 So welcome everyone. Pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12, 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law GLC 30A. This meeting of the Council on Aging is being conducted via remote participation. This meeting is also being recorded. So let's do a roll call to check and make sure everyone's video and audio is working properly and in general I think it's best if you mute your sound so that we don't get any background noises like phones ringing and cell phone interruptions and then just unmute when you identify yourself. So first of all Sue Dirks. Yes, can you hear me? Yes I can. Richard Koffler. I'm here. Okay Jack Wonsack. I'm here. Yvette. I'm here. Thank you. Pat Rector. I'm here. Jacqueline Smith Crooks. Greg Baskham. And Tim Neal. Welcome. Okay thank you. So I call the meeting to order and this is a time when anyone from the public is welcome to make a comment or express their views for up to three minutes. If you wish to speak use the raise hand icon on the lower part of your screen or dial star nine if you are on the phone and it's just a reminder to speak clearly identify yourself and where you live. Are there any public comments at this time? Okay then let's proceed. And for board members if you wish to speak since you're muted you don't need to use the raise hand icon. Simply raise your hand like so if you have a question for anybody who is speaking or if you have a comment to make. Is that clear? Okay and for Yvette who is on the phone you press star nine if you want to make a comment. Okay thank you. Okay so let's go to the agenda and I think you probably all have the agenda in front of you. We will start with presentations and discussion and I think that Jacqueline had a comment to make but she is not present yet so let's go forward. And if you would start Mary Beth with the status of operations at the senior center during the COVID lockdown and of course we're all very eager to know what the plan is going forward. Yeah thank you Rose Mary and I just want to note for the record Sue as the secretary I did see that Greg Baskham was dialed in as a panelist and then he so when you took roll call he was present he was listed in the side panel under panelists but then I've noticed that it looks like he just perhaps disappeared and I don't I don't know if you I just wanted to make sure that you noted that he was he was present and then I just before I begin in terms of the public comment because sometimes it takes a while to figure out how to use the functions it looks like one of the phone numbers that's dialed in two five six zero one zero four there's a raised hand so if you want I can it says that it's indicated that talking is permitted and if we want to allow that person to comment before you switch over to me thank you this is Jacqueline oh great good morning Jacqueline good morning I'm sorry I had trouble getting in on zone and looks like I had a little trouble getting here on the phone because I didn't show up on the line good morning everybody good morning good morning and as I understand it you had wanted to make a comment at the beginning of the meeting yes there's there's so much going on around us and our lives take us in so many different directions as how we're translating it I wanted to as an African-American a member of the community of Amherst and the council it behooves me to be quiet to be silent when the emotions are so very high within myself and people with whom I interact on a daily basis and there are other emotions that are high for me seeing young people take the lead to make a different and hopefully to make a longer term difference even as we enter this stage of our lives and some of us can bask in it more so than others the age of generativity I think that there are still points or places of opening for us to grow I wanted to share there's so many readings from Howard Thurman the spiritual he was a spiritual advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King junior and many people on his staff he had close connections to Mahatma Gandhi and he had earned a memory in his own right there's one of his reflections for me and I while I wear the collar I I'm not here to proselytize but to energize us in terms of recognizing our rightly places in the whole scheme of things as elders one of his reflections for me is called Lord Lord open unto me and this is not true about religiosity but spirituality and I would ask you to join me if you would in an asking open up after each statement open unto me and then I will I will continue with that that line with what it is being asked to open if you choose if you choose not to recite open unto me you can forego it for those who would like to join me would you be willing to do so first of all yes yes yes yes yes all right I asked you to just listen after I recite the last word of the line but it is we're asking for openness to be to go on to the next line which would be open unto me together we'll start the first line open unto me open unto me light for me light for my darkness my courage for my fear hope for my despair piece for my turmoil joy for my sorrow strength for my weakness wisdom for my confusion forgiveness for my sin tenderness for my toughness love for my hate the design for my own self open unto me open unto me open unto me thank you you're welcome so Jacqueline would you please email me that reference for the poll I will it is going to read a little bit differently because I I modified it for a secular audience yes thank you it will be much different I will be glad to share that and and who's who's asking for it Sue Dirks the Secretary actually Jacqueline I think I would appreciate that also okay thank you thank you very much you are welcome okay Mary Beth you want to say a bit about what's been going on behind those closed doors and also what you think will happen going forward yeah and so I think that we should all just take a big deep breath because that I think that was a really beautiful way to sort of center us and begin this really from a reflected and grounded point because I think we meet amidst an epic time in our community in our nation and there's there's much going on beyond the senior center that affects us and also our mission and my job and so let's just I'll take a big breath in and then you can let it go and I just want to thank Jacqueline for offering those words and and for reminding us about the importance of our work and the way in which what we do and the council on aging and the senior center affects people in many ways so we help people physically with nutrition we help people emotionally through connection and we help people spiritually to connect to one another into what is meaningful and what lights them up and I think it's important to hold all of that as we look at where we've been and also where we're going in this in this new sort of dawning time so thank you so where have we been I just wanted to update you because gosh it seems like I haven't seen you all in in a full year rather than a several months as you know we had to close rather hastily in March with the pandemic coming and all of the safety guidelines indicating that it would not be prudent to continue to operate as a functioning center so I think that one of the things that I would begin with is just to say first of all how immensely proud I am of my staff for how they performed under extreme duress with a lot of unknowns and really did so seamlessly and also what a privilege it's been to be here in the town of Amherst working for all of you as odd as this may sound I have never loved my job more and I've never had as much contact with so many seniors and to serve them in in a very direct way which is so very meaningful and also connecting so it's been you know a great time I think for the role of the senior center in the midst of a pandemic so as you know we we closed the building but two of us stayed every day and we were continuing our nutrition operations we had to release all of the volunteers so we had well over a hundred volunteers who help us to do what we do every day everybody you know even those who wanted to stay I asked that they go home and shelter in place because they were in that high-risk category so we were sort of left with a blank slate of how do we how do we even just deliver meals when we have nobody left so we did a huge effort with recruitment and the town council and opportunities to speak to the public in those forums were really critical to getting that word out and recruiting volunteers you know we probably went through about four waves of them because it really was a very challenging time to be asking people to be going to homes to deliver even in a contact list situation there were just so many unknowns but but we really did you know manage to execute all that we needed to do it's part of the staff operated remotely from home and again I you know it it they continue to provide all of the services for social work for counseling for support groups for shine counseling housing assistance so people had a really good safety network in that way and I think much of that was due to the fact that the town manager had had us for many weeks before we were closed down in anticipation of some event like this preparing continuity of operation plans and that really was critical to how we were just so easily able to seamlessly shift to a completely different format for delivering services and then we also continued we we've begun to go online with operations so things like zoom meetings and zoom classes so so those three things of being in person being remote and virtual have really stayed the course in an unbelievable fashion since March just by the numbers if you want to know some of the things that we've done we've delivered over 580 boxes and bags of food so that's through the either the survival center through the Western Mass Food Bank through our own emergency food pantry and then also working with Highland Valley they had delivered through USDA a special program where they were able to give out 10 pound boxes of meat to some of their more needy clients so so we've been delivering a lot of food we've delivered well over 3,000 meals we've made over my