SVSACS Members Meeting Minutes
Friday, October 9, 2009
Call to Order
The regular monthly meeting of the Southeast Vancouver Seniors Arts & Cultural Society (SVSACS) was called to order at 10:10 a.m. on Friday, October 9, at Champlain Heights Community Centre.
Call to Order
The following members were present:
Joan Wright, Manfred Hagen, Bert Massiah, Kamlesh Sethi, Florence Fung, Tom Chin, Lorna Gibbs
Staff: Brian Swartz, Debbie Osborne
Regrets: Lorie Parkes
Approval of October 9 Agenda
Bert Massiah made a motion to approve the agenda. Seconded by Manfred Hagen. Carried.
Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
Joan Wright made motion to approve the September 12 Meeting Minutes. Seconded by Manfred Hagen. Carried.
Correspondence
Correspondence file folder was circulated.
Old Business
Discussion of The Red Book tabled until next meeting. Update on status of charitable number, see "President's Report."
President's Report: Lorna Gibbs
Dan Chapelski reported that SVSACS Business Licence has been granted. Our Charitable Status application was submitted at the same time as our Business Licence application, but we have had no advice regarding Charitable Status as yet. Lorna Gibbs will contact our MLA, Hon. Kash Heed (604-775–2246) to inquire if there is any action that could be taken to speed up consideration and approval. Consideration of these applications is known to be very slow.
Terms of Reference for Feasibility Study: Mark Vulliamy has been preparing terms, and expects that they will be sent out to three consulting firms on October 9. He has requested their speedy response.
Lorna attended opening of Olympic Training Rink at Killarney. Mayor Gregor Robertson and many other notables were on hand for the occasion, including Member of Parliament, Ujjal Dosanjh and Keith Frew representing Hon. Kash Heed. Raj Hundal (Park Board Chair) was Master of Ceremonies.
Question last meeting regarding annual $5 membership fee: We wish to emphasize that no one will be turned away. If someone can't afford the fee, we will still consider them a member as long as they are registered as such, and are participants. An article has been prepared that explains "Membership," which is being translated into Punjabi and Chinese. Copies will be made available at our next meeting. The article in English will accompany these minutes as a separate document, and will appear in News & Views, published by the Seniors Council of South Vancouver Neighbourhood House (SVNH).
Memories Writing Workshop at Killarney ended quite suddenly. The Chair invited suggestions on how we can obtain and save the stories of the South Asian Men's Group, as they did express interest in participating in the project (see "Discussion Notes" below). Copies of similar projects undertaken by the Community were circulated for the committee's consideration.
The invoice for our SVSACS website was declined for payment by CityPlan. The reason given was that CityPlan cannot monitor content on websites. Assurances were given that our website is not objectionable in any way, but they still would not pay the invoice. This has now become SVSACS's responsibility.
Philip Mah and I attended a monthly Victoria-Fraserview-Killarney (VFK) CityPlan meeting held at Killarney Community Centre on September 24. Notes from that meeting are in the circulating correspondence file. Topics cover almost every aspect of life in Southeast Vancouver, and if you want to have a voice in developing our community, you would do well to join the committee. Meetings are held on the last Thursday of each month at 7 p.m., at the Killarney Community Centre.
Note: Cost for senior residential care (room and board) will go up starting in January 2010. Health Minister, Kevin Falcon announced increases of $22.10 per day. The current maximum is $74.30. The new maximum will be $96.40. The lowest rate will drop to $29.40 per day. The formula is that seniors are to pay 80 per cent of their after-tax income for care.
Upcoming Events
- Oct. 14 – Seasonal Flu Shot, 9:30 to noon, Champlain Heights Community Centre
- Oct. 15 – Diwali Celebration, 1 to 3 p.m., South Vancouver Neighbourhood House
- Oct. 15 – Diwali Celebration (with Kamlesh as leader), 6 to 9 p.m., South Vancouver Neighbourhood House
- Oct. 16 – Interactive Tea & Memories Workshop (with Phil Stephens), 1 to 4 p.m., Champlain Heights Community Centre
- Oct. 22 – Seasonal Flu Shot at Killarney Community Centre CANCELLED
- Oct. 28 – Charlie's Chocolate Factory Tour (Cost: $5). Bus leaves at 10 a.m. To register, contact Champlain Heights Community Centre (604-718-6575)
- Nov. 9 – Seasonal Flu Shot, 9:30 to noon, Champlain Heights Community Centre
- Nov. 13 – SVSACS Regular Members Meeting, 10 a.m., Champlain Heights Community Centre
- Nov. 13 –Circle Craft Fair Bus Trip (time for Christmas gifts!) To register, contact Champlain Heights Community Centre (604-718-6575) as soon as possible.
Programmers' Reports
South Asian Programmer, Kamlesh Sethi: Kamlesh is leading a group at SVNH to provide basic survival English for Punjabi-speaking seniors. Her SVSACS program at SVNH is "Family Fun Night," where participants learn new dances, sing, play games and practice a little English conversation. Everyone is welcome. You don't have to be of South Asian origin, and all SVSACS Directors are urged to come. Held on the third Thursday of each month from 6 to 9 p.m. You are also invited to attend Diwali Celebrations on October 15. There are two events: one in the afternoon from 1 until 3; and another (Kamlesh's) from 6 to 9 p.m.
