HomeMy WebLinkAboutAging Board Minutes-07-11-2023 Orange County Department on Aging
Advisory Board on Aging
Tuesday, July 11, 1 - 3 pm
Seymour Center Hybrid
MINUTES
In Attendance: Colin Austin, Heather Altman, Rachel Bearman, Ann Bradford, Jeff Charles, Jerry
Gregory, Michael Joseph, Jackie Podger, Saru Salvi, Sandy Walker, Dick White; Staff: Myra Austin,
Brandi Beeker, Kendall McMillan, Beverly Shuford, Janice Tyler; Interns: Leiha Edmonds (MAP) and
Abbey Riddick (Aging Transitions).
Absent - Excused: James Harris, Vibeke Talley
1. New Board Chair, Colin Austin, welcomed everyone.
2. On behalf of the board, Colin thanked Heather for her many years of services to this board,
and for keeping the meetings interesting and lively.
3. Introductions and Announcements
a. Colin welcomed new board member, Michael Joseph, who introduced himself and
shared his background. Colin expressed appreciation for the learning and experience
he will bring to the board.
4. Approval of Minutes
a. The May 9, 2023 minutes were approved as written.
Director's Report
5. Staff Updates
i. Two Employment Specialists have been hired to fill Mike Komives' position, Liz
Blankenship and Robert Bradford.
1. Both will be going through HR orientation on Monday, July 17, and then
Janice will work with them to get the employment services going again.
2. Liz will provide direct service work with individuals. Robert will be working
to develop community partnerships, particularly with underserved
communities, and with businesses and the local Chambers to build
relationships. He will lead the MAP Employment workgroup and reassess
goals and strategies.
3. Both have unique skills that will benefit this position(s). Colin offered to
meet with them and share a little bit of history, Janice will arrange a
meeting.
b. Aging Transitions Social Worker Intern, Abbey Riddick, introduced herself. Abbey is a
graduate student with the UNC School of Social Work, interning with our Aging
Transitions team for the summer. She shared that she chose OCDoA because she was
looking for internship that will give her a broad array of social work experience, both
micro (hands on) and macro experiences. She is enjoying working with Aging.
c. The OCDoA Outreach Coordinator position is still vacant after Clayton Foster left to get
his MSW. If you know of anyone interested, that would be good at outreach, please let
Janice know. The position is approximately 24-hours a week. The Outreach Coordinator
position funding comes from ARPA and has to be spent by September 2024.
d. Janice Tyler, Myra Austin and Cydnee Sims attended the National Council on Aging's
Age + Action 2023 Conference where they received recognition for receiving Senior
Center National Accreditation for both the Passmore Center and Seymour Center. The
conference took place on June 12 & 13 in Arlington, Virginia.
6. Two longtime colleagues from TJCOG-AAA will celebrate their retirements at the Seymour
Center, Wednesday, July 12, from 3 — 5:30 pm. Mary Warren, AAA Director, and Ellison
Jones, Family Caregiver Program Coordinator, extended an invitation to those who they have
worked with to join them for the celebration.
a. Janice reported that Jenisha Henneghan will replace Mary. Ellison's replacement has
not yet been named.
Old Business
7. Aging Well Together Radio Show on WCOM launched on May 3. Host, Heather Altman is off
and running with nine shows so far and the tenth to be recorded this week. A lot of staff from
OCDoA have been on the show as have outside experts talking about healthcare, decluttering
and hoarding to name a few.
a. Heather reported that hosting is going great and that she has lined up terrific guests for
future shows. Aging Board member, Rachel Bearman, will be on in September to talk
about Meals on Wheels and food security.
b. The engineering is the hard part and time consuming. We need to help to promote and
increase the show's reach. The most current show is available on wcomfm.org as a
podcast. We are working on a method to archive all shows and host the podcast on the
OCDoA website or through another podcast platform.
c. The show's theme music is by local musician and our new employment specialist,
Robert Bradford and his band.
d. Alicia Reid has joined as Heather's co-host. Alicia is an OCDoA participant, volunteer
and fitness instructor.
New Business
8. Janice reminded our board of the development of a Five-Year Strategic Plan for Orange
County and asked that everyone visit https://berrydunn.mysocialpinpoint.com/orangecounty.
The site includes a community survey, interactive comment map, and project updates. Janice
and Colin encouraged everyone to complete the survey and share it with others.
9. The Community Health Assessment happens every four years. Janice is on the Leadership
Team for the assessment and reported that it contains a number of aging related questions. It
is important to complete the survey as this determine the direction of the Orange County
Health Department. The survey is found at .https://redcap.link/ochd2023cha public.
10.FY 23-24 Budget
i. We are closing out the books for last year's budget. This this must be completed
by Friday. AAA ARPA funds for the Grab and Go lunches has been expended.