staff just alone aside from the volunteers who have stepped forward to make well-being calls we've made over 1800 calls since March and you know that I think only tells half of what we've been able to do our touch points it might sound like we're doing sort of perfunctory things delivering meals but every opportunity whether it was answering the phone or whether it was delivering a meal we tried to have a multiplier effect and use any point of contact both to have an extended conversation check-in how are you doing so someone might just call and say oh are you open and I suppose an easy answer would be no we're sorry we're not open and we don't know we're gonna open you can hang up but we would always you know every one of us we had you know a format for how we would respond to each call to ask how are you doing what do you need is there anything I can get you and if anything shifts and you have a need please don't hesitate to call we are always here I can't tell you the number of times that somebody called and I answered the phone and people were shocked and they would say like I can't believe somebody's there and that I think knowledge of knowing that someone from the town was still there and we're still taking calls you know if somebody needed a mask I would deliver the mask did I have to I suppose not but you know again I gave me just another opportunity to knock on the door pop it in the mailbox I'd step back wait for them to come out and again you know I'd have an opportunity to see them how are you doing what do you need and people were delighted to see somebody from the town coming out and saying I'm here for you what do you need I'm on your doorstep you matter you know I think it was a just incredible boost from morale and an inspirational spirit to say we're still here we're going to get through this and people would say oh this was a highlight of my day getting my mask so it sounds like it might be simple but the impact on people socially and emotionally from all of those touch points really mattered so whether you were picking up a meal or whether we were delivering a mask we tried to make sure that you knew that you were held and that you know we would continue to serve you so the things that we've continued to do throughout this as I've mentioned we did social work services we provided shine counseling we've been providing assistance with housing and housing issues the home delivered meals have continued without incident even though we've gone through probably like I said four different waves of drivers on average we have about 16 people driving for us because we have four routes a day and five days a week and then we've also expanded our outreach so one of the interesting things and this is not unique to Amherst because I participate in bi-weekly calls within Western Mass for regional directors in Western Mass and then a weekly call for statewide all directors participate in the phone call is we have found that the takeout lunches instead of the congregate lunch the congregate lunch was the dining you know in house and for us at Amherst we had very low attendance we had maybe six to eight people on average and now we have over 45 people who come and get a takeout lunch on a daily basis so we're actually feeding more people and I and I you know I mentioned that in those kind of touch point calls and if people in the public are watching this meeting or gonna watch it after it's recorded please don't hesitate to call us at 259-306-0 because it is a free meal that you are entitled to for the virtue the fact that you have reached a certain age and that you've paid your taxes all your life it is an entitlement and you know it's it's a great benefit even if you know you can pop a few in your freezer you use them on a Saturday night they're wonderful meals they're hot meals but we serve them cold because of the the number but it's a it's a great opportunity for some nutritional support and it's just some ease at a time when a lot of people have just been tired and and making a meal might seem a bit daunting so and then if we look at I think one of our our biggest shifts that we've had is we remodeled and and this I think is my greatest sadness about not being able to have you all at the bank center right now and give you a person of tour of the new look for the bank center and I was very touched quite honestly by the town's investment in the senior center and in seniors at this time and I thought the juxtaposition between the fact that the pandemic was going on and and really the brunt of it was being borne by seniors and and there was media attention saying that if there was a a lack of ventilators seniors would be on the low end of getting one so there was a there was a way in which in my calls with seniors during that the the real height of the surge seniors felt particularly vulnerable and unseen and amidst that the town invested and said you matter we are going to give you a new place so we have all new flooring we have new furniture it's ADA compliant so that if someone needs to use the sink they can and then they're in a wheelchair they can roll right underneath it so it's accessible they can wash their hands when they're in the senior center the furniture is all wipeable so that when we are able to have guests inside it's going to be very easy to clean on a daily basis there's a new sort of a kitchen area with a new countertop and again ease of wiping there's no they used to have a peninsula that blocked and was not ADA compliant for persons with a walker or a wheelchair to get by and that has been removed so that it's it's more spacious and it also facilitates most importantly for us it's sort of a process of I hate to say that decluttering because that's an overused phrase but there's there are fewer things physically in the way that will help us to support social distancing when we can begin to invite guests back into the senior center which will be a really critical piece because as you know you know we all have to go in and people have to check in and where we how how would we manage that flow of persons and there's just more room overall in in that space of the initial welcome and in the social center so again I just I thank the town I think the town council Sarah it was just a tremendous tremendous demonstration of value and worth and spoke to the worth and the wisdom that our seniors are and now that we have a place that speaks to your value and your worth in your wisdom and how much you contribute to the community so I'll be in touch with you we're thinking of doing like a video opening and posting it online and taking people on a tour and having the town manager and maybe the town council in the socially distant way somehow ribbon cutting from six feet apart something where we can say you know here we here we are and that you all take a peek but I look so forward to having you back into the space so our operations have changed and our landscape has changed but certainly I hope what you feel is enduring is our commitment to you and that you remain the center of our efforts and that every choice every decision I make and that the town makes is how can we serve you better how can we serve you more and I look forward to doing more of that work for you moving forward in terms of when you ask what is our plan I participate and I'm serving on the Massachusetts Council on Aging Task Force for reopening guidelines so that is chaired by individuals who are employees of the Massachusetts Council on Aging along with guidance from Department of Public Health which has been really critical and helpful and then a group of directors from across the state and we represent a variety of senior centers from small ones such as ourselves to very large entities so you know so there's a number they could get a wide range of opinions and also looking at guidelines from a variety of perspectives so looking at a footprint of senior center really has some critical impacts on what we're able to do or what we're not able to do so we have been though we are not necessarily open at this time in terms of physical plant we have been trying to use this time to devise guidelines for all activities so that that includes use opening the social center how to run classes how to do transportation so we have a variety of documents are all available on their website for its MCO a Massachusetts Council on Aging and the documents now have pretty much all been published most of our work has been completed and if you look at those documents there's a tremendous amount of planning so we have been using this time she's sort of inventory our space and then go around and plan for what is it that we would need how do we need to change things you know everything from how do you scan in how do you welcome people where will people stand when they come into the senior center so that they're still physically distance where would sanitation stations be how would we make sure that things are accessible to to persons who might have who are able have different able abilities and so we've been in that that discussion and process and I think that that what I would say is you know the footprint of our senior center I think determines a lot and contextually the fact that we're within the bank center also impacts a lot of our decisions so and I think that there is still I guess we're we're still looking for some more guidance and I think we're not kind of we're waiting to see how things unfold with the virus and with the town's needs for the bank center so we remain the bank center remains an alternate location if people need to be spaced out from town hall or other employees don't have sufficient space or distance from other workers town employees came back on Monday and so it's a process that is at this point in time still unfolding so we're waiting to see also looking at the rooms what might be available will we still have access to all of the rooms or some of the rooms and then I you know there was a decision I ensured that you all heard from that town manager that he set a January 1 as a date like that the senior center would not open until January 1 or that it would be reviewed on January 1 and I think that what I what I