 and we are reporting. Welcome to everyone. Pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12, 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the open meeting slot, GLC 30A subsection 18. This meeting of the Council on Aging is being conducted by a remote participation. I want to do a roll call for ACOA committee members. And this is a good time, of course, for you to check your audio and unmute when you indicate your presence. Hold on here, let me get my list, which was somewhere here. Okay, well, we'll just, oh, here we go. All right, okay. So, Sue Birx. Okay. Yes. All right. Chad Fuller. Pardon. All right. Rosemary Koffler. Here. Monta, Mila Montemayor. I'm here. Tim Neal. I'm here. I have two quick comments while I'm on the floor here. One, could someone, Mary Beth or whoever has that, send us the latest committee members with the addresses and emails. I seem to have an old one. That would be great. And if I did not realize Dorothy is a liaison through the town council, maybe we could put that her on that sort of list of individuals associated with us. That would be great. And then the second, I just want to compliment everybody on their less than woolly sweaters today. That's great. Good. No wonderful. Yes, thank you. Okay. Thanks. That was a rich and full statement of your presence with us. Evette Palacine. He here. Oh, hello, Evette. Hello, Pat and everybody. And myself and Jacqueline Smith-Crooks. Hello, hello, hello. Oh, we see you. We are so excited to see your smiling face, Jacqueline. Okay. That's fabulous. And we also have some guests which we will melt, which will be, who will be welcomed more fully. Is there anybody else on the phone who is participating as a guest? If you would just hold on just one moment. We do have one attendee Caroline Letterman from Amherst Neighbors. And I'm going to take her into our panelists and if she wanted to, she is the president of the Amherst Neighbors and you're free if you would like to unmute Caroline. Hello, everybody. Good to meet you. Hello. I was looking at the audience for a minute and I didn't know how to get out of it, but here I am. So thank you, Mary Beth. You're welcome. Thank you for joining. That's excellent. And I also look forward to meeting you and Marina in person when that's possible. But chatting by phone, I would love to follow up with you and the days ahead because I appreciate, I respect and appreciate the work that you are doing and your presence here today. So that's just terrific. Okay, so we have, let's see, let me just review. I just want to, this is the housekeeping rule. Just encourage you to mute when you're not speaking because it cuts down on background noise. But it's also possible just in terms of your participation, anyone's participation, you can raise your hand electronically if you know how to do that. But we are, we're kind of old school in some ways. We often just raise our hand and find that that's very effective. So both Mary Beth and I are watching the screen at all times to look for that. So all right. So a few of you had had some difficulty getting in. We're working, I'm working with Angela Mills on figuring out how we can smooth that process. So I apologize for that and appreciate your patience. This is a time for public comment at the beginning of our meeting. So if there's any residents of Amherst are welcome to express their views up to three minutes and the board will not engage in dialogue or comment on a matter that any matter that comes before us at that time. There is somebody Pat. So I'm going to, I'm asking them. Pat Brinkman is listed as an attendee and I've just sent a note to allow them to talk and ask them to unmute. And if there's something that they would like to say during this portion. Hi, good morning. Good morning, Pat. I'm a new resident to Amherst and I was always involved in the Council on Aging in the town where I came from, which was Lincoln, Massachusetts. Wonderful. And I'm interested in a number of things and personally I'm interested right now in the availability of loaning. When I left Lincoln, I donated all of my mobility aids, walkers, picker uppers, sock putter honors, all of that to the Council on Aging. And I'm wondering when that service is going to be available again at the Council on Aging. And I'll just take everything offline. And basically here also to listen. So thank you. That's good. Thank you very much. Any others? There are no other attendees. Okay, all righty. So we have a full agenda and I promised Angela that we would do our best to end at 1030 as is our practice because she has some back to back Zoom meetings that she manages. So we'll move to the first agenda item which was post-pandemic planning. And one of the things that in conversation, as things are opening up as a result of the vaccine efficacy and we're looking, beginning to imagine a different kind of freer future, I had as formulated some questions, some lingering questions to Emma Dragon, who's the Director of Health in Amherst. And she was unfortunately not able to attend, but she did respond to us. And if you've had a chance to look at the questions that I posed to her, I know I continue, I'm sure Mary Beth has heard this question over and over again, when will the Bank Center be open to the Senior Center and participation? In other words, when will things return to some semblance of order? And so I wanted, she did respond, however. And I wanted to give each of any of you a chance to comment on her response and also to inquire whether you think that there are other questions that we should be asking her. So that's what this particular, what we can do with this portion of the agenda. So any comments or observations from anyone, any members? Okay, so one of the things I will make, I'll make a comment then. One of the things that I noticed, one of the questions I had was curious about the possibilities for outdoor settings. And Mary Beth and I discussed that a little bit. And Mary Beth, do you wanna just share a little bit about that piece for us? Yeah, I'd be happy to. So what I would preface it to say that we have shifted really a great deal of focus towards reopening and what that might look like. There are no clear directives from the Massachusetts Council on Aging nor the state around the safety precautions that would be necessary to effectuate that. Also, I'm speaking to the health director. Even this morning, we were chatting about the CDC guidelines around individuals who've been vaccinated, can they gather unmasked? And she clarified for me is that that CDC guidance has not been adopted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. So I think that there are some layers of policy coming both from the state and locally that need to be refined before we could understand the full dynamic. However, that being said, we are examining the possibility of getting a tent or two to facilitate some sheltered areas where we can do outdoor programming. Also, we have been looking around at the space though. We operate the vaccine clinic here. That's on that first floor, but that still leaves us the senior center proper, which has two areas both for socializing and also gathering groups in the computer room and also the entire third floor. So this afternoon, I'm going through with some individuals from town staff to look at the third floor and to see if there might be even just temporary usage. I would suggest that anything that we do, of course, like safety would be the primary focus, but safety has to also encompass a way in which we can begin to work with deterioration, both in cognitive decline and also in physical health. So bringing people together is critical to public health as well as the other things that we are endeavoring to do, which is vaccinating people, et cetera. So what I anticipate broadly is that there would be a soft opening of some small gatherings, both outdoors, possibly indoors for small amounts of time under certain safety restrictions, but we are gung-ho in that endeavor and already talking to a number of instructors about their willingness to teach outdoors and what we could bring. Our Zumba instructors already been in touch with me, yoga, a whole bunch of things. So I just wanna assure you that we are focused on it and I think as the policies develop, we're gonna be ushering