COA respite grant continued

Roberta Lynch tells me that the Council on Aging’s grant from the Metrowest Health Foundation to provide respite care at The Center has been extended for another year.  Roberta said that the Metrowest Health Foundation expects them to get their census up over the next year.  The hope is that the program will become self-financed once the census increases.

Selectman office hours

Issues discussed and ideas generated at my first selectman office hours:

• Install solar photvoltaic panels on the roof of The Center.  Roberta Lynch indicated that she was in favor of getting more information.
• The concrete crushing facility a the end of Adams Street is seeking to move to a West Mill Street location – the old Varney Concrete site.  John Santucci operates the concrete crushing facility at his father’s property on Adams Street, and is looking to permit it at the new site, which he would share with  Mike Lueders, who needs space to store his Brook street company’s fleet of landscaping and tree care vehicles.
• Council on Aging has a capital budget request in for a new van this year.
• Pay raise for the Council on Aging’s director.

I had a great time, good conversations, plus had coffee and a raspberry croissant and took a Tai Chi class.

Office hours

I will be holding office hours at The Center on the first Friday of every month (my litigation schedule permitting), starting on January 4, 2013, from 9 – 10 AM.  Please feel free to stop by to talk about anything.  Visitors can also see the Council on Aging in action, a vibrant organization with lots going on.

COA Adult Respite Care Program has started

The COA April newsletter relates the start up of Roberta Lynch’s new Adult Respite Care Program on March 20, and introduces the two new employees, Grace Nuziato and Kathy Powers.  Roberta obtained a Metrowest Healthcare Foundation grant to cover the start up costs of outfitting the room and ramping up the operation.  Earlier this week Roberta gave me a tour of the room that is being used by the respite program, and it has nicely done built-ins and fixtures made possible by the grant.

Congratulations to Roberta for getting this great new initiative up and running.  She has been planning for years on providing this respite care.

Respite care at The Center

Roberta Lynch, Director of the Council on Aging, reported to the Board of Selectmen at our meeting last night that the COA received a grant from the MetroWest Health Foundation for $32,676 to implement a respite program at The Center.  She hopes to open the program by 2/1, operating on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 AM to 3 PM, providing care to up to eight individuals, in order to assist both the care givers and the care recipients.

If the initial phase works well, and if there is both a greater need and demand, she said that she hopes to ultimately expand the service.  Preference will be given to Medfield residents.