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Minutes 09-07-21Minutes of the Senior Advisory Board Regular Meeting Held at City Hall, Commission Chamber, 100 E. Ocean Avenue Boynton Beach, Florida, on Monday, September 7, 2021, at 2:00 P.M. PRESENT: Angela Cruz, Chair Brenton Rolle, Board Liaison Judy Lyman Margaret Newton Allison Black Earl Harper, (Arrived 2:05 p.m.) I. CALL TO ORDER Angela Cruz, Board Chair called the meeting to order at 2:02 p.m. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. III. ATTENDANCE – REVIEW RENEWALS Roll call established a quorum was present. IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA 1. Additions, Deletions, Corrections 2. Adoption Motion Chair Cruz moved to approve the agenda. Ms. Black seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion Chair Cruz moved to approve the minutes of the last meeting. Ms. Lyman seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. VI. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) Ethics Training check up Meeting Minutes Senior Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 7, 2021 2 Mr. Rolle explained all have to take ethics training yearly and explained the training is on YouTube. He agreed to email all the link and reminded they should print out the acknowledgement form and email it to the City Clerk. VII. NEW BUSINESS a. Senior Advisory Board Direction for 2021 i. Replacing vacancies with Alternate Members Mr. Rolle explained there are two vacancies. Mr. Harper advised he would like to be moved up to a regular position. Mr. Rolle has not spoken with Ms. Truehart to see if she would like to be moved up to a regular position, but will ask her. If not, the Board will have to seek new members. Anyone interested in applying, should apply online. The application will be sent to the City Commission and the Commission members will make the appointments. ii. Send out information requesting additional members/alternates b. Senior Center Health Fair October 14, 2021 Semi-Annual Health Fair Flyer Mr. Rolle announced they are scheduled to have a health fair. They hold two fairs a year with one held in September, He advised he moved the fair back to October, but even the October Fair is in jeopardy due to the spike in COVID. All trips at the Senior Center have been cancelled. The center is the only Center open, with the exception of the Greenacres Senior Center, but most seniors are self quarantining. The Mid-County Center is planning to open in October, but it may close due to the COVID spike. To the best of his knowledge, Boynton Beach has been following the directives down the line and are using best practices. He was unaware of any particular situations where this surge is adversely affecting seniors the way it was the first time. Large numbers of seniors have been vaccinated. He hoped the cases will stay low, and stated most cases are being found in unvaccinated individuals and not necessarily among seniors. The normal number of attendees is about 150, although he did not think they would want that many people in attendance. There are usually 30 vendors, and will have 15 vendors. He noted the fair is held in the Ezell Hester Center gym. i. Status due to COVID Restrictions Mr. Harper asked when Mr. Rolle needed to decide to move the fair forward or call it off. Mr. Rolle responded they have to find the point at which to cancel. For the last fair, the company’s pulled their representatives. Conversely, the City can say it is too large a gathering and he was reviewing both sides. He thought they would decide by September 21st to go forward or cancel. Ms. Newton asked if the Fair would be held outside. They just had the MLK event which was outside and it was well received. Mr. Meeting Minutes Senior Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 7, 2021 3 Rolle thought it would be difficult in a short time period. He noted the MLK event had a longer planning period. Mr. Rolle reiterated they do not HAVE to hold the event and they can change the date. Masks will be required. Currently, masks are required in all city facilities and they have to wear masks outside if they cannot social distance. ii. Any concerns with Senior Population in the community Mr. Rolle asked the members if they were aware of any senior concerns. Mr. Rolle noted the members come from different sections of the City and there may be needs they can identify that affects the senior community. Mr. Rolle is a liaison and explained the prior Board, in the past, in his opinion, was a very insular Board that did not operate outside of its own. They were trying to grow The Board. They sought to identify one or two needs within the City. Right now, COVID has affected them. He explained had they been meeting they could say the seniors needs help, or this community needs transportation. They can put items on the agenda. Mr. Rolle commented he is involved daily and was glad to see at his facility, they are dealing with regular problems not related to COVID. The Center works with St. Thomas Moore, and they send two or three seminarians a year, but last year could not take ay last year in the facility. They were helpful in making wellness calls. He thought everyone was blindsided and things are not going to just go away. They need to reach out to people and they have Zoom and new opportunities. He opined one thing that is sorely missing is human contact. If the members are aware of anything or anyone the Board can help with, they should let the Board know. If they know of anyone that could help the Board. Mr. Harper noted most individuals are self-quarantining and only come out to go to doctor if they are mobile. Anything they can do to show there is someone interested in them works, not only in COVID times, but in others too. In his area, peoples are in their homes. There is an uptick in the number of seniors going to the YMCA. The number of people involved is nowhere near what it was. Ms. Lyman stated she lives in a bubble community of 23 developments and they were letting up and opening up a bit, but now the COVID numbers were increasing. If someone needs food, they will put it in your trunk. Next door to them, people are aged 67 & higher. Courtyard Gardens and Manor Care are next door to her community. She thought they should see how those entities were handling COVID. Ms. Newton commented there are a number of seniors who are renting and have not signed a rental agreement and can be removed by their landlords within 30 days. She did not realize how many seniors who rent and they may not be as knowledgeable as to their rental and their rights. Two seniors she spoke to this