that in. And if anyone has any other questions about that, I'm happy to respond. Okay, I see Rosemary. Well, I did have a question about the third floor and I wondered if that was going to be used by the senior center in general after the, we open or if that's still uncertain, and I don't know where the public health offices are going to be. Yeah, I think that those things are still in play, Rosemary, but I think my approach has been that even if we don't have a final plan for the full use of all the square footage in the interim, that would serve our folks well because there's a very wide hallway there that you could gather people for the book club or even exercise, there's enough space, enough width that we could be doing some classes there. So I don't wanna have a lack of a final plan and moving people in reconstructing spaces to stand in the way of being able to bring people together because I think that that's a public health imperative to seniors socialize and see each other in a safe way and begin to interact. There are many people for whom this kind of format of Zoom or internet access is either not productive, they're not willing and are they not able? And so it's a priority to bring people back together in person and I will reflect that certainly statewide, this is a conversation where we are on chat lines daily, senior centers across the Commonwealth and looking at ways. And I think that this mix of starting off with a hybrid soft approach is gonna be the trend that we'll be seeing statewide. So outdoor programming, possibly some indoor in small, finite ways. And then also continuing some Zoom activities and events for those who don't feel comfortable because there's gonna be people throughout that continuum of hesitancy. So, yeah. Anila, Mila, I see. Yeah, I have to unmute myself. Yeah, that's okay. Quick question. Do we have any timeframe when we might start some of these activities, whether it's outside or inside? And are we going to be doing it slowly one activity at a time or just have a big opening? I don't think we're gonna have a big opening yet. I think eventually have a big opening. I'd love to do a ribbon cutting because folks have not seen how the place has been remodeled. And I think that that's gonna be further down the line. I think that that's kind of probably more of a fall event or something around that. But in the meantime, in terms of outdoor, I have to, the two things I need to do the outdoor is I need the Board of Health to approve it. And then I need teachers willing to do it. So as soon as the weather reaches that point where some of the teachers who've expressed interest feel comfortable that they could deliver that in a way that they could count on weekly, we would be doing that. I think that there will be several activities that will be outdoors at least. I know myself as a teacher, I did it all through the fall. We were even wearing coats outside and doing yoga down at the park. So I think you'll have several opportunities that will be outdoors. And I think there is a possibility of some small indoor gatherings. Okay. Wonderful. I see another hand, Yvette, would you unmute yourself? Yes, thank you. I was wondering about the space behind the bank center. Is that where you envisioned that maybe tents would be out there behind the bank center? Yeah, no, the property behind us is not owned by the town, it's owned by the Clark House, which is a private company. And so I don't believe that I'll necessarily get their approval just because of liability of holding a town activity on it. But we have also what I have been discussing with facilities management is setting up tents in other locations in town. So places in the North Amherst and South Amherst because that has been a long buyer of mine is to do programming, also out in the community, places that people have not been able to access us. So that also might be a possibility. So I think everything is on the table, but I don't think that that would necessarily be a location that we'll be able to use because I do agree with you. I love that space. I always imagine myself in that space, but we've been through the maps and we don't own it. And they have been reluctant to have more public events on it when I've been in discussions with them previously. Okay, thank you, Pat and Mary Beth. And I am looking for some flat surfaces for Zumba. Kendrick Park, is that on the table? Yeah, everything is on the table. There are a number of locations, a number of facilities. And also, I have to have teachers who are willing to go to those locations and find that those locations have a surface or a space or an area that will suit what they're doing. And I'll just explain what I mean by that. For yoga, we were going down to the Mill River Park and we've tried several different times. And at that same time, there were gatherings of school children who were also there, using the park. And that made it impossible to do yoga and meditation because we had lots of people running around. And so we have to, there's a number of details that we just need to be looking at. Okay, I see next, Chad's hand, followed by Jacqueline. Go ahead, Chad. Yeah, just back to Mila's question. Is there any hard timeline on that? No, there is not a hard timeline because I have to wait for the state to articulate a policy and then the Board of Health would make some local rules around it. So the CDC guidance, like I said, has not been adopted. So there is no change in the status of the safety prescriptions that are in effect in Massachusetts for gathering. And until that happens, and it trickles down to the local level. So, and it's outdoor right now, I wouldn't attempt anything outdoor right now because the weather continues to vary. And I know from working with seniors outdoors, that like right now it would be in clement weather and it would be off and on. So we wanna get to a window of weather where we're looking at some consistent norms because the teachers don't wanna do, oh, there's a week here, but then we have to skip a week because it got cold again or there's snow or there's, you know, so I think we have to wait for a bit of a shift, both policy-wise and also weather-wise and teachers willing to do that. Next, Jacqueline. I think I really like this idea, the hybrid in more ways than one, hybrid in terms of indoor outdoor and hybrid in terms of central activities and neighborhood-based activities. I think that the neighborhood-based might, in fact, provide an increased likelihood. I don't know for a fact, but it seems to me a model that would provide increased access to people who might be slow to participate in things that are in center of town. I'm not sure what it's going to entail in making the plans, but I really think that's a good idea and a good model. Thanks, Jacqueline. And I also would look to if the COA and both, you know, your networks and friends, if anyone has recommendations around places or pockets, places that we could set things up, please forward me that information so we can bring that to the full table. Because I rely on you and your friends and connections about where would be a fruitful location, not just based on our social work services or something like that. So please. And just echoing that, programming too, like what sorts of programming, there may be customized programming that meets expressed needs for interaction in specific neighborhoods and locations. So that would be, I think that's another dimension of that. I see Rosemary's hand and want to recognize her. Yeah, very briefly. I see the South Hammers Common as an ideal spot for activity. I have a hard time envisioning what you would use in North Hammers. Yeah. Yeah, I was thinking too of the South Hammers Library and I hadn't thought about the common, but yes, because I know that there's a space in there that's used for voting as a voting precinct. And I would imagine that there are other places depending on the size of the groups that are coming together. Caroline. I'm just curious about the Hickory Ridge Golf Course space and what's happening with that. And because I live right across the street from there, there's plenty of parking and I know they have a big open space in there, but I don't know what's happening with it. Mary Beth, do you have any insider information about that? No, but