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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-09-19 Council on Aging SummaryCOUNCIL ON AGING September 10AM 19, 1995 Agenda Approval Minutes from Prior Meeting Old Business New Business' 1. 25th Anniversary Celebration 2. United Way Volunteer/Campaign 3. Reno Workshop Report 4. Attendance Review 5. Volunteer of the Month 6. Commission to Visit in October 7. Dinner in Sterling/September 23rd Person Wanting to be Heard CITY OF KENAI COUNCIL ON AGING * * * MINUTES* * * September 1 9, 1 995 - 10 a.m. Members Present' Members Absent' Al Pease, Sam Huddleston, Joanna Hollier, Roger Meeks, Lucille Billings Georgetta Funk, Elmer (Gene) Seay, Betty Warren, Loretta Breeden Also Present' Pat Porter, Sylvia Johnson, Linda Swarner, Marilyn Kebschull AGENDA APPROVAL' Sam Huddleston asked for any discussion on the agenda. None noted, he asked for unanimous approval. MINUTES FROM PRIOR MEETING' Sam Huddleston asked for approval of minutes by unanimous consent. Minutes approved by unanimous consent. OLD BUSINESS' No old business. Pat Porter commented that she had handed out a copy of the budget and asked if any members had questions about it that they feel free to ask. Al Pease asked how much money the budget was short. Pat Porter stated that they are short by what United Way didn't fund this year, a little over ~5,000. Porter will ask that that money be appropriated out of the unencumbered fund balance. Continued stating the request has not been made and that it may be best to wait about six months and see if donations offset the amount. Stated there is an unencumbered fund balance and that is where the $1 2,000 came from to help buy the station wagon. Pat Porter drew attention to the fact that the center deals with a lot of grants and that each grant has it's own budget making it difficult to understand how they all work together. Thus, Ms. Porter stated she attempted to show it as one packet. The biggest expense is for employee expenses. Council on Aging Minutes September 19, 1995 Page 1 , . . 25th Anniversary Celebration--Pat Porter shared that when she attended the conference in Reno she noticed that Buffalo, New York is celebrating their silver anniversary and they had posters that they had done for their celebration. Ms. Porter brought a copy and shared it with the board as an idea. 1996 will be the Kenai Center's 25th Anniversary and Porter feels it may be advantageous to start thinking about planning for the event. Pat Porter asked if anyone would like to work on a committee to plan for the 25th Anniversary celebration. Pat stated possibility of doing a poster, planning for a week or a day of celebration. The actual date is in November but it might be better to do it when the weather is better. Al Pease agreed it would be better to do it when the weather is good. Pat Porter stated the board needs to take action to appoint a committee noting that the first two directors of the center are still in the area. Sylvia Johnson being one and Betty Warren the very first director. Pat Porter stated she had asked Betty if she would be willing to work on a committee and she stated she would. Sam Huddleston stated he felt the previous two directors should head the committee. Porter stated that was fine with her; however, there is a new activity person whom they should pair up with. Mr. Huddleston agreed and asked Sylvia Johnson if she agreed. Ms. Johnson agreed stating that she felt the celebration should begin in May and continue through as May is senior citizens' month. Not just having one or two days but spread it over several months having something special each month to honor seniors that have been involved. Al Pease commented that advertisement should start in May stating it is the 25th year. Roger Meeks added to conclude with a big celebration. Pat Porter asked if the board was going to appoint the two ladies to head the committee. Sam Huddleston stated yes. Porter added that the new activity person is Virginia Callahan noting that she is a graphics artist. Porter noted that Colleen had turned in her resignation and that her last day is the 20th. United Way Volunteer/Campaign--Pat Porter stated she wanted to know if anyone on the board would like to represent the Center as a contact person with United Way. The campaign starts in middle of October continuing through November. Discussion by members as to who would be available. Sam Huddleston, Joanna Hollier, Roger Meeks will be gone. Lucille Billings, Al Pease, Gene Seay, and Loretta Breeden will be in town. Al Pease asked if any board member replacements coming up and Pat Porter stated that she was unaware of any. Sam Huddleston clarified if the board had decided on anyone. Pat Porter stated that there should be five members available who could rotate. Reno Workshop Report--Report given by Pat Porter regarding her attendance at the three day workshop. Felt it was the best she had ever attended and was geared toward congregant and home-delivery meals programs only. Insight into what the trend is, money that can be expected which should be bad as federal government is cutting back 5 Council on Aging Minutes September 19, 1995 Page 2 . percent this year. Unknown how the states will handle that cut and will probably know more after October. Porter stated centers will need to become more aggressive at fund raising if you plan to offer the same programs that are offered today. In comparison with south 48, Alaska is very lucky. Unheard of to have projects to provide services