HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdvisory Board on Aging Minutes 01-11-2022_final ORANGE COUNTY ADVISORY BOARD ON AGING
Tuesday, January 11, 1-3 pm
Hybrid Meeting
(Seymour Center/Virtual)
MINUTES
In Attendance: Heather Altman, Colin Austin, Rachel Bearman, Jeff Charles, Jerry Gregory, James Harris,
Vibeke Talley, and Dick White. Staff: Anshu Gupta, Kim Lamon-Loperfido, Shenae McPherson, Beverly Shuford
and Janice Tyler
Absent/Excused: Jenny Womack
1. Introductions and Announcements
a. Chair, Heather Altman welcomed everyone with the full board in attendance
2. Approval of Minutes— November 9, 2021
a. The minutes were approved with the correction to add Heather Altman to the Community &
Health Services workgroup
Director's Report
3. COVID Update and Department operations
a. Janice reported from the OC Health Director the Covid cases have increased 600% since Nov
b. County employees upload their vaccine status to CoVerify. 120 have chosen not to, or cannot
be vaccinated, those employees must be tested weekly and verify. Finding it difficult to get
testing during this time
c. Most County employees are to come back to regular operations and to be back "in the office."
OCDOA has always had a presence and staffed our front desk throughout the pandemic. It is up
to department directors to determine how to do this on a case-by-case bases using the County
remote work policy guidelines. Janice is trying to offer 1 day remote if staff can do their job at
home
d. Continue to serve —1000 lunches per week
e. Offering Hybrid classes using new audio/visual equipment at both centers. Programming
continues, however, due to Covid we are seeing cancelations even into March
f. County suggests that we use our KN95 masks for the snug fit and increased protection. Do not
use KN95 vented masks, these masks are not safe for others as your breath is expelled out of
the mask
4. Staff updates
a. Passmore Center Front Desk Manager—Aurora Johnson —will be joining us on the 18t"' coming
to us from the Tax Office; she is bi-lingual in Spanish
b. Seymour Center Evening Facility Manager—Jan Oldenburg— is starting on 241". She has a
recreation background and is coming back to the workforce after being a caregiver for her
parents. We are not open on the weekends and evenings yet, but she will work on other
tasks/projects
c. DSS/Aging Social Worker vacancy—The position has been vacant for over a year, hope to be
filled soon
d. VITA/SHIIP Coordinator update—Shenae reported the SHIIP/VITA Coordinator is out on leave
and the duties have been divided between Lydia Arnold, Aging Transitions/VC 55+ Specialist,
who will be the lead person for SHIIP. Aging Transitions staff will also schedule SHIIP
appointments. The lead for the VITA program will be Shenae McPherson, VC 55+ Administrator.
Several of our lead VITA volunteers will handle the bulk of VITA related tasks and appointments.
Online is potentially opening on Jan 24th. We are still deciding about a drop-off service at both
centers, but it has not been determined. Hopefully we can get past Covid and offer a drop-off
service if volunteers feel comfortable. There is no tax deadline extension yet, but it is possible
that it will be extended
e. MAP Interns—trying to get interns hired to assist with all of the MAP workgroups and
schedules coordinated. We have 4 potential interns
5. New Lunch Caterer Effective January 19
a. Our current caterer, Nantucket Grill, gave their 60 day notice in November
b. Our new caterer is Spicy Green who will provide lunches from Jan 19—Jun 30, then it will go
out in a bid process. Meals provided Mon, Wed and Fri (Mon & Wed 2 hot meals, Fri 1 hot
meal). There will no longer be a bag meal, all meals will be hot. We will not be dishing up
servings, meals come pre-packaged saving on cost, time and purchasing "to-go" boxes. Will go
back to plating food once we are back to our on-site meals. The Spicy Green meals can be
frozen if there are left-over meals
New Business
6. 2022 Meeting Schedule
a. We will continue to offer the hybrid meetings. Orange County BOCC has gone to virtual
meetings through January 2022.