I certainly will follow it up and I will get back to Caroline. Okay, and Mila? Yeah, I like the idea of getting together in a certain place, but are there other activities where meeting virtually could be a possibility in the meantime? Yes, and that's why I think when I mentioned the hybrid, we in Texas keep all three of those facets going forward. So there are people for whom gathering in person is going to be prohibitive for a number of reasons, right? It might be that they are homebound. It might be that they are just hesitant. That's an increasing conversation that we're having with individuals now that they're vaccinated is a folk sign that they are nervous about re-entering. There's this process of re-engaging, having been sheltered for a year that I think that we can't skip over of helping people to feel safe and doing it in a titrated manner. So when you ask about like a big opening versus doing this in a small progressive way that helps people to gain a sense of agency again, that helps them to understand spaciousness and expansiveness in a way that makes them where they're at. I think it's gonna be one of our challenges and the role that we're here to serve. Okay. We'll continue Zoom, Mila. Yeah, because I belong to a singing class and we never stop. We can't, we could not meet, but every week we get together like this and everybody takes the turn to sing their songs. We couldn't get accompanied by our singing coach but we sing and it's very satisfying just to meet in code even if it's virtually with me, I miss everybody. I like to think of this group expressing its own form of song and melody and harmony and even dissonance from time to time which adds a little interest and spice to things. Let's see, this is a good time, I think just to transition to Mary Beth's update and looking ahead. Mary Beth's update and looking ahead and so we'll move that onto the next two item B and our agenda. Go ahead, Mary Beth. So I did prepare a written report for Pat and I didn't know if you've had the opportunity to distribute that more widely or not. I did not, I didn't. Okay, so you will receive a written report as part of your packet but a couple of quick announcements is that we were the bank center received a $192,600 grant from the Department of Transportation's winter shared streets and spaces program. And as you recall, the COA was a very big part of this and I just wanna take a moment to congratulate you for your advocacy and your partnership both with me and the town in this endeavor. If you recall, I had shared the webinar about this grant with Pat and the number of individuals. We all attended it. We brainstormed about it. We talked about walking and how that's so critical both to exercise for mental health and for physical health and we approached the planning department to say, we learned through that webinar that there were actually extra points awarded for a senior project. And so had it not been for the support and advocacy and info of the COA, I have to say that that this probably wouldn't have taken on as much life. So I wanna thank Pat and all of you for your support and encouragement in this endeavor because I think that what we're doing through this grant is we're addressing some long languishing issues that have been just sort of overlooked and it keeps kind of going to the bottom of the punchline. So it was really joyful to have this success. So what it will be going towards is that terrible set of stairs that lead from the Musanti up to the Bangs. Not only do people access the health center, but also individuals who live at Clark and Ann Whalen use that as their main thoroughfare pathway. Though it's the hardest pathway, it's the most direct route. So people go up and down it every day to get to CVS, to businesses on North Pleasant Street. So those stairs will be addressed to the cracking. Twice this past year, I have found seniors who have tumbled off to the side and had to be removed via ambulance. So it has been a tremendous priority. And I would also hasten back to Rosemary and her work around advocacy that she engaged in about the safety of this immediate area and how that impacts seniors who do come here for a number of reasons, not just the senior center. So those stairs will be addressed, which is tremendous. Both the pitch and the construction of them. And there will be a pathway now that will lead sort of, if you think of it as an L shape from the area of the parking lot by Johnny's, like where the overhang is for handicapped parking. So coming through there straight towards Clark House and then bending down towards the Musanti Center. So it will be sloped, it will be ADA compliant. There will also be seating halfway, which has been another big, I don't know, it's been a point of contention for me because folks who come for lunch every day, they climb up the stairs and they sit on the barrier there that holds back the trees because they're winded. So because of the incline coming uphill, I really wanted some seating just to help people. So that's one. Two is the crosswalk, which if you think of it, if you were looking out of the large activity room, that small crosswalk that leads to sort of a pathway again, that leads up to our Pleasant Street. We see on a daily basis people almost getting clipped who are coming down and especially if they're in a wheelchair, they're coming down at a higher rate of speed. They can't see anybody cars approaching to the left-hand side and vehicles that are exiting the parking garage or that parking lot don't see them. So that will be addressed with enhanced safety, improvement and awareness that there's a crosswalk and this is a main thoroughfare both for vehicles and also for pedestrians and those in wheelchairs. And then the third part is working with Ben Breger from the town planning department who came to the COA meeting and shared this with you. We're gonna be looking at some downtown walking routes and some way-finding signs so that there would be, if you wanna walk for a quarter of a mile, a third of a mile, one mile, there will be some routes that will be demarcated in the downtown area because there are literally hundreds of people who live in this immediate area and they do do a lot of walking. So it'll just be a pleasant engagement for them. Secondly, the Hampshire Regional Vaccine Clinic, which is now operating at the Bang Center, continues to operate for those individuals as you well know, 65 and older. We have been engaged in efforts to reach out to individuals who are historically marginalized to address health equity in the distribution of the vaccine. One of those was we worked to create and designate a clinic day for the housing authority. And so we had about 48 hours to pull that together and we prepared Jennifer, and I have to say that my staff is amazing, Jennifer Reynolds and Helen McMillan, they flew into action in 48 hours. We prepared flyers in Spanish, Chinese and English. We hung them up at the three locations, Jean Elder, Chestnut Core and all of the floors for Ann Whalen. I've worked with the housing authority to get a master list of all residents at those locations. We called every single person who was residing. And if we weren't able to reach them, what we tried to do is we were working with their family system because using our database, we often, we know these folks, we serve them on a daily basis, whether it's meals on meals, et cetera. So we worked with families, with PCAs. We had an amazing turnout of family members, PCAs who came in unpaid to bring individuals over here to get vaccinated. Individuals with significant behavioral health issues, we were able to support again, because we know them and work with them. We went and got them that Saturday morning, Jennifer came in, we walked over to Ann Whalen and she was just phenomenal in terms of the outreach and getting folks here. So that was, they went the extra mile, they were calling even Saturday morning up till 8 a.m. So kudos to like the incredible exemplary work and dedication and we continued as supply will let us to continue to engage in those efforts. Vaccination of the homebound is underway. So though the system for the rollout, I think everybody would agree is abysmal and frankly, in many ways was heedless. What I would suggest is that there were areas, open