would suggest to folks is that I think that that was to set expectations that the process of reopening will be slow it will be partial and it may take a period of time to see what the course of the virus will be there is certainly an intention that we will be able to at some point partially open and and and as always as all the decisions of the town which have really postured us in a great position medically and physically they will always be guided by the science so at this time I know that the bank center also has a date of Labor Day to look at whether it would be opening around that time period so I don't anticipate an immediate opening at this time for the senior center so the the official word is that we will be closed until January 1 but we'll continue to look at the conditions we will continue to look at the situation and we really will be guided by by science and what's sort of in the medical best interest of how we can provide a safe location for everybody I wanted to also say that within my work in the MCOA task force that the guidance that that we have been providing really has has been in sync with what our decision has been in the town of Amherst we've been looking at what are the executive orders of the governor which at this time still remains safer at home so for individuals who are 65 and older they are asked and reminded to and advised to stay home unless they have to take a trip to one of the establishments that are now open in step one of phase two and I think that there is great caution nationwide in terms of providing guidance to seniors about reopening you know we I was last night I was I was trying to prepare some remarks for this and I was reading an article that was on national public radio it was an interview with an epidemiologist Michael Osterholm and and he spoke to the fact and I think and I've had a conversation also with Liz Welsh at Amherst neighbors we were talking about this earlier this week about there seems there there can be some confusion for seniors around is it safe like around us we see things opening what can I do I see people going out to dinner you know can I go out to dinner what what is the the precise advice that we should be giving and and I think that people are suffering a lot from that you know the phrase of pandemic fatigue of being tired of following the rules of being home and of being socially distanced and everything that I read and the advice that I receive both from our own board of health and from you know that the state government is that it's not a time to to let up for seniors and that it continues the virus continues to transmit it is still present and we anticipate you know that it would present for a good long while until we have a vaccine and so though it it is tired some I think that seniors are certainly we are a bit I think better postured to be patient and to be creative and to find small other ways hopefully that we can continue to connect whether it be in micro bubbles within small family settings or whether it be within a small community and socially distanced but the messaging around wearing a mask and washing your hands and and performing social distance is still the the the best advice and the best way that we know to keep people safe you know we are constantly assessing the risk as I go through each activity at the senior center so whether we're talking about one-to-one meetings whether we're talking about resumption of any services or even classes you know there's there's so many pieces to it around what is the air exchange what is the air flow and I think that everybody agrees that to bring people indoors for an extended period of time sharing air even from a socially distanced posture is still at this time there is inherent risk so in light of that we've been trying to be as creative as possible and I'm preparing the latest newsletter to send out and I just wanted you to to have a sense of sort of how can we move forward and continue to engage people so that they don't feel lonely so they feel like they have a modicum of movement and agency over themselves and and having having some some you know black group fun and socialization so we have shifted a lot of our classes online and and and just like our experiment with the takeout food where we have gone from six people to 45 people we found the same thing so our healthy bones class we now have 50 people online taking that class so we're actually increasing our contact and our outreach to people by doing classes online interestingly enough and and again that is not something that is unique to Amherst across the the whole state we are all seeing this as directors that attendance at classes is actually increasing we have a chair yoga that is also a zoom class I had another yoga teacher who her classes are now on Amherst media so she recorded them and I worked with them to put them online and they show on Friday nights I think and then like a Sunday morning and those those times and dates are in the in the newsletter I folk dancing is online I haven't attended that class yet but I don't know how we folk dance together online but but that that's going to be a fun one I try I'm trying to pop into classes and just say hi to everybody we also are cosmology class which has been a long venerated favorite continues to be online both of our support groups have transferred online so our grief support group and our caregiver support group is online and we also are providing that assistance through telephone conference because we recognize that there is a significant digital divide and so when we are doing groups for people who don't have the ability to go online we've also been running them as a telephone conference call so that people can just phone from you know their landline or their cell phone and have the same experience we also have some special events coming up in some additional new groups so I Sarah a Snyder who's many of you know she used to come to the center once a month for joy of song and she played music she has agreed to be a sort of a mobile minstrel and I it will be in the news that if people want to have a mini concert or you know from socially distant so she'll come up roll up on a curbside and you know if you want to send it for a birthday greeting and anniversary greeting or maybe even just to cheer somebody up in the neighborhood you know the senior center we're going to support her and we will go out with her and we'll sing to you and she brings her ukulele and we will be all about town there UMass psychological services so I know Rosemary is familiar with it and I think Norma attended too maybe so we did the Live Your Best Life series this this past spring and Dr. Bruna Martins came to one of our classes along with some of her doctoral students and it was fabulous and so she is going to be doing in in lieu of aging together since that since we the nurse left she's going to be taking it over we're calling it building resilience and she's going to be doing a twice monthly group for anybody in the community so it will be skills and techniques how you meet challenge how you bring more joy into your life and it's going to be absolutely fabulous we also have Dr. Starr from Cooley Dickinson Hospital so she's been an immense support to me calling me and checking in with me what do I need do I have any questions and so she's going to also do a zoom conversation for seniors about health issues you know I've gotten questions as simple as you know I have a hard time wearing a mask how can I get used to wearing a mask and she's got some really wonderful tips for things like that so she'll be doing a phone conversation with me to provide some just general health advice in this new era and epic of reopening we're continuing to look at outdoor classes and the possibility of that so continue to navigate that as it becomes safe right now as you know with the safer together advisory from the governor in this first step of stage two there's a prohibition on gatherings of 10 or more and also the advisory that were safer at home and so for those more social gatherings we're waiting for another step two to kick in and to see if that might be a possibility but we have that beautiful space outdoors in the grassy area that's shaded and could be cool so we're looking at what what would be possible so that we could provide that and also looking at other community spaces I will say that the one of my for me the most enjoyable part of my service to the community has been that I don't have to sit at a desk during this pandemic I have been out every day and I have so enjoyed going to all over the town and meeting people wherever they are and so I you know I have a better sense of some other spaces and some opportunities for us to do programming out in the community which has always been the town manager's vision for my role that we do have a senior center but my job is a senior services and how can we as we try to become a more inclusive and representative of our entire community can we meet people where they're at as opposed to keep saying oh come on to our place come on to our place that that is an old model that that doesn't work any longer and so we've been exploring that and looking at some spaces and again that will all be with the guidance and the permission of what happens from the governor looking at the board of health and the town manager making sure that everybody feels that any arrangements would be safe and appropriate but I wanted you to just know like that in terms of a direction that would be a direction we're going at and then lastly I have a new partnership with UMass for cold bunches so the Burke truck I had followed around one day to all of its stops and they they have been very generous towards us and they are also making their cold lunches available to any senior so that will be in the newsletter they have the Burke truck goes to seven locations in town and any senior can go up to the Burke truck and just say hi I'm a senior and you can get a free cold lunch and again you know maybe you get it and you don't have to eat it that day I keep saying like this is great it's great free stuff so if you you know in terms of trying to reach out to more disparate parts