HomeMy WebLinkAboutAging Board Minutes-09-12-2023 Orange County Department on Aging
Advisory Board on Aging
MINUTES
Tuesday, September 11, 2023
Seymour Center Hybrid
Present: Colin Austin, Rachel Bearman, Ann Bradford, Jeff Charles,Jerry Gregory, James Harris, Michael
Joseph,Jackie Podger, Vibeke Talley, Sandy Walker, Dick White; Staff: Brandi Beeker, Anshu Gupta, Kim
Lamon-Loperfido, Beverly Shuford, Janice Tyler, and Aging Transition Interns, Kirsten Chang and Kenia Sutton
Absent with Notice: None
Absent without Notice: None
1. Colin welcomed Board members and staff.
2. Introductions and Announcements
a. New OCDoA Aging Transitions Social Work interns were introduced:
i. Kenia Sutton, Bachelor of Social Work student from NC State. She will be doing a little bit
of everything, including our new R Place respite program on Wednesdays. Kenia is with
us until December; Monday-Thursdays.
ii. Kirsten Chang, MSW student at UNC and formerly our 2017-18 Seymour Center Johnson
Service volunteer. She will also be doing a little bit of everything, including one-on-one
clinical social work. Kirsten is with us Tuesdays and on occasional Fridays, as well as at
some night and weekend programs.
b. Janice requested 3 cases of Covid tests to give out at the upcoming OCDoA Health and Wellness
Fair on Sept. 21.
3. Approval of Minutes—August 8, 2023
a. Minutes approved with the addition of the Friends of Seymour Center retreat announcement
and upgraded lending library being added to their report.
Director's Report
4. All Ages All Stages Multisector Aging Plan
a. Janice attended the kick-off All Ages, All Stages NC Stakeholder Workgroup Meeting on
September 7, 2023 from 1:00-4:30pm. The meeting was held at the William G. Ross
Environmental Conference Center at NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. The kick-off
will be the only in-person meeting of the large committee. There are subcommittees that will
do the work of developing the plan. Janice serves on the Affordable Aging Committee.
5. Orange County Preparedness Month Proclamation—Theme "Preparing for Older Adults"
a. Janice shared the Orange County BOCC agenda abstract regarding the Preparedness Month
Proclamation. She reported that OC Emergency Services reached out to OCDoA to join them in
preparing the proclamation and agenda request. The BOCC unanimously voted to proclaim
September 2023 Orange County Preparedness Month: Preparing for Older Adults and
emphasized the importance of emergency preparedness with a focus on older adults.
Emergency Services and Janice (OCDoA) were able to share a few comments. They encouraged
everyone to prepare for hurricanes, tornadoes, emergencies of all kinds if you haven't already.
6. Falls Prevention Awareness Week— Health Fair, Sept. 21 from 9 a.m.— 1 p.m. Seymour Center
a. The Health and Wellness Fair is next Thursday. Everyone is invited to attend. Seethe event
poster in the lobby. We will have vendors, presentations and more. The first 100 guests will
receive free backpacks.
7. Create and Play Renewal Expo—Saturday, Sept. 23 from 1—5 p.m. Seymour Center
a. Read all about the expo in the current Endless Possibilities The expo features guest speakers,
create and play workshops, and creative entertainment. This has been in the works for a long
time with Cyd and the Seymour team.
8. Community and Health Day on the Farm —Schley Grange, Sunday, Sept. 24 2-5 p.m.
a. This program is hosted by the OC Health Department. They are working on the final flyer and
details. We will have an information table.
9. Passmore Picnic at Blackwood Farm— Friday, Oct. 13, 11 a.m. —2 p.m.
a. Janice invited the Aging Board to the outdoor picnic at Blackwood Farm. The farm is beautiful,
so come on out and enjoy yourself.
10. Voter IDs and transportation to Board of Elections office in Hillsborough
a. Orange County Public Transportation, along with our Transportation Specialist, Brandi Beeker,
and the OC Board of Elections (BOE) are working together to get voters from the Seymour
Center to the BOE to get photo ID's. So far there are no registrants, but we have the word out
there. People are asking what is required. All that is required is a photo ID. Voters age 65+ may
use an expired photo ID if it was unexpired on their 65t" birthday. Visit
orangecountync.gov/2143/Photo-ID--REQUIRED-for-Voting to learn more.
