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Home My WebLink About04-21-2022 Commission packetIf you will need disability related accommodations to participate in this program or event, please contact LaTasha DeLoach at latasha-deloach@iowa-city.org or 319-356-5225. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. Senior Center Commission Thursday, April 21, 2022 4 PM Senior Center Assembly Room Agenda 1. Introductions/Welcome—A. McConville 2. Minutes (March 17, 2022) 3. Public Discussion for items not on the agenda 4. Welcome from the Senior Center Coordinator - DeLoach 5. Operational Overview—DeLoach  Senior Center programming update  Senior Center master plan update 6. Commission Discussion— A. McConville  Senior Center master plan discussion  Low-income senior discussion  Member/Volunteer Event  Commissioner’s report of community correspondence  Future agenda Items 7. Adjourn **Next meeting is Thursday, May 19 at 4 PM ** Meeting Packet Contents: 1. Agenda: Thursday, April 21, 2022 2. Minutes: Senior Center Commission, Thursday, March 17, 2022 3. Senior Center Assessment and Master Plan Memo 4. “Low Income Single Elders”, by Doug Korty Preliminary Minutes March 17, 2022 1 MINUTES SENIOR CENTER COMMISSION March 17, 2022 ROOM 205, IOWA CITY/JOHNSON COUNTY SENIOR CENTER Members Present: Angela McConville, Linda Vogel, Paula Vaughan, Karen Page, Jeannie Beckman, Susan Carroll, Doug Korty Members Absent: None Staff Present: Michelle Buhman, Kristin Kromray Others Present: None CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by McConville at 4:00 PM. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE January 20, 2022 MEETING: Motion: To accept the minutes from the January 20, 2020. Motion carried on a vote of 7/0. Vogel/Carol PUBLIC DISCUSSION: None. NOMINATION FOR CHAIR, VICE CHAIR, SECRETARY: McConville reported the nominating committee had nominated the following people for the executive committee positions: Angie McConville for Chair, Linda Vogel for Vice Chair, and Jeanne Beckman for Secretary. She asked if there were any nominations from the floor for any of these positions. There were none. Ballots were distributed and commissioners voted. Kromray picked up and tallied the ballots. Results for officer elections are as follows: McConville elected Chair. 7 Ayes Vogel elected Vice Chair. 6 Ayes, 1 abstention Beckman elected Secretary. 7 Ayes Preliminary Minutes March 17, 2022 2 OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW: Buhman reported classes in the March and April program calendar have begun. Classes continue to be offered online and in person. Traffic in the building is beginning to increase. She noted she has been focused on rebuilding the in- person programming and this has taken some time given the uncertainly since reopening the building. Programming will continue to be offered on a 2-month scheduled and feedback has been positive. The City Council will be looking at the Senior Center master plan at their April 5th meeting. Repairs for the Tower Place parking ramp are currently in the bidding stage. Once a contract has been awarded, work can begin. There is some anticipated delay due to supply chain issues. Hopefully the project will be finished by the fall. The Senior Center has three treadmills, which all need repairs to the deck and treads. Two of the treadmills are going to be replaced. Funding for one treadmill is in our current budget. Friends of the Center is providing funding for the second treadmill. The newest treadmill will be repaired since it recently had some other repairs done. Buhman is looking for new machines that have a low step up, with good handrails, that is easy to use. The Senior Center has been awarded a grant from the Community Foundation to assist with technology for hybrid programming. Staff is working on a plan to have a set up in 302 that would better facilitate hybrid programming. Kromray reported a survey has been sent to current members and community members who previously received the program guide pre-Covid. The purpose is to see if and how people would like to receive future program calendars. Additionally, updated demographic questions have been included to ensure the Senior Center is meeting its goals and mission. Buhman reported that Im On media asked Friends of The Center to participate in a “March Gladness” event. People can vote for area non-profits and whoever wins receives $1000. McConville reminded commissioners to take the City’s survey for the City’s webpage redesign. COMMISSION DISCUSSION: McConville noted the two policies in the packet to be reviewed. The Fees and Revenue Policy has been updated to be more inclusive of the budget process and will now be named Budget, Revenue, and Expenses. The Reporting policy is new. Preliminary Minutes March 17, 2022 3 Motion to approve Budget, Revenue, and Expenses Policy. Vogel/ Beckman. Motion carried on a vote 7/0. Motion to approve Reporting Policy. Vaughn/ Vogel. Carried on a vote of 7/0. Vogel reported she is involved with the Iowa