Senior Affairs Commission

SENIOR AFFAIRS COMMISSION Meeting of Oct. 21, 2013 Members in Attendance: Chairperson Olive Buddington, Vice Chairperson Gen Bergendahl, Alternate Member Frank Jacaruso. Absent were Secretary Margaret Aldrich, Regular Members Jacquelyn Randall and Michael Lahan, and Alternate Member Jan Stewart. Attending staff members were Beverly Goulet, Mike Wolak, and Anne Barriere Chairperson Olive Buddington determined there was a quorum and called the meeting to order. Minutes: The minutes from 09-16-13 were approved as submitted. Communications: Mike read a letter from a senior who complimented the fine service of the staff at the Senior Center. Another letter was read from the recent quilt raffle winner complimenting the quality of the handmade quilt they won and thanking us for running and maintaining such an active and caring place. Human Services Report: With the recent budget (and staff) cuts to the Human Services department, Bev and her employees are looking at their offered services to see what they can do to maintain as many of them as possible. After the upcoming election we will work with the new City Council and try to come together as a team to see what we can present to them in ways to best serve the senior population in our City. We have a lot of seniors in the city and a lot of unemployment that affects them as well. Senior Center Report: A new monthly program we are starting is “Coffee with the Captain”. Captain Pat Daley had approached Mike to start a program to help seniors connect with law enforcement in a way that is friendly, giving seniors an opportunity to ask questions and see how things work in the department, and to learn about scams and other things that can affect seniors. Topics are open to whatever the attendees are interested in at each meeting. These meetings will be held in the Dining Room. In November we will be offering an Emergency Preparedness training program called “The Readys”, connecting people with functional or access needs with services in an emergency. We have an Arts & Craft Fair fundraiser coming up on Wed., Nov. 20th from 9:00 -2:00. Our Seniors Holiday Luncheon is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 12th. We are working with Norwich Tech again to provide the food, and help with serving and cleanup. As an update to our Health Clinic, our Nurse has been out for about 7 weeks. She is slowly getting better and we hope to see her back some time in November. If she cannot return, we will probably have to look for a new nurse for the Senior Center. Currently, we have contracted with Dr. Walter to cover some of her patients for toe nail cutting. He has seen 20+ so far and we have 25 scheduled for this Friday and another date scheduled for November. We hope she recovers soon. She means so much to the Center and the seniors. Mike has been in contact with the Lord Foundation and they know where we are at and have approved Dr. Walter to cover for now. Patrick McCormick from Uncas Health has a network of retired nurses that we could draw from to help out should the need arrive. A question was asked as to whether the Senior Center offers rides to the voting locations. Mike responded that we have offered it in the past but there was little interest. Mostly it seems that rides are offered by the individual political groups or private citizens. Chairperson’s Report/Legislative Report: None. Old Business: None. New Business: Bev brought up the issue of the State’s recent practice of placing convicted sex offenders in our community. They are being placed in school zones and near playgrounds. As we have a number of seniors raising grandchildren this concerns every one. There have been meetings with the goal of pressuring the State Corrections Departments to not place these released sex offenders in new communities but rather to return them to their original locations as promised. Next Meeting: Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, at 9:00 a.m., at the Rose City Senior Center. Respectfully submitted, Margaret Aldrich / acb Margaret Aldrich, Secretary MA/acb