Old Business
11. Thanks for completing the Community Survey for the Five-Year Strategic Plan for Orange County
a. The BOCC will meet on Sept. 21 and Department Directors meet on Sept. 22 to review the
results. Janice will attend both meetings and keep us posted on the results.
12. Community Health Assessment
a. The survey is now closed. How does our 5-year Master Aging Plan relate to the Orange County
Community Health Survey?Janice was involved in helping to develop the survey and there are
questions on the survey about aging and caregiving.
b. Thank you to everyone who completed the survey. Focus Groups are now being scheduled and
the Health Department will be getting the report out to the people.
New Business
13. Launch of R Place— New Respite Program for caregivers—Alison Smith
a. Alison passed out "R Place" informational handouts. She reported that we are using the
"Respite for All" model for R Place. We discovered the Respite for All model on a webinar. It has
taken a lot of work to get to this point where we launched R Place this past Wednesday.
b. R Place is a robust social engagement program based on the Respite for All model that runs on
volunteer-power. Once a week volunteers, friends and their caregivers can recharge, reconnect
and recreate. R place is exactly that ... "our place" to come together in community to provide a
judgement-free environment for socialization and mental simulation where all can thrive, and
caregivers are provided much needed respite.
c. Friends and care partners are invited to attend. Drop off is at 10 a.m. and pick up at 2 p.m. The
time is filled with planned, purposeful activities to keep moving and engaged, activities like,
light exercise, cognitive modified game, puzzles, cards, lunch, movement game, white board
time and ending with music. Research has shown that this method helps engage and reclaim
joy, it is a volunteer dense, 1-1 ratio in a peer fashion. Participants are called friends. They are
engaged in a safe environment where they can use their intellect.
d. Volunteers go through multiple trainings.
e. Memory Cafe provided a sampler of R Place, to introduce the program, it was very well
received, see the video here: https://youtu.be/OPQpkAwZawQ?si=zbyUzFSr78NXPT-- . We are
hoping to share this model with our faith-based communities to serve their congregants.
Respite for All is meant to be a church-based service with its own built in volunteer pool.
f. R Place information will be emailed to Aging Board members.
g. Jeff commented that many stoke survivors would love your service of R Space. You don't have
to be living with dementia, rather living with brain challenges. Jeff is a great resource for
information on aphasia or stroke survivors.
h. Anytime you want to come, let Janice know and she will make sure you have a spot.
14. Direct Care Worker Awards— Kim Lamon-Loperfido
a. Kim shared the 2023 Senior Health Advocacy and Resource Partners of Orange County (SHARP)
Direct Care Worker Awards (DCWA) flyers. The Awards Ceremony will be held on Thu, Nov 9, at
the Seymour Center from 4:30—6 p.m.
b. Nominations are now open and will remain open until Oct 4. Nominees must be direct care
workers serving in OC in the past year. Open to family, private and professional nominators.
Nominate online or a paper application, see details here:
https://www.orangecountync.gov/249/SHARP-Direct-Care-Worker-Awards. Cash prizes for the
named award honorees.
c. Award Categories:
i. Client Impact- Frequently recognized or praised for their efforts that make an impact on
the quality of their client's lives.
ii. Going the Extra Mile - Passionate about providing extraordinary care to their clients in
ways that exceed expectations.
iii. Leadership - Serves as a role model and demonstrates teamwork and willingness to help
other direct care workers and staff.
iv. Longevity- Has performed work as a caregiver each year for the last 10 or more years
and plans to continue working in the field.
v. Rising Star- Has been a caregiver for less than three years and demonstrates enormous
promise in the profession.
d. DCWA Alums will be apart of the review committee for award selections. Please help us get the
word out about nominating deserving care workers and that we are soliciting for swag bag item
for all nominees. We want to be sure everyone feels honored. The OC County Manager,Janice
and a BOCC representative will speak at the awards ceremony.