morning, were told to be out of their homes within 30 days. If they do not sign the rental agreements, they can be evicted. Ms. Newton would like this information published, that if someone rents, they Meeting Minutes Senior Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 7, 2021 4 need to sign some type of rental agreement they can count on. Mr. Rolle commented that can affect more than seniors as well and he suggested it be brought up to the City Commission. Ms. Newton was stunned. Rental agreements are not common knowledge. Where she lives, there are a number of renters and she is not sure of the status of those agreement. She would like to see information vetted out. Mr. Rolle commented they could submit an agenda item, but was unsure who to speak with. Ms. Lyman suggested attending a City Commission meeting and speak about it during public audience. Ms. Black commented seniors call Legal Aid of Palm Beach County and they can assist them. They have a group of attorneys that work with seniors and evictions. There a lot of people in this area without internet or speak English and give them information as they will not know about food distributions or other services. They will not take public transportation. Some of them have delivery, but they need to get the word out how to get the correct information. There are resources, but the issue is getting the information to the population without internet. Angela Cruz mentioned Feeding South Florida is having a free delivery service through Amazon to help the senior community, if they can get the names of the people to get food delivered to them. Board members could get the names of individuals who are struggling and who need food that do not have cars or access to internet. Ms. Black commented the Police Department must know of some people who are isolated, or neighbors who have not left their homes for over a year. Chair Cruz asked if there was any way to get the names of communities that are at risk or those that could benefit from these services. Mr. Rolle responded if someone would volunteer to make a few phone calls. They could create their own information about what they want to say or offer. Palm Beach County has the 211 line that can provide services and is available in different languages. Seniors would not need the internet, just a phone. There are phone numbers in their newsletter. The two main numbers he gives out are in the County’s 211 and the Area Agency on Aging in Palm Beach County, which is county- wide. Ms. Lyman volunteered to make phone calls. Mr. Rolle has the numbers for assistance he will email to her. If seniors call the numbers, the service may be able to identify what group of people calls the most The City puts information on the marquee. Mr. Rolle wondered if there is an app. Ms. Black was aware one of the branches of the 211 number has elder crisis outreach counsellors. Seniors have to call the Sunshine line who calls the individual every day at the same time. If a senior has an issue or needs food, they can refer the case to a crisis outreach counselor who will call the individual to find out what services they need. She did not know if they do home visits, but they will bring them food and the services they need. They should get on the list. Mr. Harper suggested the Senior Advisory Board partner with different centers such as the Caridad center that may service groups with different languages. He thought it may be helpful if there was a brochure to distribute in multiple languages. Mr. Rolle did not Meeting Minutes Senior Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 7, 2021 5 think a brochure would be prohibited as long as the Board maintains a position of neutrality and is not selling anything. Mr. Harper expounded there are other organizations that are not businesses, that handle food distribution and health care. The centers are bilingual, and they would provide the information the Board provides so if their members or elders are needy, they know where to call. The Caridad Center is located around the area. It was suggested the Board look at the different non-profit centers, and if they are already supporting a segment of the population, maybe they can carve the elder portion of their groups they already have contact with. In Latino communities, the younger family takes good care of the older community. He will make a call to their leadership, get information showing they are non-profit and a service- based organization and see if they would be open to the Board supplying information so they could provide an orientation to the older population. Chair Cruz asked if they could come to a table at the senior health fair as a vendor. Mr. Rolle responded they could or still come into the senior center. Mr. Rolle will provide his information and requested the different organizations email or call him. Ms. Newton hoped all were aware of Healthier Boynton Beach and the information and services they provide for senior citizens and especially caregivers. There are other organizations with in the city. They mentioned churches and they mentioned the issue they had with senior renters. They called 211. She thought the Board needed to be aware of the services and offer to seniors. The largest organization she is aware of right now is Healthier Boynton. The Woman’s Circle also helps. If they are going to be a senior board, she believed the board should know what is available. Mr. Rolle suggested someone volunteer to collect the information and hen share it with each other along with 211 and the Area Agency on Aging. Ms. Newton stated the question that was asked about the number of people in our area who call 211 will be answered because they are doing that. Healthier Boynton Beach is keeping a tally. Ms. Newton will work with Healthier Boynton Beach and its liaison and email it to Mr. Rolle and if the members come across something they want to bring to the Board, the members can email him and it will make it an agenda item. Mr. Rolle provided his contact information for those who want to visit Mr. Rolle. As soon as Mr. Rolle knows about the Health Fair, he will email them. iii. 211 Sunshine Help Line for Seniors in the State of Florida This item was discussed with the above item. VIII. NEXT MEETING ………………. December 7, 2021 Chair Cruz announced the next meeting. Meeting Minutes Senior Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 7, 2021 6 IX. ADJOURNMENT Motion There being no further business to discuss, Mr. Harper moved to approve. The motion was duly seconded and unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 2:52 p.m. Catherine Cherry Minutes Specialist