We have $75k of county ARPA funds, which will be used for this service, since
Home and Community Block Care Grant (HCBCG) funding cannot be used for
takeaway meals. We anticipate that the $75,000 of funding will last approximately
about 6 - 7 months. When these funds are expended, the takeaway meals will
stop. We are monitoring the funds closely and will let the participants know in
advance of when the takeaway meal program is ending.
ii. At Seymour we have more people getting takeaway meals than we have eating
in the lunchroom. A few could be still concerned about COVID, but most are
getting the takeaway for the convenience. With the addition of ARPA funds for
home delivered meals being administered through our department we have
found there are some participants receiving meals both from us and MOWs. We
are cross-referencing, so as not to duplicate service.
iii. There is an option to make a donation for the lunch program meals. We do not
monitor who gives or how much. If you do not give, it should not be a barrier to
receiving a meal. Persons under age 60 or live outside of Orange County, the
meal costs $7.
b. As of July 10, the Passmore Center is open two nights a week, Monday & Thursday
until 8 pm. This was one of our budget requests that was approved.
c. There were some new furnishings purchased for both senior centers at the end of the
year with grant funding.
d. Staff 6% raise for County employees. This is a boost for county staff; the County
Manager is committed to paying employees a competitive wage to attract and retain
employees.
11.Outreach Efforts
a. Janice reminded everyone to let us know if you hear of community events where we
might have an informational table.
2022-27 Master Aging Plan (Yr1 Q3)
12.MAP Outdoor Spaces and Buildings workgroup — Myra Austin
a. Action request for Aging Board regarding older adult representation on municipal
volunteer boards
b. The Advisory Board on Aging approved the letter to local municipalities Parks and
Recreations Advisory Boards inviting each of them to add a designated seat for a
person age 55+ on their boards. Note: The Town of Hillsborough already has a seat
designated on their board for an older adult; Aging Board suggested sending a thank
you note to the Town of Hillsborough recognizing that they already do this.
i. This request works toward the fulfilment of Goal 1 — Outdoor Spaces and
Buildings, indicator 1.1.1 a: At least one dedicated space for an older adult age
55+ (or representative of older adults) is on every county and town Advisory
Board that has input on outdoor spaces and buildings.
13.MAP Housing workgroup — Kendall McMillan
a. UNC Student hired to complete update of senior housing guide.
b. Very successful educational event on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) in January,
preparing for additional events later this year.
c. Fiddlehead community in development had consultation with OCDOA and planning.
Development includes livable design elements.
d. County ordinance to allow ADUs to be 1500 sq.ft. or 80% of the main structure, passed.
14.MAP Transportation Workgroup — Brandi Beeker
a. Volunteer Driving Program
i. 2 new drivers added, lost 1 long-time driver, total of 7 drivers (including
Transportation Specialist) receiving requests in Q3.
ii. 94 ride requests received from 70 riders.
iii. 14 new riders registered to request rides.
b. Transit Provider News
i. Orange County Transportation tweaked some bus schedules, Hillsborough
Circulator runs from 7am-5pm (was 8am-5pm) and Orange-CH Connector stops
at Seymour Center on both northbound and southbound routes.
ii. GoTriangle fixed routes fare-free through June 2024
iii. Chapel Hill Transit real-time bus tracking returned in March.
Committee Progress Reports if needed:
15.Senior Tar Heel Legislature — Dick White/Vibeke Talley
a. Very successful 35t" Anniversary Meeting.
i. Dick reported there is no funding budgeted for hosting the annual meeting which
costs —$30k. Currently the funds are scraped together from multiple budgets.
Suggest asking senators if they can get a last-minute request in for including this
in the DHHS budget.
ii. Cobbling together the funding means that the STHL can't book a hotel and
negotiate for a second place for the meeting. Currently the meals and meeting
are in one place and hotel in another. Getting back and forth is a concern with
many of the delegates. The goal is to get a budget line item to keep the meeting
and the lodging at one place.
iii. The new group is invigorated and interesting. Ninety out of one-hundred counties
were represented at this year's annual meeting. There is a subsidy for those
counties attending from the far reaches of the state.
16.Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee — Jackie Podger
a. The State approved the merger of the NH & ACH committees as did the BOCC.
Triangle JCOG ombudsman, Autumn Cox, is researching whether the merger should
happen or not. The Nursing Home Committee voted no; the Adult Care Home
Committee voted yes. Jackie asked, "Is a vote necessary on the committee level since
the overarching boards approved merging the CAC committees?"
b. Jackie shared that merging the committees would mean longer meetings and more
facilities to visit. Still, it would be more enriching and interesting. Everyone should see
the differences between adult care homes and nursing homes, this would help both the
CAC committees and the facilities.
17.Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee — No report
18.Friends of the Passmore Center
a. The Friends of Passmore are not having the Las Vegas night in the Fall. They feel they
do not have enough volunteers to host this large fundraising event. Passmore Friends
feel that they need some younger folks in their group to be able to go forward. Garden
Clubs looking for help support the plant sale benefiting senior programs. We need to
connect and reach out to recruit members and volunteers to share the load.
19.Friends of the Seymour Center— No report
Adjournment
Next meeting: August 8, 2023, from 1 - 3 pm — Passmore Center & Virtual 2nd Tuesday of the Month