of the community as opposed to just being downtown that's an effort and then lastly I just want to tell you I've had some great luck even though they're they these are hard financial times I've been writing grants furiously looking for any dollars to bring into the senior center because I actually at this time it's more critical than ever and I I have some good news that I have three grants so it just received word last week that I received a grant from Highland Valley elder services towards technology purchases so we are looking at how to update technology so that staff can actually use Zoom because much like probably many of you are well our our desktops at work we don't have cameras or audio so we have to either use our phone or use a desk desktop at home and so this will allow us to to either reconfigure with some webcams we're looking at what's the what's the least expensive way to make us accessible so that we can continue to access Zoom and support people and also create some teaching tools for people about how to use Zoom and also looking at the possibility of purchasing some tablets so for seniors who can't get online we would have a very small library to be able to to support seniors if if I had like $50,000 I'd buy a ton of them that's that's where I think you know that's that's one of my my earnest goals I will tell you going forward because so much is critical online and Jack and I you're talking about there's a client who really is she's fabulous she's in her 90s but her her iPad just went kaput and he's tried to help her virtually you know from his location and he couldn't help her and when that shuts down and people don't have access you know it just it has a a domino effect social emotional impact and so you know I continue to speak to legislators also about this about technology bonds and the needs just as we have outfitted students with technology we need to do the same for seniors because if we're looking at a long period of being closed and some forecasts are you know out to 2021 and longer we need to support our seniors in really simple ways like that of getting them the technology in hand because it's it's otherwise it's it's some you know that divide remains and I think becomes even deeper as a Kribos and then I also applied for a grant to hire five temporary staff members to help with our food service delivery again the town has been fantastic they have lent me other employees during the time of the pandemic to help deliver food and those employees are being deployed to other as as our services change within the town they've rightfully been deployed to other needy areas and so I applied I found a grant for unemployed restaurant workers through mass hire and I applied for four drivers and someone to help in the kitchen and I received word that I got the grant so hopefully we'll be adding some temporary support you know during this time where our numbers have increased immensely in terms of the food production because I have to say that that's a you know I have become a very good kitchen frow if you knew me I'm terrible in the kitchen I don't like to cook my kids everybody knows it but I spend almost all my time in the day in the kitchen helping to pack up sending out the meals but you know like my life revolves around food distribution so so I'm really looking forward to that and that just that word just happened and then the in terms of trying to get people out in a way that felt healthy and supportive and very safe is I had volunteered at the Amherst farmers market the first couple of Saturday mornings I wanted to see how they were set up what were they doing and it's an amazing setup they have all the safety protocols in place you know the town has assured it they go there five in the morning each vendor has plexiglass you're out in the sunshine so you know that's the sciences around you know open air and sunshine are helpful around this and also there is very good watchful social distancing so everybody has been abiding by it you know there's been no issues traffic is one way it's hugely spaced out on the common and so Chloe Dickinson had given me a grant to do some transportation which we were unable to utilize because transportation was shut down so they've given me permission to use that money it's $5,000 towards nutrition and the identified food gap that I've seen with our seniors is access to fresh produce so they get commodities from the food bank you know canned and dried goods survival center they get some dairy perhaps some bread some protein and and but fresh produce has been a bit more challenging and then the meals that are provided either through for Highland Valley that for takeout don't have a lot of they don't have fresh produce not at all and so a lot of the clients have called me and said you know where can I get lettuce where can I get more fruit where can I get vegetables and fruits and I think it's a it's a it's a win-win so again I the town manager has given me authorization to work with the Amherst farmers market so we're going to buy $5,000 worth of coupons and our seniors will be able to utilize them at the farmers market so we will be supporting our own local business people and our local farmers people will be able to get out in a very safe manner that will keep them well and I think it's just it's a it was one of the best ways I could think up to bring people outdoors and also make sure that they were getting the kind of nutritional support that it is so important to all of us around fresh vegetables and produce and things of that nature so they won't they won't be able to buy like lovely creams you know and other things that has to be nutritional support so either plants that they can grow for vegetables or fruit or those items themselves and then one last thing is apropos Jacqueline's poem it has been I'm sure for many of you and also myself a period of reflection of listening and learning about how I can do a better job and how we can do a better job to serve the community and the diversity that exists within this community I hope you have felt since I have arrived that that's been a priority for me I've tried to make changes both in welcome and in training and in recruitment to diversify and also make everybody feel welcome that just matters to me as a human being and I have a personal commitment to it and I have an organizational commitment to it and I think that our work is just beginning and I really look forward to having this conversation with all of you and more broadly within the town but I just want to say that I commit to that and I have a statement that I have written a piece in the newsletter that addresses it and one of the ways in which I'm trying to support seniors in this conversation because I've had a number of people call me and not knowing what to do and so one of the first steps that we were that that we could easily facilitate in terms of the center as opposed to the council on aging is I connected with a number of black owned bookstores and we purchased a number of books that are on most resource lists to help individuals understand racism and implicit bias and its effect and I think that you know we have to learn and unlearn and listen and read as a first step and so we've purchased those and when they arrive people will it will be it's in our newsletter and I will deliver those to any senior older adult who would like to do further reading and to get those resources out in the community to begin to plant the seeds around what it is we should be doing how we can go about it more effectively and with more heart and more welcome so I am most grateful to all of you for your presence here today and I miss you terribly I have to tell you just on a personal basis I miss seeing you all it's like I'm the captain of a ship and I have no passengers and I'm not cruising anywhere and I walk around just looking for you so each and every one of you I miss you so much I miss you at the desk I miss you in the hallways there's nobody who wants you back more than me because I you know I feel a bit lost without you all but but I hold you in my heart and intentions and if there's anything that more that we can do we are open for conversation I look forward to what's going to happen as we have more discussion here so thank you and I'm sorry it's so long but it's been a long time so in a long time and we greatly appreciate all that you have done and continue to do and also appreciate the caution with which we're moving forward in terms of opening up and the whole thing about being careful and I felt that way about the town managers last statement of values top on the list was the health and safety of the community and I appreciate that so greatly and I feel thankful that we live in a community where people respect those rules I had spoke with a friend the other day who went to Northampton and said you would never know there was the risk of a virus there that people were walking around almost nobody had masks and the streets were full so we can be thankful for the caution that everyone around us takes thank you Mary Beth so much did you want to say anything at all about the census or the senior center nurse the senior center nurse continues to provide services a telephonic consultation so anybody who has a question you can contact her she has a specialty also in diabetes so she obviously is not going to be seeing people one to one but at this time she still remains available she's available by email or by calling and if you're unsure you could always just call the senior center 259 3060 and I can connect you with her her name is Karen Reynon and she's a tremendous resource has a has a wonderful background in nursing and she is available and then the census follow-up we've been trying to continue that drumbeat with everybody we've been sharing the materials still with you know our more vulnerable clients through home delivered meals and take out lunches and then we recently ran a list of every person who had come into the senior center from January till now there were about 600 people and we began to call those those folks individually because we had looked at the prospect of the phone banking effort that was underway and we