lanes that we could find success and homebound was one of those. So that was something we could control. And so we, again, like there are certain things I can't mediate, but the homebound we could. So we worked hard, we created our homebound list both through our Meals on Wheels and also through our engagement of social work services. NASA contacted the Highland Valley Elder Services and they were wonderful. Though they couldn't identify for me due to HIPAA and other confidentiality agreements, all of the Amherst residents who received any service through them, what they agreed to do is I prepared, again, the multilingual flyer may share that through all of their contracted providers. Anyone at Amherst who's receiving a service to say, are you homebound? Do you need a vaccine? Call the senior center. So Tim Nelson and Emma Dragon put together an amazing team of individuals, professionals who have gone out. They not only are doing Amherst but they're doing other communities. I think as of this week, there are over 60 individuals who have been vaccinated. We are complete with our Amherst group but we are well under our way including an individual who's 100 years old who had been released from a rehab and was unable to leave her home to get that second dose. So the comments and the phone calls I've been receiving from those individuals who are homebound are just, it's so very touching. And they talk about how great the town of Amherst staff is led by Tim Nelson and Emma Dragon. We also, about the issue of onboarding people for appointments, the system as you all well know has changed rapidly and without any notice. And rather than increasing access, it has been limiting access. The most recent change two weeks ago by the governor of the regional clinic that we were operating, we were no longer given the ability to locally enroll people. So it used to be when we had our clinic that we had a link and people could call us and I could enroll 50 people a day that stopped with this regional piece where all of the links had to be public and through Vax Finder. So we were in line with all of you. The first day that it happened when I got online to try to get folks in, there were 120,000 people in front of me. So we were stymied as well as you all. Since that point in time, Jennifer Reynolds, again, upstanding superstar has put together a team of volunteers and that team of volunteers has in the last two weeks gotten in over 200 people to appointments. So, and they have a variety of tricks and tools and tips. They are online at midnight. They are on at one in the morning. They are on at five in the morning. You know, these appointments get dumped online at odd hours and the only way you can catch them is this constant like hyper vigilance and that's what they've been able to do. So individuals who are calling us, we are doing a prioritization, I'm still working with 80 roles in town and we are working our way down through those lists. So we maintain our own lists of high needs folks prioritizing by age, prioritizing by lack of technology and then other factors. But we are making some headway and that's it again. Though the lanes are closed, we're trying to find those areas we can still succeed. The AARP tax program is underway with the Hadley Senior Center thanks to the generosity and the partnership and good relationship we have with Hadley Senior Center and their director, Healey Wood. And then the last thing and it's hardly the last thing it's really my first thing is I wanted to introduce you when she's online is our social work intern Marina Santiago. So she has joined our staff and she'll be with us for a number of months. She's in an MSW program at Springfield College and I wanted her just to be able to say hello, introduce herself and I will tell you she's such a bright light when she comes in in the morning. It's fabulous having her and go ahead Marina. Thank you, Mary Beth. It's wonderful to see you all. Like Mary Beth said, I'm a social work graduate student at Springfield College. I'm in my second semester and I was born and raised in Amherst and I just moved back. I lived in Chicago for 13 years and I moved back last summer. And yeah, I'm so fortunate to have this opportunity to work with Mary Beth at the Amherst Senior Center. I just started maybe a month ago and it's just been a great opportunity and there's a lot to take in but I'm getting there slowly, getting the hang of it. So thank you for allowing me to be here and to listen and learn with all of you. So thank you. Wow, okay. So I'm seeing smiles, hands shaking, waving, thumbs up, various things, appreciations and excitement that we share to welcome you. It's really marvelous. I wanna also just, I wanna recognize that Dick Yorga has joined us from Friends of Amherst Senior Center. Dick, we're glad that you've joined us this morning and I've asked that he join us at all our monthly meetings or at least some representative of Friends to our meetings. So that'll be a good thing. And I also, I just think on behalf of all of us to Mary Beth and her staff, you've taken our breath away, your commitment, the dedication has far exceeded expectations and just the resourcefulness and support and imagination that you've brought to our town during this time of enormous grief and bewilderment and fear, your steadfastness and your energy has really made an enormous difference in so many lives. And so I just wanna just say that on behalf of all of us and just words aren't enough. And so you're gonna keep hearing that from us. Any comments or questions for Mary Beth? I see Rosemary, I think I also saw Jacqueline as well. Go ahead Rosemary. Yes, I just wanted to say, I couldn't have said it better than Mary Beth has been just beyond belief and the work that she does and the way she helps people. But I wanted to add something about the walking program. I'm so delighted with the improvements that are being made in the area, the crosswalk, which not only was not good visibly from the large activity room, it was also crumbled and I had sent several pictures to click fix a year or more ago. And so finally it is becoming a reality. In addition, I'd like to say, I'd like to look into some walking routes in South Amherst. And I'm wondering if that is a possibility for people who live in the South Amherst area if we could develop some walking routes for those people. Jacqueline might be interested and I think Karen Raynan expressed an interest in that. So we'll look into that. And if you have anything else to offer and let me know. Yeah, I think that anything that we can do to support people both gathering safely and also getting exercise is really critical and it's a high priority for us. This particular grant is focused on downtown areas. So that's in large part why it was focused to that. But I know that Pat has been working with a number of individuals who are keen walkers and also the individual Jean Valentine who has the hiking and the walking routes. Those are mostly in wooded areas but we do have that online on our website now. She's just compiled it together and we're gonna be creating a pamphlet that people can pick up here to take with them. And so I would love to continue and maybe as part of a subcommittee or whatnot finding ways to enhance the walking and working together with the town because it really was a really nice symbiotic relationship that just came together at the right time. And I agree. Jacqueline? Yes, I want to echo the commentary for Mary Beth and for the committee bringing... I see what's happening is very much like what's happening in some faith-based communities going outside the walls, the local walls and into the community. The community center is a hub but it is not the place where the real work is. It's creating a sense of community and connecting people and this is I think a great happening. I think it's a great happening and thanks to the leadership as well as the leaders in the segment of the organization. All right. Thank you, Jacqueline. I see the energy, Chad. Chad, is your hand up? Yes. Speaking of South Amherst, I want to echo Jacqueline's comment. Center City is where all the resources are. You go to South Amherst, North Amherst, East Amherst, some of the other village centers, there's no sidewalks. We have more land in easements to