to as small as populations as are done in Alaska. In comparison, all their rural populations come together and have one program wherein food is trucked out to save money on kitchen staff, administrative overhead, etc. In Buffalo, New York they are serving 1400 meals a day. They don't pay drivers, totally delivered by volunteers. Porter stated that most of those programs are operated by volunteers. Porter shared examples of advertising information used by different programs. Roger Meeks stated that in California where he is from with a population of 50,000 they only have one vehicle. Porter stated it really varies with demographics. Porter stated all kinds of gimmicks used to try to get volunteers (shared examples). Very visual advertisement of programs. Porter stated that she feels there will be a need to become more aggressive in the local program. Not only staff but board members will need to be responsible for carrying the good P.R. everywhere. Attendance Review--Porter stated that a noted decrease in number of people being served. Not a huge decrease but it adds up over a month's period of time. Need to look at the reasons for this decrease. Porter stated that she feels that board members need to be concerned about attendance and need to try to help get the numbers back up. Perhaps by talking to people they could find out why there are not as many people coming. Porter noted that she feels, and the topic was also dicussed at the workshop, that seniors are regaging in place. In comparison to when the center was first started, there was no one in a wheel chair. Now, as many as five people on a daily basis come to the center in wheel chairs. Porter stated that she feels that normal, healthy seniors feel somewhat uncomfortable in a place with a lot of people in wheel chairs or with others with disabilities. This makes them feel more vulnerable. Roger Meeks stated that psychologically it would make people feel that way. Meeks continued that he felt the organ music played at the center may have an adverse effect on moods and that if it were peppier it might help. Porter agreed that is a good point noting that the organ player was at the meeting and that she did have peppier music she could play. Lu¢ille Billings commented that she knew someone who used to attend but when she got there everyone's conversations revolved around their aches and pains and she expected more than everyone just sitting around complaining. Porter stated she felt that was part of it and that the board needed to find out what else could be provided. Joanna Hollier stated she felt it starts at the front desk and gave an example of how she deals with people when she is on the front desk. If people come in in a bad mood, she tells them to smile. Roger Meeks shared his wife's attitude and that being that nobody wants to hear about your Council on Aging Minutes September 19, 1995 Page 3 aches and pains because everybody has them. Pat Porter continued that there is a need to try and attract some of the seniors who feel somewhat uncomfortable at the center. The center doesn't need to be geared just around the noon meal. The board needs to decide what the center should offer. The center could offer breakfast or an evening meal a couple times a week. Some people are too busy to come during the day time. The center is not locked in to a noon meal. Weather and darkness may make the dinner meal not an option. Porter stated that maybe the evening meal could be offered once a week or once a month. The board should think about this. Activities could be changed. Porter shared that she went to a class on activities. Most centers don't limit their activities only to seniors. Porter gave an example that if you had bridge scheduled and had an opening for two people those openings could be open to anyone. Of course, giving senior citizens priority. Encouraging younger people to come to the building is very healthy for the program. By opening the center, this sends out the message to community that this is a fun place. Linda Swarner asked if Ms. Porter had combined attendance with the Reno report? Ms. Swarner asked how the Nikiski Center had affected the Kenai center. Porter stated it had definitely hurt the Kenai center. That is competition. Porter asked the group what they considered themselves to be. Al Pease stated he was a customer. Porter stated exactly. The center is a business. Need to start looking at it as if it were a business. Roger Meeks stated he didn't consider himself a customer because he doesn't eat at the center. Porter stated many people from the congregant housing don't eat at the center. Porter continued that Roger is a customer even if he doesn't eat at the center explaining that he had used the services at times. In a sense that makes him a customer. Meeks stated he had used help a lot of times on the Medicare forms, etc. stating that Pat has the answers to a lot of questions since she deals with the process all the time. Porter continued need to change the way the board thinks of the center. Porter asked if the board knew what TLC meant. Sam Huddleston stated, "Tender loving care." Porter stated it means, "Think like a customer." Continuing that the board and staff need to be doing that. Roger Meeks noted that Linda Swarner being on the council needed to think like the general public. Porter stated that she felt the center in general had satisfied customers and that the center needs to strive to be like a Nordstrom department store. Porter asked the board members to go out and talk to the