thought we had our own database that would really help serve us more directly with the people that that know us and if we called about the census they probably would would take our phone call and actually pick up as opposed to just you know dialing people who don't know us so if we call from the Amherst senior center we find most of the seniors will speak with us and we've been helping them over the phone it's been an easy process my social workers have been doing it and helping people to complete the census over the phone so we still need to remind seniors as much as possible to to get counted because it will matter it's critically important I spoke with Diana Stein who's been doing a lot of calling for the League of Women Voters and Amherst is not looking good in terms of census count because the students have left and there's no way of contacting them and so we're looking at like 60 percent of people have returned the census in Amherst as compared to 70 or 80 percent in other parts of Massachusetts so if any of you know of people just whoever you contact to remind friends and contacts to do the census it's critically important it a lot a lot of our funding depends on that so okay thank you are there any questions ready next on the agenda I'm going to talk about the subcommittees of transportation health and safety later on under item number eight but for now we'll move on to action items and the thing before us is board changes so Tim Neil and Greg Baskam have terms that will expire on June 30th 2020 I don't know if you've received letters yet but I know the town manager has intentions of reappointing both of you so that letter should be forthcoming Richard Cuffer will be going off the board on June 30th having completed his second three-year term and the town manager will be conducting interviews to fill that position so if you know of anybody that's interested in joining the council please say so and they can fill out the community activity form I want to thank Dick for his service and his very faithful attendance over the years he was a member of the long-range planning subcommittee and during that time he helped with a number of things including editing editing the petition for a new senior center which we had circulated among seniors at the senior center and got hundreds of signatures and now they sit in a drawer somewhere I'm sure but it was a big effort he also visited several new senior centers in Massachusetts and helped to gather information about these new places their process and the space he and Jack with the expertise and knowledge of Jack about senior centers created a power point on the need for greater space for the emmer senior center and Dick presented that power point to the town meeting in April of 2019 and although it was the we knew that the town meeting was about to be replaced by town council the intent was to raise the awareness of the senior center needs to the broader community and since the town meeting was televised and a lot of people attend town meeting we thought that was a very good vehicle for doing that and also whenever there was a special the senior center had a special event or a party or a gathering Dick was always there to help set up and to help clean up so we really do appreciate your service doc he is a man of integrity and on a personal level he's been a role model and a tremendous support to me so thanks Dick for all that you have done to support and promote the senior center okay we also need to fill the position for chair vice chair and secretary for FY 21 for starters Sue Dirks has graciously volunteered to serve as secretary for the next year and since i've been chair for two years now i will be stepping down from that position so whoever among you would like be willing to serve as chair for FY 21 please contact me i would be willing to serve as a vice chair and assist anyone who takes on that role so and we will need to have a slate of officers and take a vote and elect those officers at our next meeting now question yes hi can can everyone hear me yes okay good all right okay so um you know i've been thinking a lot about um our process and really all along the lines of what jack jackwell and so kindly and um prophetically shared with us at the beginning of our of our meeting um i guess there's a spirit in myself of a desire to look at all our processes in our programming in our ways of being in community with each other in our vision and so and and in our leadership structure and a couple of things come to my mind one is that if there are openings in on our leadership team on the council that we make a proactive effort to continue building a more inclusive and diverse structure so that new voices can enrich us and inform us as we think about as we move forward so that's that's that would be that would be that's one thing i wanted to share um also i think um having i would like to say that having um a process of leadership for particularly for the chair i think really needs to be we need to look inward about that but to to come up with a bit of a slate i suppose or have invite people to identify um if they're if this is a a responsibility that calls to to them in in a way um and um to be transparent um i know that i have been approached by a couple of people um and it didn't feel right to me exactly um i i really care about this this advisory council and and this and the seniors in in general um and at the same time um i i think that our process needs to be more open um to not just whoever wants to come forward and is willing to do it but rather to to really uh invite invite new leadership that that we sort of we generate our process of of developing leadership is more collective i guess that's what my feeling was that it i think that would be it needs to be more collective and interactive um and so i i just wanted to put that out there um and see whatever other people might be thinking about that other comments about that from other people so um can you clarify pat what what you mean because i'm i'm not quite sure i'm understanding how how the leadership can be collective and more collective and interactive i don't know what that means so would you clarify for us yeah i i just i think that we can identify we have some fresh new faces with tremendous leadership experience who could step forward um and uh so i think it's um you know i guess i'm inviting some of our newer members uh to consider leadership um knowing that uh each of us will support that leadership vigorously and enthusiastically well i think it's requires some serious thoughts so that's um so i'm i'm talking about greg and tim and jackalin uh who are our newest members uh if that isn't a member so you know i guess when i like to be direct i'm just saying uh it would be i would uh uh not to exclude others who are called to this effort but i think it would be it uh this is a time when i think of um a lot of reflection and action and um you know um i'm i'm uh inspired by some of the new opportunities we have to uh to uh widen our embrace of all seniors um in our community and so this this this would be an optimal time there's tremendous leadership here i don't know if that helps you sue but well i think we have to you have to all think very seriously about whether or not you're willing to step into that role and um mary beth's and i will be happy to answer any questions and help you through the process so mary beth can i ask is pat if what you're talking about is not only a process of self identification are you also talking about a process of nominations so many boards that i've served in the past when it came time for um election of a chair um they you know the the call would be are there any nominations from the floor so i would say oh well i nominate x y or z and um and and i said in in most instances that would have been preceded by a conversation with that individual so that there was some like i wasn't just like saying hey you know you you step on up you know that there would have been some conversation so so i just in terms of process is that are you talking about also being uh like you know asking for nominations from the floor as well as a self-identification that's i think that maybe soon yes i think that the process what does it mechanically look like that you're talking about that might feel more i don't know exclude yes inclusive i think that's uh i think that's uh a good idea i think yes well perhaps we need a nominating committee how would that work tim let me unmute myself well my opinion is that uh rosemary although i you're offered to serve as vice chair i don't really think the chair should go into being the vice chair i think we need a new person there so they can develop into a leadership role just as a general comment and we're a real small group uh so having a committee structure of a nominating committee that seems to me i mean it's possible but it seems to me a little bit too pardon the word bureaucratic for us just small small group so that would be my only comment if we want to recognize your service and your participation whether that chair vice chair secretary i don't know if that group serves as an executive committee or not but if so you could do the the chair could become i don't know a chair emeritus or something like that and be part of that executive committee but i would think a vice chair should be a new person so uh we have sort of developmental um process in there as well well at this point in time is anyone willing to step forward to be chair or vice chair um as i see it tim would make a great leader and pat would make a great vice chair but um i can't uh we need to talk about it we'll come together um have some conversations behind the scenes and come together at their next meeting does that sound acceptable to you mary death unmute can't hear you i i don't run the process i was just here to clarify because i because i do know some processes so um i think that that you all have to decide as the council you know what what is the the what's the process for nominating and for coming forward and i think you probably need some time to to talk to one another in some in some way and also just to sort of give it consideration of what what you