parks and recreation than almost any town. One third of our town is in these types of set-asides. So there's plenty of recreation area but when you talk of the three tiers of the elderly, the young elderly, the middle age and the older age, the last two segments really can't walk in those types of places. And since we have no sidewalks, Amherst is very deficient in that. You can get around downtown some but if you can't walk in Mill River, you know, it's tough. You ask, where are you going to have these soft openings around and about town? Mill River would be great. It's got parking and gazebos and all that. But the ground is uneven. Grove Park is for South Amherst just as the common is. Pretty tough to walk for some folks. It's hundreds of miles of trails in Amherst but I've had people in our groups drop out because they can't go across the uneven ground. So there's two aspects to age-friendly communities. Most of us have focused on the social, emotional health issues. The second big category is the built environment and Amherst really is not able to do that. It's an expense and that's one reason but also this segment of our population is left out of most people's minds. Yeah, that's true. I see Yvette's hand. Yvette? Yes. I just wanted to also say that I think Mary Beth is excellent and I love her work and commitment and I think for me, it brings up the subcommittees which we will get to because I just wanna know how we work with Mary Beth or what is that relationship? Does she advise us? Can we be her team? I mean, that's all unclear to me and I just wanted to make note of that. Thank you. That's wonderful. We've got a crowd of deep thinkers. I can tell that and I appreciate that. So let me just amend, just to add or transition to the senior walking what I can share with you just my own update is I did do reach out to Ben Braggman and Leanne Taylor following up on our last meeting and I wanna say that we have certainly there's great energy in our town around this issue of, the issue of age and dementia friendly projects, including walking and bicycling as well. And we're just beginning to scratch the surface of walking and cycling as well. The surface of looking for funding from a variety and I'm convinced that there are funds. But one thing that Leanne said has urged us to do is to connect with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and in our efforts to seek resources and also engage in identifying resources that serve all members of our community. And so I'm excited by that. That has not yet begun, but that is a connection that we have to, we need to make. And so if that's an interest of yours as a member of the council, it doesn't need to, I don't need to be the only one reaching out in some ways that we can certainly possibly do that through our committee structure, through the wellbeing committee, for example. And I know that there's a lot of specific neighborhood-based interest or there could be. I just scratched the surface in my own living community at Greenleaves and there are just the enthusiasm that has been expressed is just mind-blowing. So I know that this is a strong interest among seniors for safe walking, for the sociability, for the health reasons and so forth. So I think the sky is the limit. There is no limit for what we can do, but it will require some organizing, some planning, some specific goals and so forth. And I think that that's gonna be, that will be possible and it'll be easier as things open up for sure. But the energy is there and we're trying to poise ourselves in our committee structure and in venues, identifying venues and developing programs and people. I think of myself sometimes as a talent scouter. I want you all to be talent scouters for citizens with energy and that same energy and excitement and imagination for making these projects become a reality. So we're gonna take some next steps with that. We don't need to be limited just to wintertime and to COVID related, we're getting beyond that. So I think that there are all kinds of possibilities that lie ahead. And so we're gonna, we're planning to take some more steps in that direction. And I wanna also add that July is the time when specific age and dementia friendly projects is gonna be, are going to be addressed, I think, systematically some surveys are being done and contemplated, developed, I'm sure, even as we speak and by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. And so things are percolating at the moment and but data gathering will be happening. And so I think many of us are like a horse at the gate. We can't wait to get started. We can't wait to connect. We can't wait to be together to do some real serious organizing and outreach. And that's a good thing. So I would say, you know, keep thinking and imagining and help us identify the people in our town who have the energy and the imagination to join with us. I think that that's why we've spent so much time on developing our structure. And I will say that there are, frankly, it's messy. There are unanswered questions. There are sometimes of discomfort, that's okay. Those are growing ages, growing edges that will help us move forward. But we're having real conversations, honest conversations as we move forward together. And I could not be more excited about the deepening of our relationships with each other and others in our community. That brings us to the next item on our agenda. Highland Valley elder services. And again, I, as I work in partnership with Mary Beth and also in partnership with our house representative, I mean, with our colleague with deep experience in Amherst Norma Halleck. We both serve on the board of Highland Valley elder services, which distributes about $10 million worth of services to elders in this region. And so although Valerie Desquiddo was not able to join us today, the reason I wanted to speak about this a bit was that, and to share with you the kinds of questions I was asking and actually Mary Beth and I sort of put our heads together to figure out what would be good questions drilling down, what does our staff need to know about a couple of things in depth that we think are of particular interest to Amherst citizens. And one of them was a Meals on Wheels and the other was the long wait time, I think at a previous ACOA meeting, we had a person from Highland Valley tell us that seniors from Highland Valley tell us that seniors have a very long wait time. Perhaps they've returned from a hospital. They need services right away, but they're on a wait list. And Highland Valley contractors were having difficulty persuading care providers to cross the river into Amherst to provide services. That is such a core need. So we wanted to ask about that. And then finally, we're curious about in the interest of maximizing the services that can be provided to qualified Amherst citizens, what's the intake procedure like? Sometimes family members or individuals, seniors themselves, if they're able, they will come to the Senior Center for the first time and say, either my loved one cannot make meals for herself or my loved one needs to get to doctor's appointments and can't do it. So there are intake procedures. So there are various ways that citizens access services and various forms of intake. And so we need to get some clarity about what those are and how we can best advocate for the seniors in our own town to get the services that they qualify for and deserve to receive. So we put together a set of questions for her when she comes and she's agreed she'll be here next month in April to chat with us at some length. So I'm inviting you to share along those topics any questions that you might have. And we started to formulate some for her, but I hope there'll be a robust give and take when she attends our meeting. And I'm wondering, is there anything, Norma, do you have anything you'd like to add to that just in terms of that encounter? Well, when the person came, I don't remember what her position was, whether she was a medical assistant or what, but she said parking was a problem. And that goes back to the problem for a lot of things, medical appointments or whatever. But I didn't know if, I didn't realize Clark House was totally so independent from the group, I think of the two apartments as senior citizens. But, and so I think