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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSenior Advisory Board - Minutes - 03/10/2004CITY OF FORT COLLINS SENIOR ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES: Meeting held March 10, 2004 Chairperson — Michael G. Richardson — 970-482-5731 Staff Liaison — Barbara Schoenberger — 970-224-6026 y Council Liaison — Ray Martinez, Mayor — 970-221-6506 Attendance: Sandra Gibson Jeanette Namuth Dianne Heath C. Dean Miller Eileen Hendee John A. Smith Marjorie McTaggart Mike Richardson Excused Absence: Bud Herin Other Absence: James Downey Guests: Kay Rios Stephanie Chismm Lynn Dean, CCN Helen C. Somersall, CCN Don Wells Liaison: Ray Martinez, Mayor Staff: Barbara Schoenberger Karen Bryner I. Call Meeting to Order: Chairperson Mike Richardson called the meeting to order at 1:33 p.m. II. Presentation by Catholic Charities Northern: a discussion of status of Senior Services/Programs. Kay Rios introduced Lynn Dean and Helen Somersall with the Catholic Charities. Helen said most people associate Catholic Charities with the Homeless Shelter, however, Catholic Charities has many senior services and programs. The majority of people served are poor or disabled, fixed income or working poor. The mission is helping people, strengthening families and building community. Senior Programs have programs in both Weld and Larimer County. The goal of the senior services is to help older people stay in their home as long as possible. If they need to move, Catholic Charities will help move them. They help seniors with checks, mail, income tax and budgeting. If they need meals, they are connected with Meals On Wheels. At the present time, the programs are being operated half time because of the loss of funding from United Way. There is very little money able to access although some funding was received from the City of Fort Collins from CDBG. Lynn has been a Catholic Charities Volunteer since 1985. During her time with the Catholic Charities she has learned a lot about the issues of seniors, and as her parents have grown older, she has learned how to care for them. Through her knowledge gained from Catholic Charities she was able to keep her father home during his illness. There are a lot of people who do not have family to take care of them or help with Medicare, or insurance forms, etc. and can go to Catholic Charities for help. The myth of the name "Catholic Charities" is it is a Catholic organization for Catholics. The organization is people of many faiths; volunteers come from 26 other faith communities in Fort Collins. A lot of people believe that funding comes from the Archdiocese of Denver. However only 6% of funding is received from them while 94% of the funding is raised through grants and much is raised locally. All programs serve seniors. Barbara Schoenberger asked how requests are not met with the loss of funding. Before funding was lost 120 people were served a year, now 70 are being served. Staffing has had to be cut. III. Approval of Minutes - February 11, 2004 Mike Richardson made of correction of his telephone number; the number should be (970) 482-5731. John Smith made a motion to accept the minutes with one correction; Sandra Gibson seconded the motion. Minutes were approved with one correction. IV. Correspondence: 1. Letter from Elaine Taylor, a RN with Lakeview New Commons in Loveland, announcing that she had joined the staff as Resident Care Coordinator. 2. Dean Miller wrote a "Thumbs Up" which has not appeared in the Coloradoan, complimenting the Forum for good articles on aging population and activities through the Fort Collins Senior Center. 3. Karla Smith sent a Diversity Data Survey that is due. 4. Article in 2003-2004 Senior Transportation Need. 5. City News had a cover letter signed by John Fischbach regarding the monthly report is now on line, also City Council Agendas. V. New Business A. Dean Miller, Jeanette Namuth, and Mike Richardson attended March outreach at Aspen Club, March 5`h, 5:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. There were about 70 people present. Very few questions were asked, not a lot of interest in the SAB. B. Presentation Schedule April 14 - Barbara Sarjeant, Move-Eaze - Will give a presentation about a service available to assist elderly people when moving. Service helps with problems that might occur with relocation i.e. remodeling, etc. May 12 - Margo Karsten, President, Poudre Valley Hospital (Older Americans Month). Melinda Suits, member of the Disabilities Commission and liaison to the SAB, has also asked to attend. C. Update on outreach events: 1. Collinwood visitation in 2d quarter - Dean Miller has set up Wed., April 14"'. We are welcome to come for lunch; the cost is $4.00 each. 2. Spring Creek visitation in 4a' quarter (October or November) - Bud Herin called Mike Richardson before he left on vacation and told him he would finalize when he returns. D. Thumbs Up - Dean Miller is working on another concerning Home Depot and HARP. He spoke with Tom Murphy from Home Depot and they are interested in having a program. Someone from the company will contact Steve Budner. E. Reports on new relationships with other Boards. 