meeting schedule
Check back for future meetings - see summaries of past meetings below:
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Reston for a Lifetime Meeting Summary:
Dec. 10, 2014 2PM @ HW RCC Special thanks to Tammi Petrine of Reston Citizens Associationfor taking notes!! The presenter and host for this meeting was Sharon Canner, a Reston volunteer. Attending were over 30 community members. The subject matters: Village to Village & information and Snow Removal Village to Village Sharon, a Reston resident, attended the recent Village to Village Gathering Conference in DC from Sept. 29 - Oct 1, courtesy of RA who paid her tuition. * 120 villages are in this network in US, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. * 280 members attended the conference, a record # including members of WAVE * WAVE stands for Washington Area Village Exchange and includes 17 villages in the DC area; 10 more are in Fairfax Co. * Included in the conference was an important "Intro to Capitol Hill" were village reps attempted to educate legislators re: the advantages of senior funding and the village concept. 1. Older Americans Act expired in 2011. 2. Aging in place reduces costs to families and taxpayers. 3. It also reduces Medicare costs. 4. Berkley research shows that after joining village support orgs, seniors feel Other points on V 2 V info: * Fairfax County has initiated the 50+ plan with many features including Smart 911 * Smart 911 allows emergency personnel access to allergy, medical info so when on call, they know what they are encountering. (I do not understand how this is allowed with all the HIPA laws... Please check if I have this right.) * "Connect" is a FFX Co. website being created by Volunteer Fairfax to serve as an info clearing house for seniors. * Other web resources: VA Navigator and Senior Navigator Features of a Village: * Vet repair firms * Technical services * Conduct daily contact calls * Provide hotline * Foster social connections * Provide or arrange for transportation * Most charge a membership fee Example of a local village: Mt. Vernon at Home * $700 individual/$950/couple annual fee happier and healthier. * Staffed by exec director and office assistant * Light handyman tasks * Referrals for other providers who are vetted * Reliable transportation (vetted or provided) Member discussion followed including: * Other efforts to provide reference info to seniors by RCC, RA and other agencies of FFX Co. gov't. * Karen, senior coordinator for RCC spoke on her efforts to provide Reston seniors with appropriate resources, classes and activities. 1. GMU has been contacted numerous times with no response so far; thought 2. Also mentioned efforts to engage HS and Girl/Boy Scouts with senior classes/ 3. Classes for which RCC pays an instructor have a fee; those taught by Going forward in 2015: What do RFAL members envision as needed issues: * Create neighbor to neighbor contact * Establish info desk/hotline somewhere * Develop consolidated website How to accomplish some of these things and random info: * Use cluster newsletters or email lists to inform seniors of resources/events * Metro access: must be handicapped; $3/taxi ride * Dial-a-Ride: seniors can purchase $30 taxi voucher for $10. * Re: Mt Vernon @ Home program: it is currently housed in Alex. Sherwood Library on 2nd jeopardy. Pat Rohrer of FFX Co. senior services is aware and said officials are aware and working for a solution. Further disc. on problems with county trying to cut library services to bone. Martin of Cathy Hudgin's staff urged library supporter to come to Feb budget hearing at Frying Pan Park to lobby for our concerns. Reston Plans for Snow Removal: (Lead by RA communications and maintenance staff) * Snow buddy program idea: Volunteers team up with seniors in advance to shovel when snow exceeds 2"; location of needed areas shoveled is established. Problem: how to make initial contact? Fabulous idea as pairings could continue after snow season. * Previously at Southgate, shovels were provided free to youngsters who wished to make some $ shoveling. Unknown if program is on-going and how contact is made between shovelers and folks who need it.was that grad students could assist with some of ideas and programs for grad credit: win/win.activities. HS students teach tech courses like "How to program and use a cell phone"volunteers are free. * VDOT has enormous job just plowing streets and has no way of shoveling VDOT sidewalks. Therefore lapses in shoveled network exist; Question is how to get continuous coverage from other sources. * VDOT plows on streets sometime re-cover previously shoveled sidewalks which is super frustrating. * RA's yellow plows have an amazing record of clearing RA's 55 miles of pathways, often in the dark of night. All schools are connected throughout Reston by pathways but parents are reluctant to have kids walk on off-the-beaten-pathway system. * RA's plows have 6' plow blades but public sidewalks are only 4' in width. RA also has no legal authority to clear VDOT property. They are applying for a waiver but still the 6'/4' plow width is a problem. * RA also hand shovels some areas but only in daylight and after snow stops falling. |
Notes from the Greenhouse Meeting March 12, 2014
Steve Gurney, RFAL monitor, introduced subject with comments re: Cameron Glen moving out of Reston to Sterling in immediate future and the resulting lack of a nursing home with skilled nursing care in Reston. Together with Bonnie Whyte, he arranged for The Green House ® Project (www.thegreenhouseproject.org) to make presentation to RFAL. Attendance was unusually high; all seats taken and new ones added. 40+ folks including governmental and quasi-governmental reps. Panel:
"What is a meaningful life?" "What are needs for same in long-term care setting?"
The Green House Project believes that "words matter." "Elderhood" is a new term for a final stage of life in the continuum: Infancy, Childhood, Teenage Years, Adulthood, Elderhood. The Green House model Characteristics:
Brand
VMRC is first Green House project in Virginia and is just celebrating its 1st birthday; they opened 3 cottage complex in 2013. 30 patients were removed from 120 bed traditional nursing home nearby and resettled in cottages. First Steps to founding a Green House project:
Stadium Place is a 30 acre site on plat of former Memorial Stadium in Baltimore which became available for development when Camden Yard was built. The site contains a YMCA as well as affordable senior housing as well as other market rate housing units.
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