that was part of it because I don't know if they didn't get reimbursed for their mileage or whatever, but they felt it was expensive to come over here. That was one issue, but I don't know all ins and outs. There's so many committees, but I wondered if we had that packet, that brochure that was just, I may have it here. This one services and resources. Do we have that on our, no? I don't know. I've never seen that before. Okay, I will get more of them from Highland Valley and because I think it would be good for all the committee members to have that in their packet, at least it gives a bigger overall, what they, you know, do. Whoops, okay. So, okay, that's all I have to say. Okay, thanks, Norma. Yeah, I think that's absolutely a question that we should follow up in on as when Balor meets with us. So we can certainly add that to our list and because I don't know what, if any action has around that issue has taken place in the past year. And so we can check into that. Okay, any other, so I would, if you haven't yet had a chance to look carefully at these two post pandemic planning questions for Emma and for Valerie, I would ask you to take a good look at those because, and if you have, you know, your own questions to formulate, let's make the best use of our time with them. I wanna recognize, Chad has, Chad Fuller has his hand up. I see that, and if that as well. So go ahead, Chad. You're muted, Chad. One other turn here. One of the members of the audience is with this Amherst neighbors. They have trained a cadre of volunteer outreach people. Nothing to do with providing medical service or any of that, but people of contact in the community to receive that could receive these people that you mentioned coming, returning home and so forth. In our efforts as a COA to be more involved in the community, you know, I'm thinking that the system that they have up and running might be of use. I don't see Caroline now, she must have dropped out, but she's their president and that would be a great, that might be a great connection. Thanks for adding that. I agree and Caroline and I have been struggling mightily to find a mutually agreeable time and place to chat, but we will definitely follow up on that because I would agree with you. We need to be fully mindful of how we could partner more effectively together, so I totally agree. Did I see, Yvette, did I see your hand up? Okay. Yes. Okay, good. Thank you. I just wanted to comment about the Highland Valley and how Clark House is independent. And I have seen caretakers there when visiting friends. And so I would be interested to know about the parking problem. How many years ago is that parking problem referring to? And I wondered how Clark House handles what kind of system they have for caretakers because people still have to park, right? Sure. That's all I wanted to say. Thank you. Okay, well, be sure to formulate that question for Valerie because it's, if that continues to be, these are not, this is not rocket science. I'm sure that we can figure out some solutions to these problems because we don't, we wanna remove obstacles to care and stay on it. So, we're counting on hearing your voice on that question next month, Yvette. And so that's a great, great suggestion. Okay, let's say moving on. Everyone should have received the fourth draft of the ACOA Proposed Committee Structure Revision. And it looks to me like, and I wanna say a special thanks to the great work that Rosemary stepped forward to do. And I think it sounds to me, I wanna just also add that I did, that I did yesterday receive a call from ACOA board member, council member Greg Baskham, who is at a dental appointment this morning. But he said that he generally, he was generally pleased with this result. And I'm, so I'm just sharing with our draft as it stands. He did mention that he drew my attention, he had a question about this under the charge of the, of the Equity and Inclusion Committee that he asked a question about the word ensure that activities, programs and services, he wanted to know what ensure meant. So I mean, in a more practical way. And so, and what, so, I mean, I responded, I, that was my word when drafting it. And what I meant by ensure was that, especially around this, we're not a judicial group, there's no, you know, regulators, but what that means is that it is very easy for any institution to become what, to become unaware of the sort of the sea we swim in, that is, until Mary Beth Richards began to raise questions when she joined as our director about who is at the table and who is missing. That question, I had been with the council for, I had been with this senior services and as a volunteer for a few years. And that was the, at least for me, that was the first time I heard that question that's always been a meaningful question for me throughout my whole life, who's at the table and who's missing. So part of that business about ensuring is that there is a kind of an intention and purpose and consciousness about outreach. And I think that I feel that the, your own energy and your own values come through positively in that regard. And so we write these charges, not only for the constellation of council members right now, but for the future as well, that we want these public services that are provided to be for all people and that we always wanna be asking, how can we remove obstacles of access? How can we make the public services and opportunities and growth experiences and accessible for all people? I heard, I heard Mila speak about and Jack will speak about and Chad speak about services in communities. I've heard all of you speak about accessibility, physical accessibility, accessibility, but removing chunks of sidewalk that people trip on. So that theme, I think that's what I mean by insurer. That's my vision. And so I wanted to be able to encapsulate that not only for this council, but for the activities in the future. So that's the explanation that I gave to Greg. And so I guess what I'm asking now for with respect to this is a motion from people to approve this document or I think I'm doing this right. And then a second and then we can discuss. Jacqueline. Jacqueline. I move that the proposed committees, committee structure be accepted by the group. Do I hear a second? I second that. Okay, that, thank you. Okay, any discussion? Okay, lots of discussion. Okay, let's see. I think I saw Rosemary's hand first and then Tim. We can't hear you Rosemary. Rosemary, can you unmute yourself? Okay, I'm not sure what you're approving because you sent a document that has a lot of changes in it. Are you, for instance, the very last statement on that document is a whole bullet point that is totally changed. Are you approving that total change to the second bullet point under equity and inclusion? I think it's still unclear. There are a lot of these things are in red. Would you like me to share the screen with this? Sure, actually my intention was to integrate your, those include in red those things, those items that you added. Okay. Okay, so that was my intention. And there's one more that someone called my attention to as well. And you could share your screen. That would be helpful actually. Okay, let me put it up. Are you seeing it? Yes. Okay. Is one place here that I had a concern about, I'm not seeing it right now. So go ahead. Someone else had a question. Okay, sure, Tim. I'll hunt for this. Okay, Tim, you need to unmute. We can't hear you. I got it. Okay, good. Thanks. There we go. Sorry, the unmute button changed when the screen appears. This is actually good to keep the screen up. Frankly, I'm a little concerned about how this is going to come across cause frankly, I'm an old white male and I still do not feel comfortable with the use of racism in this document. And I noticed the latest still has the use of those phrases. I have, maybe it's because of my background, but I have, is when I read the words racism, I immediately have frankly negative connotations, perceptions and so on. And maybe I'm old fashioned, but I just don't feel comfortable with that in the document. I think we can get at exactly what we want to by just rephrasing without having to use the words racism. And I tried my, I just jotted down some ways to do that, but before I do that, I just wanted to raise that. I don't feel