HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-07-20-COA-min.pdf Lexington Council on Aginr
Meeting, July 20 , 1977
Visitors ' Center, Second-floor Meeting Room
MINUTES
Present CoA S Clark, S Goodwin, A Jackson A Paranya , W Sen, D Williams
J Carlson, C Miller, R Weinstein
Staff J Melcher
Observer J Sen
1 The meeting was called to order at 7 45 P M by Acting Chairperson
Ann Jackson Minutes for the June 22nd meeting were approved as
distributed
2. Mrs Jackson announced that until the four new positions on the CoA ,
voted by the Town Meeting last March, are approved by the Attorney=
General 's office, the newly appointed members cannot be sworn in,
Therefore , she moved that formal orientation of new members and the
election of new CoA officers be postponed until all members have been
sworn in. Voted. Mr Clark and Mr Sen who replace two retiring CoA
members have been duly sworn in
3 Program evaluations , made in June , were presented and discussed
Changes in wording were made in the Friendly Visitors and Trip Pro-
grams evaluations (Corrections on office file copies ) Questions
which arose about the programs were
a Should the Newsletter include advertising? Decision deferred
b What can be done to protect volunteer drivers in case of accident?
Steven Clark agreed to look into the question of liability
c What actions/decisions should be taken about transportation? De-
ferred until September
4 Rev Goodwin reported that Minute-Man Home Care has received an ad-
ditional grant of $23, 000 for which the Board has tentatively set up
priorities Our question was whether any of it could be used for
transportation to Congregate Meals
5 Mrs Jackson pointed out that volunteers for CoA activities and ser-
vices have been very successful Over 299 hours per month have been
given by volunteers ; if paid for at the minimum wage level, these
services would have cost 1787 50
6 In the absence of a Treasurer, Mrs Melcher presented two bills
Telephone * 59,22
M-M Home Care contribution for F 78 2 ,244 00
Total 12 , 303 22
It was movedand voted that these bills be paid
7 Co-ordinator' s Report
a Bob Cassidy of Xerox Corp has offered Lexington CoA a grant of
200-$500 for a worthy project Ch Stumpp was consulted, suggest-
ed that the money could be used to defray summer transportation
costs, and wrote a letter of explanation to Mr Cassidy No answer
has been received to date
b Congregate Meals is gaining in popularity During the week of
July 18th, 10 people at Greeley requested transportation to the
Bedford meal site on Monday and Friday Volunteers could not be
found on short notice , so, with Mrs Stumpp's approval , a C&W bus
was hired for both days Word was spread that other seniors could
meet at Greeley to take tha bus Bus charges are 420 per day M-M Home
Care was contacted to find out if their nutrition budget could pay the
bill
Lexington will have to develop a transportation policy for Congregate
Meals There are some volunteer drivers, but not enough to handle large
numbers M-M Home Care has a new transportation Director who may be
able to help
c An invitation to join the Mass Assn of Senior Center Directors and
CoA Directors has been extended This seems a good way to pick up new
ideas Dues are X10 00 per year
(It was moved and voted that Joan Melcher join the Mass Assn of Senior
Center Directors and CoA Directors )
d On June 28th, eight CoA co-ordinators from neighboring towns came to
Lexington for a very successful meeting There was a lively exchange
of ideas , and all present agreed that getting together occasionally
would be helpful Another meeting was tentatively scheduled for Oct 19
How to reach people was the main topic of discussion Dorothy Kennedy
of Belmont described their program Young people from a high school
group are canvassing threi own neighvorhoods , offering information about
the Council and services available , and reporting back to the CoA office
on the kind of reception they received and their own impressions of the
people they visited
One of our summer volunteers , Brian Iandoli of the LHS Medical Careers
Club, has been told about this and thinks it would make an excellent
project for his group in the fall
e Friendly Visitors held a meeting with Rivka Gruber of Mystic Valley MHC
on June 28th There are now 15 friendly visitors
f Meals-on-Wheels is going well Totals for June are
Meals served 324
Total patrons served 23
Total volunteers 35
Total volunteer time 165 hours
Some routine for paying Dr Merfeld from July 1 , 197? has to be set up
g Transportation is still a struggle Recreation Dept has been asked to
pick up the tab for the bus for the senior citizens picnic
The Lexington Cab Co (under new management) is reported to be willing
to give 20% off fares to Sr, Citizens Dot Williams has been asked to
look into this
h A great many referral requests are coming in CoA members interested in
referrals are invited to come to the office to look at the records An
example Recently the CoA worked with Tri-Community, Church of Our
Redeemer, and numerous individuals to get a bed and linens for an older
woman in need
i The Senior Citizen Picnic was a success in spite of the heat and delay
in getting the food The young people of the Recreation Dept worked
very hard on the picnic
j The 8th Newsletter is in the writing stage Anyone with news material
should contact Dot Williams , Joy Sen, or the office
k Minute-Man Home Care is writing a proposal requesting CETA workers for
full or part-time work, and urged Lexington to request one We could
easily use such a person the HS Drop-in Center (Op Art) 6 hours a day,
5 days a week, and the request has been made
1 The Minute-Man is planning to do a picture editorial on Meals-on-Wheels
on Friday, July 22 Otherwise, our publicity in the Minute-Man has
been disappointing recently The CoA calendar has not appeared so far
this month, and publicity about the picnic was inadequate Perhaps
having a special publicity person would help
m The Human Services meeting on July 13, dealing with problems of the
aging was excellent Along with representatives of Tri-Community and
Minute-Man Home Care, I explained what the CoA was and what programs
it offers. Co-operation and communication among the agencies involved
in serving older people is developing
8 There was some discussion about the need to have volunteers in the
office regularly to answer - and screen - phone calls so that Joan has
more time for other duties No definite action was taken
9 There was general agreement that Wednesday evening was an acceptable
time for meetings Dot Williams pointed out that we should avoid the
third Wednesday of each month so that CoA members can attend Recreation
Dept meetings if they wish The next CoA meeting was set for Wednesday,
August 10, 1977
10 The meeting adjourned at 9 27 P M.
Respectfully submitted ,
Ann G Paranya, Secretary