know what it would entail and and as pat i think referenced is sort of the call to to leadership is who you know who feels like it's something um and if anybody had any questions about anything i'm happy to to share with them about how i work with the with the chair person um and and you know but i do think it's a really exciting time and i think anyone would have a wonderful time being the chair the vice chair or any position um i think that the the council is really poised to do some exciting work this year so i invite you all to nominate yourself yes and if you're someone who's quiet sometimes it's it's a great time to step forward you know when i used to teach right there's always that you know the student houseways is their hand and then and then you know there's the like i'd like to hear from someone who who um who isn't always at the forefront of speaking so that that's just the like social worker therapist teacher in me saying um it really is a heartfelt invitation for everybody to consider it and there's no special um way that leadership has to look leadership can look a lot of different ways as we saw with the prime minister of new zealand okay thank you i do feel i do feel that um there needs to be new leadership for the council and working with mary beth has been a great pleasure and she is extremely helpful so i think very seriously about it for yourselves and we'll have some conversations okay and then the next item on the the agenda is um about the mission statement and i just wanted to say a few things also um make a brief statement about all the horrific events that have been taking place across the country and i think the question in all of our minds is what can we do to put it and to this systemic racial injustice and uh that has permeated society over the centuries and it continues to terrorize black people and everyone to this day we and beyond that we recognize that racial disparities affect every aspect of our right to life liberty in the pursuit of happiness we can't sit back and tolerate inequality and unfair treatment to others based on gender color race or religion and that inequality exists in every aspect of life including but not limited to health care housing unfair treatment education and jobs this must really end and we have to think of how we can help that process as members of the council in aging we have to be alert to unfair treatment especially among older people and we must vow to seek equality for everyone i think it's important to incorporate that goal in our mission statement and if you look at the mission statement it's a start to um what we had uh replacing what we had before and i would welcome comments and additions that you feel would be right at this point in time for improving that statement soon just one word change at this point um you've got the word strive a couple of times i suggest endeavor as an alternative and we endeavor to foster self-fulfillment okay and uh tim you also had a comment um i am referring to what you sent as an attachment so are you proposing the short uh current mission or principal role be replaced with the with the multi paragraph one down the bottom yes okay uh the first of all the one down the bottom of the page is i read it does not include any reference to a senior center or a physical location maybe we can put that in somewhere maybe the other comment would be in the second paragraph below regardless of race color i might suggest adding like sexual orientation or sexual as well or whatever the buzzword phrase is for that okay and then just this is more of a grammar thing on the third paragraph support the needs of older people rather than saying and enhance their social maybe so as to enhance their social physical and that's just a mathematical change so those would be just general comments that i would mm-hmm i think that um what you say about the senior center we could certainly include we aim to provide and promote a wide variety of services at the senior center or you could say including a multi-purpose senior center that support the needs of older adults mm-hmm just so it's mentioned mm-hmm okay that's good Mary Beth did you have anything to add well i do it is very interesting so the one very interesting piece of my job is Nancy Pagano is an consummate historian and has impeccably maintained the history of the senior center and it has been interesting as i was looking at the issue of the mission statement mm-hmm to to go back through minutes of the council on aging even going back to 1967 when it was founded and to get a sense of what was the history and what is the present and and i will tell you even back in 1968 they were they were trying to reconceive the mission of the center because they felt that in one year it was already outdated and so i think the the process of looking at a mission statement is an important process and is iterative through time and reflects both changes in need and services and culture and community and awareness i will share that i i i think that language around serving diverse communities i i've looked at other mission statements from other communities is to sort of help me understand my job when i first entered and and ways to share that and so i i guess it is to say that i have i have other samples i don't i don't have them in a in a form that i can share screen but if people want to look at this you know more broadly and and and looking at the wordsmithing of it i'm happy to share some some other examples of some mission statements that that that i think reflect more our future around serving diverse communities i will say that for the purposes of my budget i just crafted i crafted some additional language that i used in terms of the the budget reflection of what my mission was because i felt like what had been previously set didn't didn't capture our work fully and and the urgency of becoming more of a community outreach service so so i i don't have anything final to say except that i that yeah i i think that that it might be helpful to look at other examples and other ways that people have reflected that some have also done mission statement core values so you know i i think that that there might be a group of people who might be really interested in taking that on as a as a good point to to sort of connect these dots about where we are in this time and how how much more territory i need to cover in terms of what what my staff and i do and how we function in leadership organization so that's so if you have statements of other samples of mission statements or a few of copies of those could you send them to everyone on the board yeah so i have a file that i had been using just for for my own purposes because i think that for me a mission statement is a north star and i use it as a as a statement of values of how i make harder decisions and where i'm using limited resources that we have and and whatnot so yeah i i think it's it's an interesting process to go through um yeah that would be great okay any other comments about that topic yes yes pat yeah i was just going to say that um you know reflecting um i just wanted to add to that that we're already transitioning to a view of of uh engagement that involves not just the physical location of the bang at bang's community center but is embedded in and and small communities of elders and other places in our community so capturing that i think reflects our aspiration and our our activity now so i would hope that that we would sort of ratify and validate that because i know that's something that maribeth's already doing so that's part of it but also i i want uh i i would welcome and i have i have some language what i that i would like to share about um just basically which is we we commit to creating activities practices and skills um that enable and embolden uh older adults collectively and individually to advance a more just and humane community um so that that is a commitment it's it's not it's not negotiable in a way so that so that it in a way it's a statement of values and so i i endorse also that that that our values there's some sense of values in in our mission statement that help anchor the way we do things what our processes are that they are open and transparent and inclusive so that that that language um um inspires us as as we move forward so um so i'll share that language with with the two of you and and and some and i'm deeply curious to see what other uh mission statements of other uh of other um councils um have as well okay okay okay to be continued i am i speaking jacqueline i think is is trying to chime in i i see her light up but i don't know yeah yes i i wanted i want i don't know because i'm not seeing people and even if i saw i don't think i know everybody by name but the last comment i think speaks volume and i would be willing to if there's going to be a subcommittee working on um revising the mission statement i would be willing to serve with other people who are doing that how do people people feel about a subcommittee you um who would be willing to be on a subcommittee to work on the mission statement pat i certainly would be happy to do that okay so the three of us sounds good all right did somebody say mary bat i i thought i heard somebody say something about mary bat okay all right well let's get together then and um please mary bat send us those um sample statements to each myself pat and jacqueline and we will work on that thank you okay and then um you've all by now read the secretary's report which normie howlick prepared from the last meeting in march so do i have a motion to accept that report i know that we accept the minutes as written is there a second a second hand motion okay i'm gonna stand approved thank you normo and um i have here on the agenda the friends of the senior center update that's pretty much um on hold for now it has had a lot of health problems and um there of course haven't been any meetings or any opportunity for fund raising because of the covid so it's things are in limbo did you want to say anything more about that mary bat i do here i am back again um i just i think that for purposes of the meeting um the only way i think that it really impacts us is that um