comfortable with this document with the uses of words, racism, racism in the document. I just don't feel comfortable with that. So that's my initial comment. And if we want to have that discussion, that's fine. I have some, my own suggestions in terms of how I would reword, but wanted to open that up for discussion. Okay, thank you. Any other comments? Yes, I'm trying to get in, but I don't know what the heck I'm doing. Okay, Jacqueline, I see you and then I see Yvette. So Jacqueline, you're, go ahead. I can, I just want to comment on the comments. And I can understand that as I think I might have said in one of our other groups, I don't know that as a part of working through an issue that has remained dormant, long dormant. And while I thoroughly respect and I do appreciate your honesty, I think that we are in a period in our life as a community and I underscore community where the painful part does come up and the question becomes that of how are we going to deal with it? Will it be by covering over it and convincing ourselves that it's too uncomfortable to deal with and waiting for it to emerge again in another painful way? Or are we going to take on the charge and walk through it? I think it's a question we have to ask whether we are, we consider ourselves those who are oppressed or those who are part of the category of those who oppress. And when we can confront it, when we can confront it as painful as it may be, we take steps to walk through it and not have to encounter it in that way again. We can't deny the reality and we can't stop the pain because for some of us, the pain is ever present and it is not called, but it is. But that doesn't make it go away. And when we work at it together, we can be on the road to quote recovery and reclaiming that sense of community. Are there any other comments? I do, I have to ask Jacqueline, I tried to change that one statement, that second bulleted statement. Are you uncomfortable with the way the possible change is without using the word racism and essentially says the same thing? It's important to use the word. It's important to use the word because we either racism or white supremacy and I think racism is a bit more palatable and still it's still accurate. We have enshrouded in order to make it more palatable over the decades and centuries. Those of us who are compassionate, find it easier. Those of us who live it, find it even more difficult. Many of us. And if we walk this journey together, the pain could be eased in my opinion for many of us. I won't say all of us because I don't know that it will ever be all, but the reality is some of us are called to suffer in silence and others we put in print and black and white. We put in the media in whatever form so that it isn't as painful. And it means that some of us must deal with the pain we encounter every day and others can ignore it because it's too painful. Can I say something? Okay, I think, yeah, I'm recognized. I think I'm meaning to recognize you. Yeah, go ahead, Yvette. First of all, I want to say that I second did the committee structure because it read so much, much better fluidly. And I did have questions again about Mary Beth and how we work with her. But regarding the subcommittees, I'm just grateful for Jacqueline and Tim because this came up the last time. And Jacqueline said, we have to use the word. And it was in the minutes. And she said that very clearly again now. And so I'm concerned about our brothers like Tim. I just think, is Tim, are you taking it personal? How do you feel that all these images or isms come up for you when the word is used, racism? And so, and the second part of that question is Pat mentioned last time that, this is being dealt with, it's national reckoning. So we're seeing it. And we can, as Jacqueline says, do walk together. Can we learn together why people feel like they feel, including why Tim feels like he feels. And it's such a great opportunity to really come together as family and not take it personal. But I could understand. I think as Jacqueline said, we're Tim is coming from. So I look at Tim as, I know the brother, maybe a brother, and I'm just very interested if he could talk about that. Thank you. Okay, I would be happy to. For me, for example, looking at that second bullet on your screen right now, when it says, develop a preliminary review of racism embedded in services, blah, blah, blah, blah. My read of that is that there is racism embedded in services. And I'm not sure, frankly, I get a feeling of, is that intentional? Is it unintentional? I see it more, frankly, negative. And I would think we can get at, it just raises to me an uncomfortableness that maybe that's partly what Jacqueline was talking about. I don't know, but for me, it raises that uncomfortableness of intentions and how we as a committee and how things in this town are done and so on and so forth. I would say review services and so on to explore whether, in fact, there are possibly embedded institutional attitudes or practices that might have a impact on disproportionate adverse impact on people and so on and so forth without necessarily using the word racism. I just think this isn't, it's tough for me. I have throughout my life and careers and so forth, I sort of react to what I would call buzzword, buzzwords. Racism is a buzzword. Certainly white supremacy is a buzzword. You can pick a bunch of others that for many people, the first reaction is sort of hairs go up on the back of your neck and you wonder whether there's intention and so forth. You can get to the goals and so forth without having to use those words and phrases. And that's just maybe my background again. I'm a privileged white male, I say that, but that's how I react. So I don't know if that's helpful. And I just have a problem with a document like this which our intention is to assure that our programs do not discriminate are reflective of all individuals regardless of their racial ethnic backgrounds, et cetera, et cetera, without necessarily starting out by assuming that in fact, the way we operate right now is racist. And I just have some issues with that. So I'll stop, but hopefully that was helpful in terms of giving you some of the thoughts in terms of where I'm coming from. Thank you. I'm speaking as a member of the council, not just another council member. And I wanna say that because I've been close to many versions of this draft. And I really think that, and I wanna just appreciate, wanna appreciate Tom's comments about this. And I think it's precisely because this document, this document in fact does represent a shift in the way we talk about the reasons for why some individuals have participated fully or less than fully in the council, in senior activities and the kind of community that we would want to, that we would aspire to have. And how we treat each other even within, within our programs, within our exercise classes, within everything that we do. So this basically, I think the purpose of this is it does go beyond, beyond equity and fairness to a more intentional and purposeful look at those habits of thought and action and frankly aggression and putdowns and entitlement that are, that really constitute regardless of intention, the impact, sometimes the impact is reflected by people walking with their feet. They excuse, they don't feel welcome. They excuse themselves. They say, this is, this place is not for me. So that, I want to acknowledge that the purpose of that, of the use of the phrase racism is, is meant to reflect some of the concerns that are happening, not just within the council of aging, not just in the national conversation, but in our own town, where various aspects of our institutional racism are being examined systematically and faced directly using the term racism, so that the focus is an acknowledgement of practices in the past that have been harmful to our fellow citizens and to create. And I think that that's why this, that's why I proposed this new committee, because for hundreds of years, we have not, we have sidestepped the conversation. And so I will be voting in favor of the spirit of a document above. I do think that there's room in it for, in all the committees for council members to find a place where they could be engaged actively. And I would also just echo Rosemary's comment regarding, in