COUNCIL ON AGING ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2006

To the Board of Selectmen:

East Longmeadow’s Council on Aging’s 7 town employees (with lots of help) served 1947 of the town’s 3246 elders in the following areas: We furnished INFORMATION AND REFERRAL: 15,645 calls or counter visits.

RECREATION (10,195) includes Art, Book Club, Bridge, Bridge Lesson, Informal Bridge, Chorus, Chess, Computer Class, Cribbage, Crochet, French, Jewelry, Movie, Pool, Pinochle, Puzzles, Quilting, Racewalk, Scrabble, Scrap Booking, Trips, Trivia, & 12 cultural events & parties. Club Attendance: Friendship Club: 3108, Deaf Seniors: 651, Veteran’s: 2. Community Education: Candidates Day, Recycle Bins, Driver Safety, & Fire Dept Safety Equipment distribution.

FITNESS/WELLNESS (11,331): Programs include Ballroom, Line, Square & Tap Dancing, Easy Exercise, Exercise, Pilates, Walking, Tai Chi & 29 participant entries in Massachusetts Senior Games (Racewalk, Track & Field, Bowling, Candlepin, Tennis, Swim, Shuffleboard, Golf, Ice Hockey, Softball, & Volleyball). Still looking for 3-on-3 Basketball!

SOCIAL SERVICES (1955 appointments) includes the following breakdown of units of services: Outreach: 546, Case management: 1129, Client Support: 113, Health Insurance Counseling (SHINE): 167.

FINANCIAL ADVOCACY (increased as need increased): includes 139 individuals (69 families) for Fuel Assistance Intake; 357 for Commodity Distribution; 151 Individuals and 70 families who received Holiday Baskets & Gift Certificates, courtesy of the following: Village Green, Inward Commons, Brownstone and Quarry Hill Tenants’ Associations, Morning Glory Walkers, Senior Friendship Club, COA TRUST FUND, students and faculty of Mountainview and Birchland Park and East Longmeadow High School, First Congregational Church, First Congregational Women’s Fellowship, Brownie Troop #106, Boy Scout troop #272, Den 6, Miss Bella’s Kiddie Club, a CHRISTMAS donation on behalf of COA Staff toward the fuel fund, and several local families for a total of $4,908.35. AARP Income Tax filing Assistance: 123.

HEALTH SERVICES (843): Flu Shots (547 for age 65+), Blood Pressure, Health Screen, Blood Work, Hearing Tests, Foot Care, Chair Massage & (174) Health Equipment Loans. 680 participated in Health Education: Health Fair, and speakers on Blue Care, Healthy Eating, Alzheimer’s, Osteoarthritis, Pain Management, Try a New Exercise and Medicare Part D. We continue to fund raise for half our HEALTH PROGRAM.

NUTRITION: We served 16,530 (up 3195) Meals on Wheels and 7,898 (up 232) Congregate “In House” Meals: We offer WEEKEND HOME DELIVERED MEALS to 18 frailest residents in cooperation with Wingate Nursing Home and our weekend volunteer drivers. Nutrition Staff is trained to meet the “safe serve” laws, CPR, Defibrillator & choke training.

PVTA contracts for door to door Van TRANSPORTATION 5 days a week. We proposed and continue to sell “discount booklets”, $40 worth of tickets for $30 to our seniors.

In addition to the Town’s Appropriation of $173,327 to cover 6 staff plus expenses, Director wrote the following grants: State $ 19,054. Federal Title III-C Nutrition $20,000 for the meals program, shelf stable meals $544, additional III-C ($7,886) for double convection oven; chafing dishes and MOW bags, Interpreter $50, one 20 hour Senior Aide ($7,020). Meal Donations were $45,601. Friendship Club paid $1,000 for Thursday Programs; Arts Lottery granted $500 for 2 special programs. Special Donations for the meals program were received from Panera Bread: $6,000 and Heritage Village Shops Fashion Show: $6,500.

MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS of $6,758 were received from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2006 in memory of: Marian Barton, Joseph C. Behan, Donald Carver, Wilhelmina DeBisschop, Frances L. Douglas, Fred Falvo, Constance M. Gagnon, Richard D. Haley, Robert E. Homer, Shirley C. Houghton, Ray E. Main, Alda C. Malaguti, Virginia Messer, Filomena M Morrisino, Henry & Amalia Pawlowicz, Stanley Pawlowicz, Grace C. Poquette, Nora Ralph, Francis Reilly, Norma Richard-Herrick, Laura Johnson Rollins, Thomas Rudolph, Donald E. Thompson, Albert “Baba” Tranghese, Dorothy P. Wallace, Estelle D. Winans. Funds ($60.) were used for repair & maintenance for Room #3. $3233.16 was donated to the Health Clinic and $3359 to our Trust Fund, including computer build, wheelchair, exercise donations and $133.76 United Fund donations.

The Council on Aging sent $1536 to the Town’s General Fund for evening usage of Pleasant View from photography, deaf & hard of hearing, Homebuyers, Radio Reading, Faith Tabernacle Church, Chess Tournament, ballroom and square dance groups: Mario’s, Redstone, and Swingles. No charge for town boards, health and sports groups. Photography found a new home; our donation rates increased slightly approved by the Board of Selectmen.

Highlights of our accomplishments during the past year included 6 state of the art computers, built during an intergenerational computer-build sponsored by Western New England College. Volunteer Job Description Binder is in use. We continue to publish our own newsletter & program book with the support of local businesses. We started a third route for Meals on Wheels in response to the huge need. We bought a new see through packaging system for those meals, which had a positive reponse for senior appetites. The Selectmen established a Town Building Design Committee who advertised for an architect to draw plans & timeline for the Senior Center’s Building. We set up a Building Fund which received $6758 from Morning Glory Walkers, Raffle, Casino Trip Fundraisers, and Holiday Spirit and memorials.

We thank the following organizations for donations of time, support and money: Friendship Club (our 501-C-3 & hall decorations), Chorus (entertainers), Baystate Deaf, Bridge, Morning Glory Walkers (flu clinic/scoopers), Exercise Class, Trivia Team (program), East Longmeadow Cultural Council, UNICO (dinners), JAYCEES, Lions Club, Womens’ Community Club, Stop’n’Shop and Panera Bread (baked goods), Big Y, Baypath College (theatre), Burgess & Co., PC (tax filings), East Longmeadow Skilled Nursing Home (Christmas Dinner & Valentine Cheesecake), St. Vincent De Paul Society (sponsor meals on wheels), St. Paul’s (Holy Thursday), individuals who designate the COA to receive their United Fund donations, all CHURCHES, FLU & Clinic donations, Health Professionals: DOCTOR Michael Lemanski, AUDIOLOGIST Sue Bankoski Chunyk, and NURSES: Peg Reilly, Edith Buckley, Ann Griswald, Anna Haskins, Barbara Matthews, Rena Tarnowski, and Joan Weisse, Baystate Medical Center and Springfield College students. Our 292 VOLUNTEERS donated a record 12,482 hours. Thank you all! Our Senior Volunteer of the year is Shirley Standing with 427.5 hours.

We are grateful to our fellow departments: DPW for loan of men and trucks for the commodities, CLERK-records lists and senior work-Off Tax Program, REC-joint programs, POLICE-keeping emergency phone numbers and TRIAD program, SCHOOLS & SCOUTS -decorations and projects, COLLABORATIVE STUDENTS for weekly set up and cleaning, SELECTMEN, ACCOUNTING & BUILDING INSPECTOR for their support of our programs, IT for support of the Senior Computer Lab. THANKS to the TOWNSPEOPLE whose support of our programs serve elders from the frailer population with MEALS ON WHEELS to the more vigorous group with SENIOR OLYMPICS and VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES. Thanks to the BUSINESSES and individual Patrons who support our “Old Quarry Town Elder” monthly Newsletter and our Annual Program Book.

Respectfully submitted: Council on Aging Board Members:

Ex-Officio: Selectman Chair: James Driscoll (Nick Breault, Exec. Sec) & COA Executive Director Rosalind R. Clark