1. Affordable Housing - Sandra Gibson - no report. 2. Commission on Disability will learn more in May when Melinda is here. 3. Human Relations Board - John Smith — no report. 4. Transportation Board - Jeanette Namuth - Very interesting meeting. They are aware of the transportation problem and are working on it. There is only so much money. One thing that needs to be done soon is replacing buses and making them more efficient. Priority routes on the south, east quadrant is at the bottom. F. Issues on Aging - Medicare Drug Benefit, report given by Eileen Hendee - There are many pharmaceutical discount cards. Eileen reported that low-income seniors will receive a $600.00 credit for 2004 and another $600.00 for 2005. This will be like a credit card to use at the pharmacy. There are many scams going around; Medicare will not solicit door to door or by phone. They will mail information. The second part is called "Part D". The premiums will be no more than $35.00 a month and there is a 1 % penalty per month if you don't enroll initially. There are a few exceptions to that if you are currently covered by an employee drug plan or if you have some sort of prescription coverage already, you won't be punished. This program is helping low-income and helping people with limited cash flow. G. Loveland Senior Advisory Board Municipal Survey and results - This Board repeatedly gets requests to do something like that here. The survey will be given to Dean Miller for review. VL Old Business A. Update on Inter -Faith Council — Mike Richardson reported that apparently there are three councils in the City of Fort Collins. Mike has met with the board and they are interested in pursuing the idea of working on transportation issues. Mike is planning to meet with them again in April. B. Update on media — Marjorie McTaggart reported that no progress has been made. C. Report on meetings with Mayor and City Manager — Mike Richardson reported that they are so busy they don't have time to meet. D. Update on Bridging the Gap — Jeanette Namuth reported that the next meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 17 at McKee. E. Update on meeting with City Council — No report given. F. Update on research of other communities on elderly issues — John Smith had interns call some other communities to see what programs and benefits they are providing for seniors. The results were distributed in a two -page report that was distributed to all members. John suggested that this report and other information that we discover about communities that are successful in providing for the elderly be placed in a file. We should use this information to educate our community leaders and encourage them to try to incorporate appropriate programs. Barbara Schoenberger reported on the Older Adults Job Fair that is put on by the Office On Aging each year. Every other year it is held at the Fort Collins Senior Center. The event is very successful but has difficulty in attracting major employers because it is difficult to communicate to employers the value of older workers. G. Report on committee seeking name change for Fort Collins Senior Center — Dianne Heath reported that the committee has not met. A meeting was scheduled for Thursday, April 1 at 2:00 p.m. at Dianne's office, 318 Canyon. H. Transportation issues 1. Update on transportation was presented earlier. Board members asked that Jeanette continue to express our concerns about transportation to the Harmony Campus. Additionally she was asked to communicate our concerns about dangerous intersections. Jeanette will write a letter about the intersection of Mulberry and Meldrum and take it to the next meeting of the Transportation Board. 2. 'Bridging the Gap" event on transportation — John Smith reported that he is creating a transportation matrix which will be used by intems to call different cities to determine information about transportation programs. I. Capital Sales Tax Proposal memo submitted — Mike Richardson, Eileen Hendee and Dianne Heath met to evaluate the Capital Sales Tax Proposal. They authored a response for the SAB that was sent to the City Manager. VIL Liaison Reports A. 9 Health Fair - Eileen Hendee reported that the Fort Collins Senior Advisory Board will not participate this year. B. Office on Aging - Dean Miller indicated that he will get more information about the Community Outreach. Job Fair is scheduled for April 5, 2004 at the Fort Collins Senior Center. Tax work -off program is not being funded which is too bad because it is a good program. C. Barbara Schoenberger reported that the Friends of the Senior Center Annual Tax Day Golf Tournament will be May 1, 2004. Each year the SAB has a team. VII Adjourn - A motion was made to adjourn the meeting by Jeanette Namuth and seconded by John Smith Meeting adjourned at 3:36 p.m. ❖ Executive Meeting March 29`h at 3:30 p.m. ❖ Next meeting will be April 14, 2004 at 1:30 p.m. Submitted by: Karen Bryner, Recording Secretary