Sunset Programmer, Jukka Vuorma: Unable to attend. Lorna reported that she had been informed that the afternoon conference with Exercise & Rehab Specialist, Andrew Burchell scheduled for October 9 at Sunset was cancelled due to low registration. Bert noted that he did not see much lead-up advertising, and suggested that more complete information about how the workshop would benefit participants be provided. We believe this event will be rescheduled and promoted well in advance of the workshop date.
SVSACS Programmer, Lorie Parkes: Unable to attend due to illness. The "President's Report" attempted to cover the available information regarding upcoming programs.
Champlain Programmer, Brian Swartz: Brian spoke about the Queen Elizabeth Park & Conservatory Bus Trip. Only eight seniors participated, however the bus went out as scheduled as it was too late to cancel. Those who participated enjoyed the event, and most particularly the orange-coloured cockatoo's amusing antics.
Killarney Programmer, Ashley Beattie: Now gone on maternity leave. Chris Podlecki will be assuming the responsibilities of Adult and Senior Programmer at Killarney. We look forward to working with Chris and extend a warm welcome. Thanks to Ashley for service above and beyond the call of duty.
Bouquets: Florence Fung – Florence presented a folder of Petition Forms. She has worked diligently to translate names signed in Chinese to assist Lorie Parkes in data input. Many thanks Florence.
Koyali Burman – Thanks for introducing the South Asian Men's Group to SVSACS Workshop.
Discussion & Action
Killarney South Asian and Chinese seniors participation in Memories Book
Koyali Burman introduced the Killarney South Asian Men's Group to the Writing Workshop and they seemed interested. However no further workshop is planned for Killarney at present. If the group is still interested, Kamlesh offered to help out for one morning session. Kamlesh agreed to go to Killarney Community Centre to act as a translator for the South Asian Men's Group (if the Workshop Leader, artist Phil Stephens can be available on a Wednesday morning).
Brian Swartz has offered speak to Roy Liu at Killarney to: determine if members of the South Asian Men's Group are still interested in telling their stories; discuss promoting the workshop to Chinese-speaking older-adult groups; and ask if Roy would be willing and able to assist with translation if need be. Lorna will inquire to see whether Phil Stephens is able to do additional sessions to accommodate these two groups. Their participation is needed to accurately reflect our community.
If the South Asian Men's Group are still keen to participate, we may require more than one translator and scribe! It was noted that writing may not be an option for some members in the groups mentioned, so that both translators and volunteer scribes may be necessary. Extra funding will be required for the extra work. The first question will be how much credit we still have in trust with CityPlan. Lorna Gibbs will ascertain.
New Business
Fundraiser: A sample of the Earth Day Badge (by Andy Sorfleet, designer of 2009 Earth Day campaign) was displayed. Andy's partners raised almost $300.00 to contribute to Earth Day, based solely on voluntary donations for the badges. Badges bearing the SVSACS logo in colour could be a good ongoing fundraiser, and identify members and supporters when we attend functions, events, etc. Following discussion, a motion was made that Lorna would get two quotes: one from the Six Cent Press, and one from Troy Tremblay ay Alternate Root. Motion by Joan Wright. Seconded Kamlesh Sethi.
Council of Senior Citizen Organizations of B.C. Membership: This group advocates on behalf of seniors' organizations, and confers various rights and privileges to members. They can assist us in lobbying for seniors' centre. Other benefits would be that SVSACS members would have the right to call on The Senior Citizen's Repair Service. This group offers services by experienced union trade people at reasonable rates. Annual fee is $50. Motion by Joan Wright to apply for membership was carried unanimously.
Cross-cultural Network to meet at SVNH: The group's main focus is to disseminate information to those working with seniors: advocates, caregivers, etc. Speakers from various disciplines are invited to speak at monthly meetings. The speaker invited to the meeting to held on October 19 (at 10 a.m.) is Susan Lennon, Coordinator of Caregiver Support with Vancouver Coastal Health. You are most welcome to attend.
Bert raised the question of monthly Executive meetings to ensure that the many activities that SVSACS is now involved with are reported, considered, and fully discussed. His concern is that our groups are scattered, and this puts an added burden of responsibility on Executive Directors to be informed about planned activities, their timing and funding. It is recommended that meetings be held in the evening to ensure that those still working may participate, and to allow SVSACS to draw on expertise of other resource people for advice. i.e. legal, board development, etc. Tabled until the November Meeting.
What's in a name?: Some discontent has been expressed about use of the word, "senior." A brief discussion about changing our society's name was held No consensus was reached, and the matter was tabled.
Next Meeting
Next meeting will be held on November 13, 10 a.m., at Champlain Heights Community Centre.
Adjournment
Joan Wright made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 11:25 a.m. Seconded by Bert. Carried.