City Public Works Open House on May 21st. She said it should be a fun event with activities such as a quilt show, roller skating, food trucks, and an outdoor movie. McConville would like to discuss the previously proposed outdoor membership and volunteer party at the next meeting. Korty would like to discuss low-income seniors and how what the Senior Center can do to assist members of the community. He wrote a related article that will be in next month’s packet. Motion: To Adjourn. Preliminary Minutes March 17, 2022 4 Senior Center Commission Attendance Record Name Term Expires 4/15/21 5/20/21 6/17/21 7/15/21 8/19/21 9/16/21 10/21/21 11/18/21 12/16/21 1/21/22 2/17/22 3/17/22 Jeannie Beckman 12/31/22 -- X O/E X X NM X X O/E X NM X Victoria (Susan) Carroll 12/31/24 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X NM X Lorraine Dorfman 12/31/21 X X X X X NM X X X -- -- -- Susan Eberly 12/31/23 X X X O/E O/E NM O/E -- -- -- -- -- Zach Goldsmith 12/31/21 X X O/E O/E X NM X X X -- -- -- Douglas Korty 12/31/24 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- O/E NM X Angela McConville 12/31/24 O/E X X X X NM X X X X NM X Karen Page 12/31/23 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X Paula Vaughan 12/31/22 X X X X O/E NM X X X X NM X Linda Vogel 12/31/23 X X X O/E O/E NM X X O/E X NM X Key: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting -- = Not a member Low Income Single Elders By Doug Korty In 2009, one in three Americans 65 or older (13 out of 38 million) lived in low income households, including 8.9% in poverty, and 24.8% in near poverty. Women were more likely than men to be low income, 39% vs. 27%. This increases with age, poverty or near poverty was 44.2% for people 85 or older. As expected, low income was more common for African American elders at 50.2%, and Hispanics at 50.8%. It varied by living arrangement also. Poverty or near poverty for people over 65 living with a spouse with or without children under 18 was 22.9%, living alone or with children under 18 never married 48.1%; living alone or with children under 18, previously married 53.8%. A large percentage of women over 65 are single. For women born between 1946 and 1964, the projected marital status at age 62 is 59.4% married, 13.9% widowed, 19.1% divorced, 7.7% never married. For African American women the projected numbers are: 43.7% married, 13.7% widowed, 24% divorced, 18.6% never married. An important benefit for women is slipping. "More women are entering retirement without any claim on their spouses’ Social Security benefits—marriages must last ten years for a spouse to qualify. Between 1990 and 2009, the share of 50–59 year old women who were never married for more than a decade more than doubled from 7.5 percent to 16.2 percent. Among African- American women, the share skyrocketed from 13.4 percent to 33.9 percent." Poverty for single elders is particularly difficult because expenses per person are higher than for couples. Expenses for one person are on average 65-70% of the expenses of a couple. This is because housing, utilities and transportation costs are not much less for one retired person than they are for two. Thus, the loss of a spouse due to death or divorce often not only pushes someone into poverty or near poverty by lowering their household income but also hurts because their expenses fall by much less than half. For example, a couple with an income of $3000 per month and average expenses of $3000 – one person dies, the spouse is left with $1500 per month income and $2100 in expenses (70% of $3000), facing a $600 per month shortfall. A person who was not poor suddenly finds they are incapable of paying all of their bills. By sharing a home and car with another person, someone could cut expenses by 33%. Sharing with more than one person could cut expenses even more. It makes sense therefore for low income singles to share housing. This may involve something as simple as reaching out to friends or relatives or placing or answering an ad. Or it could mean something more involved such as contacting organizations dedicated to helping people find shared housing situations: http://nationalsharedhousing.org/ http://homeshare.org/programmes-worldwide/usa/ http://www.sharinghousing.com/ Relevant information is available: http://www.americanbar.org/publications/gp_solo/2013/july_august/a_guide_shared_and_comm unal_housing_the_elderly.html http://homeshare.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/A-Consumers-Guide-to-Homesharing.pdf Nolo, the legal information publishing company, has a book on the subject, The Sharing Solution: How to Save Money, Simplify Your Life & Build Community, by Janelle Orsi & Emily Doskow, Nolo, 2009 Sources for this article: http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/412296-Poverty-Among-Older-Americans.pdf http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1522 http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/social-mobility-memos/posts/2014/10/09-retirement-women- poverty-social-mobility-harris