Members Present:
Sandy Grant, David Getzoff, Suzanne deKozen, Art Rosenblum, George Irizary, Arlene Irizary, Ann Walker, Gloria Stubbs, Kathy Osbun, Davis Brown, Marc Alexander and Barbara France.
Member Absent:
Dana May Casperson
Call to Order:
The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Parkinson’s Support Group of Sonoma County (PSGSC) was called to order by Chair, Kathy Osbun at 10:10 a.m.
Approval of Minutes:
The minutes of the August 20, 2014 Board meeting were approved with the following correction: HiCap is the acronym for Health Insurance Counseling Advocacy Program. Treasurer’s Report:
Sandy reviewed the balance sheet and the profit and loss statement. The net income for August 2014, was $75.36 and for the 2014 year thus far is $1841.27. The August income included $205 from the donation jar, $50.00 on sale of assets (old video recorder), $2.76 from sale of tulip pin and $.75 interest. The expenses for the month included $26.64 for Library expenses, $50.00 for set up and take down costs, $6.51 for meeting supplies and $100. facilities rental for the singing group.
Art has verified that the three cash accounts match the presented financial statements. Arlene made the motion that the Treasurer’s Report be accepted, Art seconded the motion which was passed on a voice vote.
Programs:
Singing Group: Kathy reported that there were 10 members at the last singing group practice and feed back was largely positive. There is still concern that Cheryl spends too much time on exercises although there is also general agreement that the exercises contribute greatly to the value of the program. It was suggested that the exercises could be broken up with singing rather than doing exercises for 20 minutes before beginning to sing. Suggestions also included adding new songs having the song sheets written in large print.
Kathy said that Cheryl is very open to suggestions and wants it to be the best possible experience for the group and members should feel free to make suggestions or to give feed back.
Survey: Marc said that he had received 76 completed surveys and all topics had significant support. Choices ranged from a low of 16 for dance to a high of 44 for subjects dealing with cognitive issues. The take away from this is that members are interested in all aspects of the disease. Marc asked if board members had any specific topics or people that they would like him to pursue for the 2015 year. Suggestions included a neurosurgeon who does DBS and Occupational and Physical Therapists. Another issue that people often neglect or prefer not to think about is health care directives. Dorothy Foster, who has retired from Redwood Care Givers, is part of a group that is getting together a list of speakers who will bring attention to this issue. Kathy noted that the largest attendance came when we had movement disorder specialists so including those would always be good. Another resource is the Teva rep who will be accompanying Dr. Zhang at our October meeting
Transportation: Transportation remains a very large issue for people, especially those who live alone. Paratransit is not always a very easy answer to this problem. Sonoma Access is a non profit group that is trying to organize to provide transportation help to low income seniors and seniors with disabilities. There will be a public hearing on October 15 at the Office of Adult and Aging Services where Sonoma Access will state their case for future funding. They have sent a notice to our group asking for support. Arlene thinks that they are asking for our support for this hearing in order to demonstrate community support for their efforts. When Dr. Zhang was last here he offered to block book appointments for patients going from Santa Rosa to Sacramento to his office. This did not work out because of the extraordinary amount of time involved because everyone would have to stay until all appointments were complete and this would be in addition to the travel time. Partners in Parkinson. Suzanne reported that she had discovered that the Michael J Fox Foundation puts on the Partners in Parkinson’s only in big cities, not places the size of Santa Rosa. She hopes to contact someone in the foundation to state our case as an active but underserved area and to perhaps get some of their speakers to speak at our meetings.
Publicity:
It is time to think about replacing brochures we had previously placed in Medical Offices and other appropriate places. Susan Swartz: Kathy and Arlene put together a response to Susan’s earlier enquiry about dance or exercise classes locally for PD patients. Kathy gave suggestions that Susan might want to pursue in an article but she is a health and fitness features writer and will have to frame it as best suits her assignment.
Fundraising:
Mary’s Pizza: October 8 is the settled date for the Mary’s Pizza fundraiser. We will print 100 fliers which will be available at the meeting and Sandy will send out email coupons. There will be a reminder at the October meeting and further reminders sent out through an email blast. It is hoped that members will pass the word and coupons to family and friends.
Video: Marc will contact the Summerfield Theatre and the Sebastopol Art Center to see if they would be willing to host a fundraiser for the video “Larry’s Ride.” Marc said that the Director would be willing to come to a fundraising event and talk about the movie.
Board Members:
Kathy said that we have gone through this year short two Board members and now we have a few people who may be seriously interested in serving on the Board. She asked that we all make the decision about whether or not we will be serving next year so that she can determine how many positions will be open.
Long Range Planning:
We seem to have no lack of ideas about what the group might support but we have not had an organized method of following through. Suzanne and Arlene both noted the importance of establishing goals and then investigating how to implement them as well as developing a proposed budget. This approach is probably too much to be done at a regular board meeting and we should plan a meeting in the new year to discuss proposals and decide who will carry through on developing those ideas and determining feasibility.
