Senior Services Committee

CITY OF VERONA SENIOR SERVICES COMMITTEE July 13, 2021 VERONA SENIOR CENTER MINUTES 1. The meeting of the Senior Services Committee was called to order by Christine Posey at 6:32 p.m. 2. Roll Call: On roll call: Christine Posey and Phil Hoechst were present. Also present: Stephanie Ehle, Senior Center Director. 3. Approval of the minutes from the May 11, 2021 with date amended. 4. Director’s Report • The Senior Center is getting back to “normal”, pre pandemic activities. • The Meals on Wheels program is going well. Meals are offered Monday - Friday, one meal per day Monday thru Wednesday and two meals on Thursdays. The staff is serving 25-30 members each day. The staff is slowly adding more volunteers to help support this program. • Starting in August the Senior Center will bring back their congregate meal program. Meals will be offered four days per week, Monday thru Thursday. • RSVP is working to train more drivers for the RSVP medical ride program. Once more drivers are trained, staff will be able to reopen the program at the Senior Center. There are currently 5 drivers trained. (14 drivers pre-COVID) The staff is hoping to “reopen” in September. • The Senior Center will have a new Case Manager starting Monday, July 19th. Drake Deno will be joining the team and working full time Monday thru Friday. • The Senior Center has started a new recycling program for writing instruments. All brands of empty writing instruments, glue sticks, watercolor dispensers, paint sets, and flexible packaging are accepted. Items are collected and then sent into the company Terracyle. Link for program: BIC® Stationery Recycling Program · TerraCycle Alder Posey asked if this open to the community. Ehle answered yes and she has spoken with the Verona Press. Anyone is welcome to drop off materials at the Senior Center front desk. 5. Town of Verona & City of Verona agreement • Ehle shared that the Town of Verona and the City of Verona have come to agreement for the City of Verona to take over the case management and nutrition  needs of residents living in the Town of Verona. Currently the services are being provided by the town of Belleville. Alder Posey asked if the agreement was supported by the Friends of the Verona Senior Center. Ehle answered yes. Alder Hoechst made a motion to approve the agreement. Alder Posey seconded and the motion was passed. The agreement will move to the Common Council for final approval on July 26, 2021. 6. Reports on Programs and Case Management: Programs – • July brought a number of changes for the Verona Senior Center. Staff added more in-house activities including many card games and coffee hour. • The average number of visitors is 30-40 each day. (onsite) This does not include participants receiving Meals on Wheels or participating in virtual programming. • The Senior Center is offering an outdoor concert series (1 concert / week). • The staff have added a few new exercise classes in July and a couple more will start in August and September. • Senior Center staff are still asking people to sign up in advance. Those who show up the day of the program will still be able to attend. • Local community gardeners, a group by the name of Sugar River Gardeners, recently built two movable, edible gardens for the Senior Center. Both are filled with food such as tomatoes, herbs etc. and are available to anyone in the community. • The Senior Center is having a “Little Library” made by a member which will be put near the entrance of the Senior Center. This too will available to anyone in the community. • The Senior Center will host a community event on Friday, August 27 th, a pig roast and Elvis impersonator named Tony Rocker. The event will take place from 4- 7pm. All are welcome. Case Management – • There have been no Helping Hand requests. • Outreach – The staff are utilizing phone and zoom to meet with clients. They will explore future outreach opportunities, both in-person and virtual, after the new Case Manager has started.  • Vets Group - Meetings will resume in August on the second Thursday of every month at 2pm. • Caregivers – Staff are conducting the group two times a month, once via zoom and once in-person for July. The in-person group had seven people in attendance in June and three in July. Currently two people in the group are not comfortable attending in person due to compromised immune systems (self or family member). • Triad - Coffee with a Cop was held on June 18 and had eleven people in attendance. • Loan Closet – Senior Center staff are preparing to take donations starting again in August or September once the new Case Manager has started. They are currently loaning equipment but not taking in donations. Alder Posey asked a question “Do staff offer additional information about where to go if the Senior Center isn’t currently accepting items?” Ehle answered yes, Case Managers have a list of other businesses who currently take donations. Examples include St. Vincent DePaul and other senior centers. • Case Management Needs – The team is currently working with the Verona Police Department and Adult Protective Services for two individuals. In addition, they are seeing more families open to exploring memory care, assisted living and in-home care. Many families are also seeking in-home care (over facility care) since before the pandemic. Programs: 7. Other Business 8. Adjournment • Motion by Alder Hoechst, seconded by Posey, to adjourn at 7:00 p.m. Motion carried 2-0.