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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSenior Advisory Board - Minutes - 02/14/2007CITY OF FORT COLLINS SENIOR ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES: Meeting held February 14, 2007 Fort Collins Senior Center 1200 Raintree Drive Chair - Don Wells — 970-207-1602 Staff Liaison — Barbara Schoenberger — 970-224-6026 City Council Liaison — Doug Hutchinson, Mayor — 970-221-6506 Attendance: Peggy McGough Marcia Richards Kathy Schuster Marjorie McTaggart Don Wells Judy Vasiliauskas Matt Malcolm Excused Absence: Anita Basham Bud Herin Dennis Kaz Unexcused Absence: Guest: Elaine Boni, Fort Collins Human Relations Commission Kristi Stone & Lindsey Winters, Senior Center Interns Dr. Manfried Diehl, Center on Aging, CSU Valerie DiBenedetto, Executive Director of Meals on Wheels Liaison: Douglas Hutchinson, Mayor Staff: Barbara Schoenberger Karen Bryner I. Call Meeting to Order Chairperson Don Wells called the meeting to order at 1:40 p.m. A quorum was present. II. Attendance — The attendance sheet was passed around. III. Public Participation Dr. Manfried Diehl, Professor and Director of the center on Aging at Colorado State University was introduced to the Board. Dr. Diehl shared his visions and goals for the Center on Aging at CSU. A. Research — continue to build on the ongoing research in health, wellness, neurology and areas related to senior aging. B. Education — College of Nutrition and the College of Health and Exercise Sciences have valuable programs that encompass the larger scope of senior health and aging. C. Outreach and Service — desires to be more active in forging connections to the surrounding community. The COA is currently working with the Aspen Club. An off campus training ground for students is a goal that could be easily achieved and a broad range of topics including but not limited to family counseling potential for long tern care clients, research studies, and health and awareness classes for seniors are just a few of the possibilities. D. Develop a partnership with the Fort Collins Senior Center — the FCSC is a model for other Senior Centers in the state and nation. Colorado State University recently inaugurated the Life Long Learning Center on campus for adults age 50 and above. Fort Collins has a natural resource of the young old and it is the hope of Dr. Diehl to connect the dots between the University and the community. The Center on Aging is the hub of the wheel, the faculty the spokes and the community relationships are the mechanism to move the wheel toward achieving the long term goals. Currently the COA has not physical location and is working out of a research space and two offices. Don Wells advised that the City of Fort Collins does not currently have a policy on aging. The Board welcomed Dr. Diehl to the community and plans to invite him back to the Senior Center for a tour in the near future. Valerie DiBenedetto, Executive Director of the Meals on Wheels Program, was welcomed by the Board. Valerie advised that Meals On Wheels began in 1960 and meals were being prepared at the Elks Club. Today the meals are prepared by Poudre Valley Hospital. By using an existing meal preparation entity, the cost of the meals can remain minimal and special needs diets can be accommodated. Currently 150 meals a day are being prepared and the cost of the meals is determined on a financial income sliding scale. The program is to be expanded to include LaPorte and Wellington. The number of clients is increasing. In 2005 the subsidy of $19,000 was an adequate amount to service 412 people. This year the subsidy is $40,000. The MOW Program needs to raise $60,000 annually to cover the subsidy and the operating costs of the organization. Thanks to individual and corporate donors, special events sponsored by restaurants and over 200 volunteers, the needs are currently being met and the waiting list of people to a served is decreasing. Volunteers of America meal sites and Meals on Wheels are separate agencies. VOA does frozen meal delivery. Clients that are homebound have difficulty doing grocery shopping. If a meal is delivered and the client does not come to the door, there is a follow-up to be sure the client is well. The cost of the meal is as low as 25 cents and the average is $1.00. The program is not funded by city, county or federal agencies. Valerie's officers are in the Trinity Lutheran Church on East Stuart and her phone number is 484-6325. The office has one full time employee, one part time employee and one CSU student. Valerie was thanked for her informative presentation IV. Correspondence • Nomination for the Community Civility Award -nominations are due March 9. Please send information to Dennis Kaz or Bud Herin if you have a nominee. • Information pertaining to the Parks and Recreation Focus Groups was received. • The new City Boards and Commissions manual has been received and will be housed in Karen Bryner's office. Only one copy was sent due to budget constraints. • No information has been received concerning the appointment of one more member to the Senior Advisory Board. • The Boards and Commissions training program will be held March 7 and March 21. New members of the Board are encouraged to avail themselves of this opportunity to learn about intricacies and responsibilities of Boards' and Commissions' work. • Members of the Senior Advisory Boards will be receiving a survey concerning the annual appreciation reception for Board and Commission