we're not able to gather the names and the amounts of donors for the newsletter and i know that that's that's a section that many people have um look just look forward to to to a way of being acknowledged you know it it um it's a very trying time for the friends as it is for all of us um the the methods that we had in place for them to pick up you know the mail was sent to the senior center so i've been trying to work with them to get it sent to a another like a po box with a mail forwarding because they you know they can come into the center and they didn't want to leave their houses rightfully so you know they're sheltering just like every other one of you so i guess i what i would just ask of the community is to have patients with them for any acknowledgement both more widely in the newsletter and also personally with notes so um the one thing is that we don't have our administrative assistant she's been transferred to puffers pond so she previously helped out the friends to get those thank you notes in order and and i don't have that staff person any longer so um you know this is all it's all in flux and so be patient you might it might come in the form of a christmas card so and and they are they are they are entitled to their to their respite just like so many of us and it's just it's operationally very difficult for them so i just ask for patients from the public for on their behalf because they they've they have carried the senior center they provide over $35,000 of direct assistance every year and without them i would not be able to open my doors i couldn't have a cup of coffee i couldn't serve anything on a paper plate everything that we do is funded by them they fund our operations they are my operational costs so um you know they they are critical and have been kind and generous only to us so i just ask to let's give them a pass for now and when they're able like the rest of the world to resume that will happen but till then we're on pause in terms of those mechanisms so i just i thank them and wish them well thank you nama are you able to give a report on Highland Valley Elder Services can you all hear me yes yeah okay there were no meetings of the nutrition council that was for the whole group for the whole council which usually meets every other month we met on Wednesday in March the first Wednesday and i reported on that at the last meeting that we had with the Amherst board but there have been two meetings virtual meetings of the board of directors and i think i had mentioned at one point that we would we were able to say certain things it's a private group but yet they want to be able to you know give information to the senior centers so this last time alan um when Matt who is this CEO writes a detailed report every you know summarizing the executive side every month and he has kind of put down some key words to say what what is okay to share so i'm not going to go into anything on personnel things or visit our financial stuff but but here's what i've written on the fourth we met 5 4 20 which was a virtual meeting um and a little shorter than usually two to four um and two main topics were really discussed in one what's since the um alan has to be evaluated every year um the personnel committee has got a new form and it's six pages in length and i mean i don't even understand all of the things they said if you don't understand what this means just don't fill it out and just say not apical for you know it's um you know a lot of financial stuff that i don't usually get into but we discussed how the agency um is handling the pandemic and the board um decided in view of not knowing what will happen this fall that the expo that we'd had the past two years and um was much more successful last year than the previous year where i dragged mary rosemary to it but anyway they i'm on that committee so we're going to start again and try to do something next year um and then the board met on the first of june again virtually and this is there's reports from each um committee in the agency and i'll summarize just a few of them that i feel are most important to us the human resources has an opening for a coordinator and an accounting clerk um and tqi is equality insurance um and they've issued a non-competitive $3,500 grant to all areas coas and i still have a question on this because um it it somewhere i read that amherst couldn't accept that is that right mary death unmute yourself that the amherst couldn't accept it and i i talked to the president um because i said you know i don't understand this and she she it was not written in alan's report that no one could accept it so i didn't know if it was some conflicting grant that they got they couldn't what is it you're referring to that that we couldn't accept the um it said that all um seen they were offering some money to all senior centers um in each in their jurisdiction the $3,500 grant to all areas coas that i got it oh you did get it okay i sure did well good i i said that doesn't make sense to me and and the president said oh i'll get back to you well that was last week and i haven't heard so okay that's good well that's why i didn't write anything in so yeah that was the technology money that i referred to oh okay $3,500 and we and i applied and i did get it yes oh good okay all right yeah okay um and then they the quality assurance um they've added COVID rate adjustments to providers and would like to add more services um the agency is on track to meet the new EVV which is the electronic visit verification requirements and IT is installing new phone system and it'll give them more capabilities with less cost uh home care uh plans for coronavirus have been implemented and documented and they're in the process of developing a new risk assessment for home delivered meals and it seems that um they're working on it the technology was the main thing and i think it's the choice meals that they you know they don't haven't been offering at the congregate meals and so they said they hoped to make some decisions by the end of June it was going well um protective services has not had much outreach but has done virtual checks and um if necessary um and need be the group is able to have home contact but it's a last resort um and the almsbud person uh they have volunteers that visit people in nursing homes once a month um at least once a month and um they of course have not been able to do that and so they've been going outside the nursing homes and holding signs saying they're still available for them and that they haven't forgotten them and they just can't come in due to the virus so you know that that has been going okay um and the um yeah some facilities have COVID cases of residents and staff but it seems to be on the decline let's hope so uh nutrition um as i said they have not been the bimonthly meetings of this committee since last march but they've had over a hundred new volunteers that help with services and um the transition has and maybe that's includes part of what you said mary beth i don't know you know but um they they um said that they do at least 200 meals a day and the community meals have been replaced with take-home meals and the cost of the meals because with COVID everything's gone up has increased about 25 percent so i don't know how they're if they're going to charge another dollar or what but um and there's also discussion of offerings um as an alternative choice meal to the home delivered meal which i mentioned before so that's what's been going on with island valley when you meet again when you meet again norma um i don't know i thought that they usually i mean i've been on that board two years and they usually don't have a meeting in after june until september but i don't know if that will change and we'll just do it virtually mary beth um i i just wanted to clarify for for people who might be new to the council our our role in relationship with highland valley so highland valley elder services is a regional catchment senior service provider for over 24 communities amherst is one of those communities and they are what we refer to in the elderfield as an asap so an area service agency for providing senior services and they do everything from nutrition to holistic assessments for case management home health care and home health aides our relationship with them more directly with the senior center is that they provide us with the food that we deliver so we don't cook our food many sites cook their own food highland valley prepares all of our meals whether the home delivered or the takeout lunches every morning in north canton and then a van um drives them over to us and that's we're the sort of delivery conduit for our meals and i just would would want to to really praise them for their performance for our community during the pandemic because we obviously you know quadrupled our number of meals and requests very rapidly they had to scale up we were one of 24 communities so you can imagine what that was like for them in the initial stages and they they they met every requirement they never you know failed to to send a meal to add somebody on when we had difficulties when you talk about the risk assessment so the home delivered meals you have to meet very certain criteria they reserve home delivered meals for only the most vulnerable individuals if you have the if you have the assistance of a partner a spouse a family member or a pca to make a meal they will not deliver one um so because it there's there's such a number throughout their 24 communities but the work around that i've been able to work with them has been this this takeout system where i can there's no criteria for the takeout all i need is your name and your date of birth and your address and anybody can get the meal we were during the the pandemic and the surge we were delivering those meals to Clark House and Anne Wayland because we could walk next door and we're actually pulling those services back is that we're we're losing some more drivers but the the meals that they provided are just it is phenomenal their performance and not only that but they have gone each of those consumers have also received um five additional frozen meals that we we did another