Meeting Minutes r cJ
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Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 2111 SEP 21 PM 5: 51
Council on Aging
Date: 2017-06-12 Time: 6:30 PM
Building: Pleasant Street Senior Center Location: Lounge Room
Address: 49 Pleasant Street
Purpose: Session: General Session
Attendees: Members - Present:
Jolyn Ek, Margaret Havey, Sally Hoyt, John Parsons, Thomas Procopio,
Sandy Shaffer, Marilyn Shapleigh, Brian Snell, George Wetmore, Pooja
Parsons (Associate Member), Janya Stafford (Associate Member), Jane
Burns (Admin)
Members - Not Present:
Joan Coco, Kevin Walsh (Associate Member)
Others Present:
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Marilyn Shapleigh
Topics of Discussion:
Call to Order: 6:33 by Thomas Procopio.
Acceptance of Minutes from 5/8/2017: Accepted.
Elder Services May Report (Admin): Jane Burns summarized the tremendous community
support being provided to residents who are in need as a result of the June 1st Reading
Schoolhouse Condominium fire. Elder Services has been working closely with MEMA, the
fire department, churches, Red Cross, local merchants, business owners, restaurant owners,
individual volunteers, and many other groups to help in any way needed. In cooperation
with Reading Cares, they set up the Pleasant Street Center as a drop site for gift cards.
MEMA also set up a disaster recovery center at the Pleasant Street Center -- the Dept. of
Mental Health, Salvation Army, Dept. of Insurance, the Housing Coordinator, HUD, Red
Cross, and others were there. Elder Services fed people lunch and dinner. Over $6,000 in
gift cards have been dropped off so far, additional contributions have been pledged, and
more donations continue to come. Elder Services is working with Reading Cares to
distribute the gift cards. There are two displaced seniors; work is under way to help them
find housing. Mission of Deeds and the Bargain Box are helping too. MEMA and others
commended Reading for the strong community support, noting that it is unusual to see this
scope of organized effort fall into place so quickly. Accepted.
Financial May Report (Admin): Jane Burns presented the report and handed out a summary
Burbank Entertainment FY 17 Entertainment report. Expenditures were slightly
(approximately $365) under budget. The plan is to roll forward with a budget of$3,000 per
year and to try to continue to stay under this cap. Ms. Burns noted that the "dinner
theater" was a very successful big ticket ($2500) event, funded by a gift from the Women's
League. Next year it may be scheduled earlier in the year so it could be held at a school, a
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setting where custodial services would be included. During discussion, it was suggested
that next year the COA may want to consider funding the event. Accepted.
MVES Report(Brian Snell): MVES. The way mental health care is being offered is changing.
Two mental health organizations are partnering with MVES. One will be a client service.
MVES will be a part owner in the other. The hope is that this will result in opportunities for
MVES to take on new referrals. How protective services functions will change. Currently,
people can call directly into MVES. Effective July, calls will go to the UMass Medical Center
and UMass will dispatch calls to the appropriate place. A number of open issues remain and
will hopefully be resolved by the next board meeting. The volunteer appreciation dinner
was held on 6/15. The big fundraiser is going on at the Stoneham Theater this month.
Old Business:
Alzheimer Friendly vs. Age Friendly Community Research: As part of the on-going
discussion about the COA's role, several programs were discussed including the virtual
dementia tours that the Residences at Pearl is running on 6/21 to build dementia
awareness, the memory cafe, additional programming under development by the Jewish
Family &Child Services, David K Johnson foundation initiatives, and the City of Boston's
Age-Friendly Action Plan. In considering the options, it was concluded that the best
strategy for the COA to would be to begin by focusing on dementia awareness programming
for Reading because the UMass Needs Assessment results have not yet been released and
the COA is more likely to be successful with the narrower, better defined focus of dementia
awareness programming. We could begin by building on the tool kit developed by the
JF&CS and by supporting more awareness events. Then in the fall, after reviewing the
UMass Needs Assessment results, the COA might consider building upon the report's
recommendations in a fashion similar to what Boston has done to develop its Age-friendly
Action Plan, possibly piggy-backing on work that is underway in other communities and/or
partnering with others to combine complementary skill sets.
Selectman's Meeting Presentation: Jane Burns presented a draft of the presentation
scheduled to be delivered at the upcoming Selectman's meeting. COA members suggested
a few very minor slide revisions, but overall found the presentation to be excellent.
New Business:
Lobster Roll Dinner Funding Request: John Parsons made a motion to approve an amount
not to exceed $1400 from Patrons to cover the lobster roll dinner expenses. Motion was
seconded by Jolyn Ek. All in favor.
Chinese Dinner Funding Request: Sally Hoyt made a motion to approve $1200 from Patrons
to cover the Chinese dinner expenses. Motion was seconded by Margaret Havey.
Discussion: Brian Snell asked how much interest is available to be spent per year from
Patrons. Jane Burns reported that we earn approximately $4600 in interest per year, but
we have accrued $14,771 as a result of under-spending interest in past years. So, while
expenditures will exceed $4,600 this year, sufficient funds are available from the accrued
funds to cover the dinner. The possibility of starting to charge a nominal amount (e.g., $5
non-refundable tickets) to help cover expenses and discourage "no-shows" was discussed,
but tabled until fall. John Parsons recommended that there be a wait list so people who
can't get in to one event get first crack at the next. All voted in favor of the motion.
Knox Box Program: Tabled until September
Upcoming Events: Needs assessment presentation, a barber shop quartet, a Live Wires
speaker on an alternative pain management programs.
Adjourned: A motion by John Parsons, seconded by Brian Snell to adjourn. All in favor.
Meeting adjourned by Tom Procopio at 8:40.
Next COA Meeting: September, 2017.
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