HomeMy WebLinkAboutAging Advisory Board Minutes 020916
ORANGE COUNTY
ADVISORY BOARD ON AGING
Minutes
February 9, 2016
PRESENT: Mary Altpeter, Alex Castro, Keith Cook, Teri Driscoll, Ed Flowers, Katherine Leith, Winston
Liao, Yvonne Mendenhall, Dick White,
EXCUSED: Peggy Cohn, Lorenzo Mejia, Donna Prather
STAFF: Mary Fraser, Julia Katz, Yvette Missri, Cherie Rosemond, Janice Tyler
The meeting was called to order by Chair Alex Castro at the Central Orange Senior Center. Following the
introduction of Julia Katz, former MPH summer intern and current Capstone Team member, the minutes
from the January Advisory Board on Aging meeting were reviewed and approved following the motion
by Keith Cook and second by Teri Driscoll.
Janice Tyler began her Director’s Report by reviewing the county inclement weather policy. She pointed
out that it is the County Manager who makes the decision to close or delay opening county offices when
the weather is bad. Even with the 2-hour delays in January , the parking lots at both senior centers were
very dangerous. With the manager’s approval, the senior centers did not open until noon the second
day. In the future, the Department on Aging will have the option to delay the senior center opening
beyond the employee start time when the parking areas are unsafe. The Orange County Board of
County Commissioners will meet tonight to review Advisory Board and Committee work plan. Alex
Castro, Teri Driscoll and James Bartow have agreed to represent the Advisory Board on Aging, the
Nursing Home and Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committees, respectively. Janice Tyler, Mary
Fraser, Pam Tillett, and Lorenzo Mejia made a presentation about Orange County CARES Dementia-
Capable Community grant activities at the Carol Woods Retirement Community on Feb 4th. The
Department will be making three presentations at the North Carolina Association on Aging conference in
March. They will present on the Dementia Capable Community grant, Project EngAGE, and the Music in
My Mind program. Janice, Mary, Yvette and Cherie Rosemond will be presenting a workshop on Project
EngAGE at the American Society on Aging conference in Washington D.C on March 21st. The
Department has also submitted a Nomination for the American Society on Aging Award for Excellence in
Multicultural Aging for the Chinese Outreach program at the Seymour Center.
The Chair introduced Julia Katz and explained that she worked for the Department over the summer to
create a set of power point slides that could be put together in various ways to advocate for “Complete
Streets” policies and programs with city and county plans. The Aging Advisory Board is hosting a
Complete Streets sub-committee, charged with developing plans to fulfill some of the transportation
and navigation recommendations called for in the 2012-17 Master Aging Plan. Julia serves on this
committee, along with Alex Castro, and Lisa Berley, the OCDOA Transportation Specialist. Julia prefaced
her presentation with the fact that she hoped this would be a “dry run” for a fuller community
presentation on March 3rd at the Seymour Center, as part of the Aging In Community: Planning for our
Future series.
Janice reported that all of the federally-funded OC CARES Dementia-Capable Community Project staff
have been hired. Most of them are housed in off-site office space at the Southern Human Services
Building, up the hill from the Seymour Center. New clinical services are to begin the first week in March.
She also announced that the next Aging Advisory Board meeting will be held on March 15th (not March
8) at 3:30 p.m. at the Seymour Center – due to the fact that Janice, Mary and Yvette will be attending
the NC Association on Aging Annual conference on March 7 and 8. An orientation for new Aging
Advisory Board members will be held in late February or early March.
Kathie Kearns reported that the county budget for FY 2017 is ready and ready for submittal to the
County Manager. It is based on flat funding from our state and federal funders.
Yvette Missri gave an update on Project EngAGE activities. She reported that
• a new Senior Resource Team (SRT) focused on caregiving and dementia has been formed. It
held its first meeting in January with about 12 people present, including members of the OC
CARES project team.
• The Neighborhood Connections SRT hosted a successful “Engaging Issues” event at the Chapel
Hill Library in January focused on accessible housing features.
• The Transportation SRT met recently with the head of OPT to discuss accessibility and
expansion issues.
• The End of Life Options SRT will be hosting a Dying with Dignity Forum on March 17th from 4-
7pm at the Seymour Center. A panel will be featured discussing varying perspectives on
physician-assisted suicide legislation.
Committee Progress Reports
• Lorenzo Mejia and Mary Fraser will make a presentation to the Hillsborough Rotary Club about
the Dementia Friendly Business campaign on February 25th.
• Nominations are open for the Direct Care Worker Awards. Nomination forms can be found on
the OCDOA website.
• Dick White reported that the Senior Tar Heel Legislature was instrumental in lobbying for the
restoration of the Home and Community Care Block Grant funds cut during the previous fiscal
year.
• Teri Driscoll summarized her written report for the Nursing Home Community Advisory
Committee and mentioned that they have two unfilled volunteer positions.
• The Orange Unified Transportation Board has not met since the last November.
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Janice Tyler, Secretary