Council on Aging

City of Chicopee Council of Aging October 10, 2017 . Members Present: C. Gemme, S. Michalik, S. Tawrel, H. Lenart, K. Rousseau, S. Alvera, J. Lukasik, M. Rider, S. Gelinas, Bernash, C. Staff: S. Manyak I. Call to order  The meeting was called to order at 4:45pm. There was no request to record the meeting. II. Public input  A. Picard attended for public input. He provided a report on the Dan Kane concert. There was a profit of about $6000 but there are expenses totally around $1200 that need to be returned back to the Friends. There will now be a fund for RiverMills programming will be started with approximately $5000. o He expressed appreciation to all who assisted in the event. o Additionally, there is a Pancake Breakfast planned on 11/4 as another fund raiser. o E. LaFlamme stated the program was excellent. This sentiment was echoed by J. Lukasik who attended an event at Providence Place III. Review of minutes  Minutes were reviewed from 9/12/2017 and unanimously accepted with no corrections IV. Financial Report  The financial report was circulated with meeting materials. It was noted that there are some negative balances but this is because the last fiscal year has not been closed out. This should be corrected next month. The Center is in good status financial status. S. Michalik motioned to accept the report with M. Rider as second. The report was unanimously accepted. V. Director’s Report  The Director’s Report was distributed with meeting materials. Sherry provided highlights related to the report o She is working with South Hadley and Holyoke Senior Centers to build a network, and increase collaboration between directors between different centers. They plan to reach out to other center Directors moving forward. o They are collaborating on the Memory Café and advertising the Café at each center in all the newsletters. This way people who need more frequent support they will know about other groups meeting across the month. There was a question about whether there is transportation to other centers for this and Sherry noted this was not available at this time. o She has also collaborated to help one of the centers prepare the Formula grant. o She has met with S. Jendrysik about the historical art that will be displayed at RiverMills. For example, there will be a picture of a nurse with an employee at FaceMate displayed outside of the nurses office. The photos will be from this area in Chicopee o The Café is doing well with 3 new workers who are cooking fresh product. There is breakfast, lunch and dinners available on top of pastries and other treats. Currently the profit has grown to about $500/week. While this is not self-sustaining it is very successful and gaining interest. o The only open staff position at this time is for a full time Social Worker (MSW). o AIC students will be bringing some programming around car safety and other ways to help seniors adapt as they age. o C. Gemme raised a question about the decoration for the levy wall. The Planning Department wants to use old pictures of Chicopee. They will be looking for artists to paint on the levy. Local artists will be used and there will be community input on what will be displayed. o E. LaFlamme motioned and H. Lenart second the approval – unanimous VI. SALT Report  The last meeting was in September, and the next meeting is 11/3/17. The poster contest will be medication safety.  K. Rousseau suggested some future programming around medication safety at the center for the participants VII. New Vendor for Café  Sherry is recommending a new vendor, Performance Food, for the café. The ordering process through Poleps is complicated but they are not a good fit for a small center. People have not been satisfied with some of the products. It is not clear what you are ordering and their customer service has not been able to help. Sherry would like someone who can meet with her and tailor our order. She is having to do all of the shopping herself on her off time because of the issues with Poleps. o The group supported to move to using Performance Food. Some items will continue to be ordered from Poleps, based on cost VII. Program Technician presentation  Paul Temple was introduced as the new program Technician. He has been in place for 2 months. He worked in Westboro with older adults on their “Channel 5”. He has a lot of skills around technology and has been working to make things more user friendly. He does Tech Time to help the elders with their various technology. He keeps the meetings like open office hours and he can individualize the discussion to meet each person’s needs. He is trying to make this be consistently Wednesdays 1 – 3pm and it is intended to be informal and not intimidating for those who may not feel comfortable with technology. He ran Tech Talk this last Tuesday and he plans to publish the topic that he will be presenting each session. There is also a Facebook account for the center that he maintains as well. He has also been working on updating the regular website that is part of the city website. This helps to raise awareness of the activities in the Center. This is really getting lots of attention for some of the activities such as wreath making that had been capped at 20 in the past, and this time it was filled at 40 and the cap will be raised to 80.   Sherry noted that there is a focus on making evening offerings every Tuesday and Thursday. Some of the events included the wreath making as well as the German night.  A question was raised about whether Paul has worked to help staff in accessing technology. He noted that this is also addressed by the city IT but he does help as much as he is able. VIII. Transportation Committee  There is a transportation meeting planned for Nov 8, 1pm to address any concerns about the upcoming changes for transportation. There were people who complained about transparency in the changes so this meeting is being planned to make sure everyone at RiverMills is aware of the future changes with transportation and fees.  Claire noted that the Mayor identified the goal of looking for new cars for the program as well. The city would prefer that the center use Ford products since this is what is routinely purchased and serviced in the city.  Sherry has met with the owners of the Mercedes dealership. They have offered to find some suitable cars through auction moving forward. She is not sure if the Mayor is aware of this but is going to communicate this information to him. IX. By Laws  The group review a draft of the by-laws. No changes were offered with the review.  Sherry raised whether the group should define what age constitutes an older adult. She has had a lot of people who are 55 and above who would have stated they would participate but are not considered eligible. Currently the age is 60. If we lowered the number, we could increase participation in a number of classes. o The group asked who sets the age limit. Sherry is going to research what age is set with Elder Affairs. o Henry made a motion, second by Ernie – unanimous approval. XI. Holiday Party  Last year the group met for the Holiday Party at Collegian Court. A request was made for suggestions for this year. It was suggested that the party be December 13, 2017 at Collegian Court. This is also the night when Collegian Court returns 15% of their profits to  RiverMills. The event will be held at 6pm for the Holiday Party and a count will be assessed at the November meeting. XII. New Business  S. Michalik announced that there will be a fundraiser including a pancake breakfast, and a number of other activities at the Center on November 4th, starting at 8am. Tickets will be on sale at the reception desk.  E. LaFlamme announced that Congressman Neal provides tickets for a meal at the HuKeLau for seniors. The dinner is October 16 at 5pm. He has tickets for distribution for anyone who is interested.  Sherry noted that the staff in the Café will have special shirts and an apron, and staff will also wear these shirts at special events. XII. Meeting adjourned at 6:10 pm. Submitted by Karen S. Rousseau