15. New Project EngAGE class—Class Six—Starts on Sept. 13—Sheane McPherson
a. Shenae reported that the new Project EngAGE (PE) class will have 13 participants. Her team is in
the process of wrapping up last-minute details and sending them to participants, speakers and
County tour locations. The class will start tomorrow, Wed., Sep. 13 at the Passmore Center.
b. Shenae stated that over half of the people at today's Aging Board meeting will be speakers at
some point during the 13-week course. She thanked everyone for agreeing to speak.
c. Everyone is looking forward to leading the class through the program. It has been 4 years since
we had our last PE cohort. We are happy to see new faces representing OC.
d. The curriculum is based on key areas that we want our older adults to know about and then
they go back into their communities to share what they have learned. We evaluate the program
and see if there are topics that we need to adjust. When changes are made to the resources
and information, we send previous graduates those new resources to share in their
communities as well.
e. Colin offered to be a speaker and share legal advice and resources.
f. Aging Board member, Saru Salvi, is in the new Project EngAGE class and has resigned from this
board as of September 4t", as she wants to focus on the Project EngAGE work. She will be
missed from this board, as well as the MAP Social Participation workgroup.
2022-27 Master Aging Plan
16. Fourth Quarter and End of Year 1 Reports
a. MAP Transportation Workgroup - Brandi Beeker: April —June 2023 (Q4) Transportation Updates
i. Volunteer Driving Program
1. 7 new riders enrolled in the program.
2. 70 ride requests received from 30 registered riders in Q4.
3. Drivers provided 33 roundtrips, 47% of requests matched.
4. Active drivers-4 volunteer drivers receiving requests.
ii. Transit Provider News
1. Orange County Transportation MOD service available 6 days a week, has to be
booked through the Transloc app,
2. Orange County Transportation expanded $3 EDTAP to all residents of Orange
County that are 60 and over, certification required (can take 21 days to get in
system then able to request transportation at least two days in advance)
iii. Transportation Workgroup Year 1
1. Awarded $160000 ($80000 for FY24 and $80000 for FY25 5310 grant)
2. 346 requests for volunteer drivers were received in Year 1.
3. 67% of rides requested were matched with a driver.
4. 3 new volunteer drivers registered in Year 1.
5. 52 new riders registered in Year 1.
6. 104 total riders registered to request rides, 42 were active in the last year.
Committee Progress Reports if needed:
17. Senior Tar Heel Legislature— Dick White/Vibeke Talley
a. The next STHL will meet on Oct. 3 & 4 in Wake County. There is no money allocated for the
STHL meetings, therefore, the meeting site will again be different from lodging and food. They
continue to push for a designated budget with DHHS in the hopes they get somewhere with
funding, the efforts have not been successful so far. The Board suggested that it be a part of
STHL 5-year plan and to be an agenda item at the next meeting. Dick will bring it up.
18. Nursing Home and Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee—Jackie Podger
a. The merger of the two committees is official. The 36 hours of training is still posing an issue
with committee recruitment. ACH visits will be a rich experience for delegates.
19. Friends of the Passmore Center—James Harris
a. MILK Jr Celebration is back on the agenda and will be in the next Endless Possibilities activity
guide. The Passmore Friends are having a Holiday Market Craft Sale on Sat., Dec. 9, 9 a.m. —2
p.m. with different vendors offering unique gifts. Everyone was invited to come out to shop.
20. Friends of the Seymour Center
a. No Report. Looking for a rep to be on our board. Board retreat on September 22, Janice and
Myra can't attend, but Cydnee will.
Other Announcements
21. Janice announced that we were asked to be on panel for the Southeastern 4A Regional conference and
made a presentation on OCDoA being Age-Friendly and our MAP process. There was standing room
only. We met in the afternoon at the Asheville Chamber with representatives from Buncombe,
Henderson, Forsythe and Transylvania counties. We shared the nuts & bolts of how to do a MAP plan
and why we signed on to the AARP Age-Friendly Communities initiative.
22. The OC Transportation director mentioned using our MAP in their planning.
23. Janice stated that thanks to Carol Woods their grant of$175k allows us to implement many of our MAP
projects and programs.
24. R Place received a $10k donation from a senior center participant. Private donors are giving R Place
money to operate, and they have received a 10K grant.
a. Think about your own connections and possible funding sources.
25. Rachel shared that Meals on Wheels Orange County NC is having a fundraiser/silent auction on Sept.
21, from 6—9 p.m. at the Union Grove Farm. The Robert Bradford Quartet will provide live music. Visit
https://www.mowocnc.org/for details.
Adjournment
Next meeting: October 10, 2023, from 1—3 p.m. —Passmore Center&Virtual