Other:
George contacted PANC and found that the singing group is covered under our existing insurance. Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m. by Chair, Kathy Osbun. The next meeting will be Wednesday October 15, 2014, at Brush Creek Senior Living.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara France, Recording Secretary
Sandy Grant, David Getzoff, Suzanne deKozen, Art Rosenblum, George Irizary, Arlene Irizary, Ann Walker, Gloria Stubbs, Kathy Osbun, Davis Brown, Marc Alexander and Barbara France.
Member Absent:
Dana May Casperson
Call to Order:
The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Parkinson’s Support Group of Sonoma County (PSGSC) was called to order by Chair, Kathy Osbun at 10:10 a.m.
Approval of Minutes:
The minutes of the August 20, 2014 Board meeting were approved with the following correction: HiCap is the acronym for Health Insurance Counseling Advocacy Program. Treasurer’s Report:
Sandy reviewed the balance sheet and the profit and loss statement. The net income for August 2014, was $75.36 and for the 2014 year thus far is $1841.27. The August income included $205 from the donation jar, $50.00 on sale of assets (old video recorder), $2.76 from sale of tulip pin and $.75 interest. The expenses for the month included $26.64 for Library expenses, $50.00 for set up and take down costs, $6.51 for meeting supplies and $100. facilities rental for the singing group.
Art has verified that the three cash accounts match the presented financial statements. Arlene made the motion that the Treasurer’s Report be accepted, Art seconded the motion which was passed on a voice vote.
Programs:
Singing Group: Kathy reported that there were 10 members at the last singing group practice and feed back was largely positive. There is still concern that Cheryl spends too much time on exercises although there is also general agreement that the exercises contribute greatly to the value of the program. It was suggested that the exercises could be broken up with singing rather than doing exercises for 20 minutes before beginning to sing. Suggestions also included adding new songs having the song sheets written in large print.
Kathy said that Cheryl is very open to suggestions and wants it to be the best possible experience for the group and members should feel free to make suggestions or to give feed back.
Survey: Marc said that he had received 76 completed surveys and all topics had significant support. Choices ranged from a low of 16 for dance to a high of 44 for subjects dealing with cognitive issues. The take away from this is that members are interested in all aspects of the disease. Marc asked if board members had any specific topics or people that they would like him to pursue for the 2015 year. Suggestions included a neurosurgeon who does DBS and Occupational and Physical Therapists. Another issue that people often neglect or prefer not to think about is health care directives. Dorothy Foster, who has retired from Redwood Care Givers, is part of a group that is getting together a list of speakers who will bring attention to this issue. Kathy noted that the largest attendance came when we had movement disorder specialists so including those would always be good. Another resource is the Teva rep who will be accompanying Dr. Zhang at our October meeting
Transportation: Transportation remains a very large issue for people, especially those who live alone. Paratransit is not always a very easy answer to this problem. Sonoma Access is a non profit group that is trying to organize to provide transportation help to low income seniors and seniors with disabilities. There will be a public hearing on October 15 at the Office of Adult and Aging Services where Sonoma Access will state their case for future funding. They have sent a notice to our group asking for support. Arlene thinks that they are asking for our support for this hearing in order to demonstrate community support for their efforts. When Dr. Zhang was last here he offered to block book appointments for patients going from Santa Rosa to Sacramento to his office. This did not work out because of the extraordinary amount of time involved because everyone would have to stay until all appointments were complete and this would be in addition to the travel time. Partners in Parkinson. Suzanne reported that she had discovered that the Michael J Fox Foundation puts on the Partners in Parkinson’s only in big cities, not places the size of Santa Rosa. She hopes to contact someone in the foundation to state our case as an active but underserved area and to perhaps get some of their speakers to speak at our meetings.
Publicity:
It is time to think about replacing brochures we had previously placed in Medical Offices and other appropriate places. Susan Swartz: Kathy and Arlene put together a response to Susan’s earlier enquiry about dance or exercise classes locally for PD patients. Kathy gave suggestions that Susan might want to pursue in an article but she is a health and fitness features writer and will have to frame it as best suits her assignment.
Fundraising:
Mary’s Pizza: October 8 is the settled date for the Mary’s Pizza fundraiser. We will print 100 fliers which will be available at the meeting and Sandy will send out email coupons. There will be a reminder at the October meeting and further reminders sent out through an email blast. It is hoped that members will pass the word and coupons to family and friends.
Video: Marc will contact the Summerfield Theatre and the Sebastopol Art Center to see if they would be willing to host a fundraiser for the video “Larry’s Ride.” Marc said that the Director would be willing to come to a fundraising event and talk about the movie.
Board Members:
Kathy said that we have gone through this year short two Board members and now we have a few people who may be seriously interested in serving on the Board. She asked that we all make the decision about whether or not we will be serving next year so that she can determine how many positions will be open.
Long Range Planning:
We seem to have no lack of ideas about what the group might support but we have not had an organized method of following through. Suzanne and Arlene both noted the importance of establishing goals and then investigating how to implement them as well as developing a proposed budget. This approach is probably too much to be done at a regular board meeting and we should plan a meeting in the new year to discuss proposals and decide who will carry through on developing those ideas and determining feasibility.
Other:
George contacted PANC and found that the singing group is covered under our existing insurance. Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m. by Chair, Kathy Osbun. The next meeting will be Wednesday October 15, 2014, at Brush Creek Senior Living.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara France, Recording Secretary
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