huge delivery so that if something ever happened like they anticipated what if everybody came down with COVID in the kitchen so people had a stockpile if there was ever emergency or an exigency that required some support they also got five um sort of like some sandwich packets to pop in the freezer so again if if they ever ran into any trouble people would have a lot of food stockpile many of my seniors were refusing them by the time the second delivery came around to say i just i don't have any more room in my freezer for all of this food and they also most recently delivered n95 masks to me and also hand sanitizer that went out to their home delivered meal clients and they'll be providing it now for the takeout individuals which again is just a wonderful supplemental resource so they have really stood up for our seniors and delivered in in really kind and wonderful ways and have been a great partner through this so thank you Norma because your service there in the connection with Amherst and making us known as an important community really matters and i really appreciate your service and reporting and and attention to them and participation because it helped thank you thank you pat rosemary yes excuse me this this is tim i my apologies to everybody but i have to change rooms my wife needs this room for she's on another board and she needs himself i'm going to be walking into another room but i'll be right back okay great walk safely oh well hopefully um pat did you want to say something about the um transportation subcommittee yes in the interest of time we have we promised that Angela that we'd be finished by 11 so i guess we have to move right along yes this will be really quick so let me just go ahead and say we had scheduled a subcommittee meeting for march 16th and by that time meeting face-to-face was impossible so and in addition to that everything everything has changed with respect to medical transport to criteria to you know the things some of the things that we were thinking of so it's a whole new landscape and so i would say things are on hold right now and my sense uh with respect to the future of this subcommittee is that um i think it's too early to say it's not for me to constitute it or dismantle it but but rather to say that i think uh at during this time of of change there are there are other opportunities um maybe that um would take even greater priority than some of the issues that we're looking at i mean we're trying to do a lot of different things simultaneously one of the things that springs to mind for example is the the council's need for looking at our financial health um uh you know and and really i i i don't i can't think of another uh department or entity of town government that requires um having fundraisers uh to support operational budgets and so that this may be an opportunity for us to re uh both to salute the the amazing work that's been done in the past but also to consider uh how to um use this time to uh at least uh imagine uh a more a structure uh that has more security and i think we have some real talent among us uh uh among our newer members with respect to that um that you know will help us think that through um with mary best's help and imagination as well so um i'm that's that's where we are we're not i mean as as things as effects unfold about um health and safety and about transportation um in our region for hammer's time people um then you know um we'll we'll see what happens and see what the needs are so that that's that's the report thank you um you mentioned something about financial security yes and mary beth also i want to point out that i had been um president of the friends for a number of years and i realized as i tried to keep track of money coming in and so on that the friends group fundraising raised actually very little money through our fund our fundraisers activities themselves most of the money that came in through the friends came in through the solicitation letter that we send out every january or december and that was where most of the thousands of dollars came from that and also the envelope that goes out with the town census or the town count so um i don't look upon the lack of these little mini fundraisers like tag sales and so on which bring in 200 dollars or whatever um as being a vital source of money i think we will still continue to get donations from our solicitation letter and also from the census envelope and that will be the the bulk of what the friends will bring in i don't see that changing so okay um are there any announcements that you need to make maribeth um actually there's two things that i just would let add is that july 2nd our budget goes before the finance committee so that might be an interesting meeting for you all to tune into and then secondly um still listed in our panelists is liz welch who is here on behalf of amherst neighbors and i know that she didn't chime in during the public comments but um and i don't know if she had a difficulty but you know they are our our wonderful partners in the community and they are doing lots of online programming really interesting pieces and she and i are talking about collaborating on another kind of conversation around advice for seniors so if anybody is interested amherst neighbors has launched they have a website um much you know i think of their membership yeah this juncture just like the senior center and others if you come to the senior center we have you become a member not because there's dues to pay or anything but it's a way for us to be able to communicate with you and to contact you and and if we need to get information to you and so they do have a process for membership but membership is free it is open to everybody in the community so everything that they have is available and free as unless uh liz raises her hand and lets me know otherwise but that's my understanding and when i've gone on their website and our conversations and they have there she is raising her hand great and they have some some some great uh great opportunities for online programming and i just i just wanted to put in a plug for them because we're coming to the end and she's been patiently participating and and they have some offerings and ability to do things in the community that we frankly don't and it's it's a beautiful example of continuum of services and and using community resources and uh you know grassroots organizing to also support so it's not sort of one or the other it's all of us in this and so if you want me to recognize liz i can um yes okay please let's yes go ahead um thank you i actually really enjoyed this meeting i'm really impressed with everything that the senior center and the council on aging has been doing through this time um and yes we were about to launch as covid hit um so really what we're starting with is is what we thought we'd eventually get to but not immediately which is our programming and just to say yes we are a membership organization but our events also are open to anybody because these are we were always going to be doing public events and those are things that would be open to all um but um anyway so if you go to our website www.amhersnabers.org you can see the list of the types of programs that we're starting with um we had a covid dialogue which was a series of three conversations that people have participated in and we had one on medical advocacy yesterday today we're having a coffee clatch with um that's about writing um so anyway you can go on and check out and see the variety of things and we're it's it's going to be important for us to complement also the sorts of things that the senior center is offering and not obviously offering the same things so we're excited um uh we're you know trying to figure out but i don't know at this point given um kind of the recommendations for people over 65 it's going to probably continue to put our kind of volunteer component that was going to be more traditional on hold you know as of now and this is there also a phone number that anybody so so some people might want to call somebody absolutely thank you yes there is a phone number three four five two five five or no three four five three five five five thank you so much Liz and it's really wonderful to have you at the meeting thank you very much i i must say i also have that on my list of announcements and please do go to amherst neighbors.org i joined one of the groups the covid conversation group two weeks in a row it was an intimate group of eight people and we had some wonderful deep conversations um i would really encourage people to join up they also have programs on gardening um health um interesting program on india coming up so i would encourage everybody to look at amherst neighbors.org and then i had one other announcement today is a live chat with the town manager at noon and um oftentimes julie fetterman the public health uh nurse will is there and so if you have any questions for them do um look at the town website and um i have the zoom numbers and the phone numbers if you are interested in that and that's at noon today but the town website has it on their calendar go ahead anything else can i just ask where does i went on the town website and could not find that oh click on the calendar okay and um whatever date you know click on the date and all the meetings will come up and you will find the um access information there okay the town website yeah if uh this give me a call if you have any questions um actually you want the zoom number i have it right here oh sure five two four six oh one three six four great thank you yeah okay okay anything else then um i propose we meet again on january 16th at nine o'clock i mean sorry january july 16th at nine o'clock so um please mark your calendars for that and um we'll be in touch in the meantime to talk about leadership roles i i assume that july meeting is uh virtual as well through zoom yes it will be yeah thank you same format yeah thanks everyone stay well stay safe and um look forward to seeing you again in another month thank you bye goodbye everyone i miss you thank you thank you for your support the meeting is adjourned at 11 or yeah 10 55 thank you excellent thank you