Council on Aging Board

The City of Lowell • Council on Aging 276 Broadway Street • Lowell, MA 01854 P: 978.674.4131 • F: 978.970.4134 www.LowellMA.gov Council on Aging (COA) Advisory Board Meeting Minutes Monday, December 14, 2020 at 9:00am via Phone Conference I. Sign-in Present: Mary Donnelly, Beverly Gonsalves, Lil Hartman, Andy Hostetler, Anne-Marie Porter. Quorum not reached. Absent: Joyce Dastou, John Lawlor, Eric Lamarche, Vincenzo Milinazzo, Amy Pessia II. Pledge of Allegiance III. Approval of Minutes. Delayed to next meeting with a quorum. IV. Chairperson’s Report a. Andy is involved in Age Friendly Lowell, interested in supporting the development of an Older Adult Action Group and working on senior empowerment. V. Director’s Report a. The city manager closed the Senior Center to the public as of Dec. 11 until further notice, along with City Hall and Library. Meals on Wheels is in operation and takeout breakfast and lunch are available 7 days a week at the side door. Service application forms, syringe containers, walkers/wheelchairs, donated masks can be dropped off or picked up at the side door. Staff are available by phone. b. Lighting is due to be replaced by National Grid in January 2021. c. Due to the pandemic the senior center will not be a congregate warming center this winter, but we may still be activated as a shelter in case of natural disaster, fire, or power outage. VI. Committee Reports  The City of Lowell • Council on Aging 276 Broadway Street • Lowell, MA 01854 P: 978.674.4131 • F: 978.970.4134 www.LowellMA.gov a. Healthy Aging Committee – at last meeting we broke down mission statement into current programs, will do one topic per meeting with an expert leading each. Nutrition meeting will be led by Amy Pessia in January. b. Outreach – Lil will work with Amy Pessia on LTC and newspaper ads for Phone Pals and shoveling. Phone Pal flyers recently went out to Meals on Wheels clients. One of our volunteers will call a person who lives alone to discuss various items with them. Beverly currently has two Phone Pals whom she calls a couple of times each week to ask how they are doing and to discuss various concerns. Andy will look at student credit for intergenerational phone calls and tech tutoring. Lil forward flyers to Andy. VII. Items for Discussion a. Old Business. None. b. New Business i. Friends of LCOA membership drive underway, your payment of $5 per year funds our newsletter mailing to senior households in Lowell and gives you a vote in Friends board elections. Friends members don’t have to be age 60+ or live in Lowell. ii. Unlikely to have a quorum until we fill expected board vacancies. Andy will follow up with folks who have not been attending. No decision about canceling January meeting. VIII. Other IX. Adjournment. 9:25 am.