customers and find out what they think or would like to see at the center. Roger Meeks stated that when people ask him questions, he directs them to the center. Porter asked how many of the board had friends who are seniors who don't attend functions at the center and that they should ask them why. Ask them what the center could offer that would cause them to come to the center. Discussion by members as to why people had told them they didn't come to the center. Porter reiterated that members need to ask others what the center could offer them. The center is flexible. Porter stated that the staff is great but Council on Aging Minutes September 19, 1995 Page 4 she had to remember that the customer comes first and if there is a need to change staff hours, that could be done. Joanna Hollier commented that the feels Pat is doing a great job but there are some people who are just not ready to attend the center because of the stigma around the center. Porter stated those people need to realize that the center is a source for information and that probably needs to be advertised more. A possible suggestion might be to make a flyer and to advertise services, or dropping brochures or news letters off around town. Porter stated that she will be working on making the center more visible but she needs the board to talk to their peer group to see what the center could offer to get them to come to the center. Pat Porter drew attention to a sheet noting board responsibilities. She noted that she wants the board to become better informed so that they can help when they need help. Noted that when she was at a United Way meeting last week she was asked who did the presentation she had noted she did. She was told that it actually should be done by a board member and that she had not considered that or even taking a board member to the presentation. Porter listed Board Responsibilities' 1. Planning. 2. Fund Raising. 3. Fiscal Accountability. 4. Public Relations. Roger Meeks shared a situation that he had encountered dealing with someone from Nikiski who felt that Kenai got everything. Meeks told them several reasons why that may be including that Nikiski is not incorporated, the age of the Kenai center, the city is behind the center, and that the center was built during the oil boom. Porter stated that was a good way to handle the situation. Continuing with Board responsibility Porter stated, 5. Make Policy. An example being the smoking policy. Linda Swarner asked if the policy may be a reason for loss of attendance. Roger Meeks stated he personally knows 6 people. Swarner noted that could be 25-30 visits in a month. Porter noted that could be turned around and look at how many people who can come because it is a smoke free center. Discussion by board about the smoking issue and the resulting policy and it's relation to attendance. Porter asked for any additions by the board to what they saw as their responsibility. Al Pease noted that he felt the board has the responsibility to set examples. Porter summed up that the board has responsibilities in addition to attending meetings to be the center's advocate. Finally, noted that she will attempt to keep the board better informed. 1 Volunteer of the Month--Sam Huddleston noted that he thought this was dealt with in the past. Porter noted yes but offered a suggestion that it may be handled different. In Homer, they put everyone who has volunteered during the month names in a hat and the name is drawn for the volunteer of the month. The volunteer is given special parking. Porter noted that she wanted to bring it up and that the board may want to think about it and reconsider the way they select the volunteer of the Council on Aging Minutes September 19, 1995 Page 5 month. Roger Meeks noted that both he and Al had agreed last time that someone who wasn't very popular may not get recognition. But this new method would be fair. Porter noted that the board should think about it for possible future action. , Commission to Visit in October--Pat Porter stated they will be visiting the center on October 18 which is Alaska Day and a normal staff holiday; however, the staff will not be taking the holiday. Plan is for meeting in morning and afternoon and will need to accommodate a room. Will include all commissioners from the state. Porter stated she would encourage all board members to attend. Porter stated she didn't know the exact times yet. Joanna Hollier asked to clarify who was coming. Porter stated, the commissioners for the Division of Aging. Porter noted it important that board attend because the center will be writing a grant this year and that Sterling wants to come on line and will be writing a grant. The funding is such that current projects will have to give up funds to fund any new projects. , Dinner in Sterling/September 23--Porter asked who would be attending. Sam Huddleston noted that it was at 2:30 p.m. and it would be a get acquainted session before the dinner. Roger Meeks, Loretta Breeden, Sam Huddleston, Lucille Billings will be going. Gene Seay, Al Pease, and Joanna Hollier will not be attending. Pat Porter suggested that Sam Huddleston offer to use the Kenai Center next year. Porter asked if anyone needed assistance with transportation. None noted. PERSON WANTING TO BE HEARD: ADJOURNMENT: AL PEASE MOVED FOR ADJOURNMENT AND ROGER MEEKS SECONDED THE MOTION. UNANIMOUS. Meeting adjourned at approximately 10:57 a.m. Respectfully Submitted: Mariiy~ K~Jbsc-hu II Administrative Assistant Council on Aging Minutes September 19, 1995 Page 6