reality, we would want to infuse all our committees and all our activities with a spirit of fairness and equity. I think that that's one thing that we can all agree on, but this committee is boldly different. It does, it does invite us to look in a focused way at a problem that continues to impact the outcomes and disparities of our public services. So I will be voting in favor of this revision. May I just say something, please? Who's speaking? Mila. Oh, Mila, yes, of course. Just a short comment following Tim's feeling about the word racism in the minutes. And I understand how you feel, because I feel the same way. Is there any way where we can use another word instead of racism, like multicultural, intercultural or something like that, that will replace that negative word of racism? It that came up in our last meeting again, and I just wondered whether it is possible to, it may not sound exactly the same, but I'm trying to think of a more diplomatic word. Well, Tim, I agree with how you feel, because I feel the same way. Even in the news, it just, it happens to be my major in sociology is intercultural, intercultural studies. So I was going to suggest the term multicultural or intercultural. I'll think of other words in place of racism, but that's the way I feel right now. Well, I mean, the change to that statement does not use the word racism, essentially says the same thing without using that word. If you look at that bulleted item on red on the bottom of the screen. Yeah, I see it, yes. So that essentially says what you're asking without using the word racism. Okay. Okay, I see, Jacqueline, I do see your hand and let me just say, I'm looking, this is conversation that is too important to rush, in my opinion. And we're, our time is ended up for now, I believe. And we have not officially, we've got a few, a cushion of a few minutes and I, my sense is speaking to Melis Point and to all of you that if you are, if you think that there are some proposals for a different language or you have more to say about this topic, we can certainly move that this conversation, continue this conversation at our next meeting. That's what I'm proposing to the rest of you. And I appreciate that people are bringing, attempting to bring their best selves to this conversation. So I'm appreciating that. And I don't care if it takes forever for us to work this out, I'm confident that we can and still participate with integrity in the decision that we make. So I see, so let me just say a couple of things. Then I see lots of hands, I see four hands. And let's see, what I wanna say is, I just want, just so things can move forward with respect to Sue's needs for the minutes, which I honor and as a sacred duty. I want to, I think that we could probably achieve, we could probably vote for on the minutes so that she could move forward with that. Is that, Sue, could you speak up to that? Do you need us to move the minutes or I'm just kind of trying to balance the multiple needs we have here to bring closure to this. We could always, I guess my question to you, Sue, is could we, if we don't, if we're running out of time, we could approve two sets of minutes, I suppose at our next meeting. Would that be agreeable to you or would you recommend that? That's fine with me. We already have a motion on the floor. So I don't know how you deal with that. You can't put another motion on top of a motion that's already on the floor. So the minutes can be dealt with next time. Okay, all right. All right. Help me out there for other part of the experience. I move that we table the motion until further meeting that we pick up the current motion to accept the minutes. I second. I second. All right. I need to say that I have some objections with those minutes. I'm trying to wrap my mind around, you're moving to accept them. I'm sorry, would you, could you repeat, Chad, would you repeat what you just said? I move that we table the motion on the, that we lay aside the motion on the table. Oh, okay. All right. Is there a second? I move. Okay. I second. Okay. All in favor? Say aye. Aye. Okay. Aye. Any, any opposed? What are we tabling? I mean, what? I can restate it for the minutes. I move that we table the motion about accepting the new committee structure to a next meeting. Okay. All right. Do we need to re-vote on that? Is that clear to everyone that we voted on? Okay. Continuing the conversation. Yes, absolutely. All right. I think you have to have a vote on the tabling. So in other words, he's moved to have it tabled. You have a second of that motion. All in favor? Yes or no. Okay. So that that tabling motion passes. All right. Sorry to chime in. Okay. So do, so we voted. I second that. I second the motion to move. Okay. Table to next time, the subcommittee structures. Okay. All in favor? In favor? All opposed? The motion's carried. Okay. All right. Thanks, Pat. All righty. Okay. Thanks everyone for hanging in there. I need a motion. I will, I can send announcements to you separately. That's not an issue. And you have the dates for the next COA meetings. I need a motion for adjournment. I will adjourn. Tim, I see your hand though. Go ahead. No, sorry. One quickie on your, on the agenda was the conflict of interest training. Yes. Just some verification from, from Mary Beth, maybe. Some of us who were just officially appointed for either a second term or a certain term, like within the last year, do we all still have to go through that conflict of interest training again? Yeah. That is my understanding is, so I had a similar thing where I had done it with less than that window. But I think that they're trying to get everybody on the same sort of, I don't know, cycle. Okay. So they're asking. So we have to do it again. Yes. Okay. All right. I just did it last night. It took about 45 minutes. Oh, I understand. I remember that. Oh yeah. It's kind of a bear. Okay. And I just, I just wanted to chime in. I just checked in with Angela. You have the floor till 1050. And I just noted that Dorothy's had her hand up. Yes. And I just would like to bring that to your table. I appreciate that. Yes, but Dorothy, we'd love to hear from you. Go ahead. I just want to say that your discussion around the word racism is actually one of the more civilized ones that I've sat in on. And I felt it was very honest. And I appreciated that. I just want to give an outside view, which is very pragmatic. I'd say use the words that are useful, that lead to useful conversation. So I thought the substitute motion was very useful, examining your practices and finding out, was that, is it consciously, unconsciously? Because no examples were given. And so it's kind of like, just up in the ether. So bring it down to real cases. That was just my suggestion. But I really, I do applaud you. It was one of the more honest conversations that I've heard. And I've heard a lot of conversations on the topic recently. So thank you. Right. We appreciate your observations. May I add that Dorothy is a former senior center director. She's from New York. Am I, is that correct, Dorothy? So I just want to make sure that people understand that you bring a lot to bear around not only the civic engagement, but senior centers. That is true. And I actually forgot that. I was director of the Richard Older Adults Center many years ago in the, probably 40 years ago, a long time ago. But it was a community that had two very diverse groups in it. And it was very interesting. It's very interesting trying to bring them together. There was Germans who really were from a very German community and they were Jews. So that was a challenge. Wow. And your recovery is going very well. So that's great. Okay. All right. Thanks everyone. This is an extraordinary group. And so feel free to think practically about the language, the suggestions that you've made, where the tweaks need to happen. And so that we can arrive at a document, a document that is practical, that's useful, and that will take us where we want to go. So, okay. I need a motion for adjournment. I move to adjournment. Okay. I need a motion for adjournment. I move we have adjourned. Okay. And a second? I second. Okay. And votes, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? All right. We are adjourned. Thanks everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.