members. Please return your completed survey to City Hall. V. Approval of Minutes Minutes of the SAB January meeting were approved with one correction: Item VIII, Other Business, A. Liaison reports: #2 second sentence to read:"Peggy encouraged all members to read the information about the new fee structure". Kathy Schuster moved to accept the minutes with correction and Marjorie McTaggart seconded the motion. Motion carried. VI. New Business A. Plans were formulated for the next Senior Advisory Board meeting which will be held March 14, 2007 at the Rigden Farm Senior Living Complex at 1:30 p.m. Lt. Tom McClellan from the Fort Collins Police Department will be a presenter at the meeting. The Senior Advisory Board will do the overview of the work of the Board with brief statements as follows: Don Wells — introduction; Outreach and visibility in the community — Anita Basham; Advocacy for affordable housing — Marcia Richards; Securing information on existing agencies through speakers, liaison relationships, and self educating by member reports to be able to advocate appropriately for senior needs and services — Bud Herin; Alliance with CSU Center on Aging — Matt Malcolm; Working with the media to educate them about senior needs and to educate public about resources — Marjorie McTaggart Transportation challenges — Kathy Schuster; Encouraging coordination and make effort to avoid duplication of services through events such as Bridging the Gap — Peggy McGough; Educating the policy makers about the issues of aging by developing a draft of a policy on aging for the City — Anita Basham; Participation in city and community events — Dennis Kaz; Closure — Wrap up. B. Planning for joint meeting with the Loveland Senior Advisory Board. Marcia Richards will be in contact with Earl Stevens from the Loveland SAB about a possible joint meeting with scheduling options in May, July and August. C. Presentation by Fort Collins Safety Officer — Marjorie McTaggart reported that the safety officer from the Fort Collins Police Department will do a presentation at the meeting at Rigden Farms Senior Living complex on March 14, 2007. D. Joint Meeting with the City Council — Peggy McGough and Matt Malcom have not had the opportunity to confer on a possible activity/date for a joint meeting with the City council. VII. Old Business A. The 2006 Annual Report of the Fort Collins Senior Advisory Board has been submitted to the City of Fort Collins. B. Marjorie McTaggart sent a note of thanks to Suzanne Jarboe -Simpson for her time and expertise in facilitating our work plan development. C. Don Wells reported that the committee for the expansion of the Senior Center has been meeting and beginning to develop a time line for action. D. Marjorie McTaggart moved and Kathy Schuster seconded the motion to accept the 2007 Work Plan and Liaison assignments. The motion passed. VIII. Liaison Reports A. Marjorie McTaggart • Women's Commission - met in January to establish 2007 goals. • TRIAD — A work session was held to discuss 2007 plans. A Denver police officer and member of Denver TRIAD and "Ready Colorado" (disaster readiness) attended to observe the meeting and applauded the Latimer county TRIAD for activity of the group. It was reported that the sheriff s Department no longer has a crime prevention unit due to budget cuts. The deputy will not be involved with SALT (Senior's and law -enforcement together) but will attend monthly TRIAD council meetings. • Office on Aging — the four year plan developed by the Office on Aging has been approved by the state office. • ARCH (Adult Resources for Care and Help) staff person handling the new ARCH program of the aging and disability Resource Center (ADRC) gave a presentation • Loveland City Council — had a "summit meeting" consisting of all 21 board and commissions. Plans are being developed for the Job Fair in Loveland in April. • Dial -A -Ride — The 15 page application to qualify for Dial -A -Ride is a concern re: legality, privacy — medical records go to D-A-R staff and the difficulty that some seniors may have in completing the form. AARP — is furnishing transportation for Senior Day at the Capitol on February 21, 2007. Tax work off programs have decrease (65 applications) possibly due to the Homestead Act being reinstated. House Bill 1100 passed out of appropriations committee and is scheduled to move on to the house floor. This bill is called the "Older Coloradans Bill". Marjorie also reported that State Representative John Kefalas will convene an educational forum on issues related to mobile home parks scheduled for February 17, 2007, 9:30 to 11:OOam, Latimer county Courthouse, 200 W. Oak Street, Hearing room, #115, in Fort Collins. B. RSVP — Kathy Schuster • The respite care program, (Caring Companions) is now operational. RSVP is now recruiting care companions and care recipients. • Recently Meals on Wheels has had a waiting list of applicants for their services. RSVP was able to provide service to some of those in need with their frozen food delivery program. • RSVP is conducting a study (through mail, telephone, contacts in their various programs) to find seniors who are falling through the cracks and are not receiving the services that they need. • RSVP received a grant from the Bohemian Foundation to conduct training sessions for non-profit organizations on "recruiting volunteers from the Baby Boomer generation". Matt will bring information about the open house @ CSU on April 25, 2007 The meeting was adjourned. Submitted by: Marjo ' McTaggart, S cr