b. Heather asked if it is possible to send out a group calendar invite with the zoom link included
for all board meetings for the year. Janice will do this
7. Annual Board Report to BOCC due on Jan. 14
a. Committees are working on their reports or have completed them
8. Budget Kick-off
a. This Thu & Fri. will be the Budget kick-off sessions. Budget highlights: County is in a better
situation financially this year; employees received a 3% salary adjustment in Dec. 2021,
retroactive to July 1. This year's budget will also include a salary adjustment.
b. We will need to request additional funding for the lunch program. ARPA funds coming from
TJCOG-AAA come with innovation requirements that make it more challenging. We are working
to identify projects, but the funding is minimal and the questions arises as how to sustain new
initiatives. Soltys Place is not going to take the ARPA funds as they do not have the staffing to
handle the reporting requirements
9. Aging Board vacancies/recruitment
a. 3 at-large vacancies (one can be under 60). Jerry reached out to Martha Bell to apply. Martha is
the former Director of Nursing at Carol Woods, and former Col. in Army. Carol Kelly also on
NHCAC, retired principle, potential interest in Aging Board, strong advocate. Both are on the
NHCAC and would be a loss to that committee
b. Need to think about diversity on our boards, we haven't had Asian representation in a long time
c. Again the request that we reach out to past Project EngAGE graduates and Senior Resource
Team members to see if they are interested in applying. Janice urged board members to
continue to look for referrals and ask them to contact the Commissioners' office to apply.
Janice will contact the Commissioners' office to follow up with previous applicants
d. Keith Cook is the STHL alternate but could comeback on the board if willing
2022-27 Master Aging Plan
10. MAP Leadership Team is made up of the Workgroup Leaders, Board Chair-Heather Altman, the OCDOA
Racial Equity Team - Latonya Brown, Meghan Rushing and Cydnee' Sims, and MAP interns.
a. Janice encouraged all board members to join a MAP workgroup
b. Looking at starting workgroups the end of January through the end of March to have the plan
available for public comment on the OCDOA website, printed at both centers and the library.
We will not have an in-person public event
c. The MAP Leadership team are going to be trained on racial equity and inclusion (REI) by the
local Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) team. Janice invited the board to the
training on Thu,Jan 13, 1:30-5pm and Thu,Jan 27, 11am-2:30pm. A racial equity lens will be
used as we develop the next MAP.
11. Timeline Review
f. Five workgroup meetings beginning the week of January 24 and ending week of March 28
g. Submit MAP to BOCC on May 3 or 17
12. GARE (Government Alliance on Race and Equity)Training and One Orange Campaign
racialequityalliance.org along with all Orange County municipalities and County government have
come together to train and move racial equity forward.
13. Workgroups— Board Representatives still needed for two groups—
a. Inclusive, if you know people interested please let us know
b. Cass will give a presentation on survey results
i. Transportation —Jeff Charles
ii. Housing— Dick White
iii. Community Supports and Health Services— Rachel Bearman, Jerry Gregory, Heather
Altman
iv. Civic Participation and Employment—Colin Austin
v. Outdoor Space and Buildings—James Harris
vi. Social Participation —Jenny Womack
vii. Communication and Information
14. Working on Key Informant Interviews
a. Janice and Kenisha Wood, MAP intern, continue working through scheduling and interviews
Committee Progress Reports if needed:
15. Dementia Friendly Business Campaign — Lisa Meinert, DFB program leader, has presentations
scheduled with senior apartment complexes and training in Feb. Lisa has been working with Alison
Smith, VC 55+ Volunteer Coordinator, to incorporate the onboarding process for new volunteers to
help get the word out about DFB and OCDOA in general
16. Senior Tar Heel Legislature— Dick White reported that STHL is getting together remotely next week.
They contacted members about rejuvenating since COVID and looking at the rules and regulations at
next week's meeting. Dick will report back after the meeting
17. Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee— no report
18. Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee—Vibeke Talley reported that the committee did not
meet in 2021. They will be starting up virtually tonight, then resume the 4x yearly schedule. She did not
know when they will be able to go into nursing homes again, that will be based on what the State
recommends
19. Friends of the Passmore Center—Janice reported that both the Friends of Passmore and the Friends of
Seymour are both meeting and have programs/events planned
20. Friends of the Seymour Center—(See bullet 19)
Adjournment
Next meeting: February 8, 2022 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. — Passmore Center and Virtual