The NEK Council on Aging held its 2022 Annual Meeting on November 17th at the East Side Restaurant in Newport, VT. The meeting was open to the public and attended by an estimated 45 people.
The meeting began with a welcome from the Council’s Executive Director, Meg Burmeister and an address from Board President, Susan Gordon who thanked staff and volunteers.
“We appreciate how the leadership and staff have responded to the many challenges presented by Covid-19 these past two years,” said Gordon. “They have been innovative at carrying out their responsibilities, adapting to a variety of restrictions, changes in service delivery, and new forms of technology while continuing to provide a high level of service and support to our clients. We are proud of their dedication and perseverance.”
Gordon thanked the board for their continued service and offered gratitude to outgoing board members Sue Montague of St. Johnsbury and Kathy Hemmens of Hardwick.
A new slate of officers for the Board of Directors was nominated and approved. They are Susan Gordon, President; Anne Steinberg, Vice President; Evan Hammond, Treasurer; and Kris Lance, Secretary. New members of the Board were nominated and approved. They are Debbie Dorsett of Orleans, Michele Graves of Danville, David Perry of Craftsbury, and Robert Rivard of Newport.
"It is great to finally be together in person after working through the challenges of the pandemic—something we’ve all learned to not take for granted,” said Meg Burmeister. “As we work to support people in our community, the work that Congress enacted by the Older Americans Act in 1965, we are committed to helping older Vermonters to choose where and how they live, independently and with dignity.”
Burmeister described new initiatives and services presented over the year. Trualta, the 24/7 online portal for caregiver support and GetSetUp, another e-learning portal providing thousands of online classes and workshops for a myriad of interests (travel, cooking, wellness, technology and more). The volunteer services program at the Council, which includes the AmeriCorps Senior Program, has been expanded by a grant to provide staff for wellness and technology support for home bound clients, and volunteer enhancement and recruitment support directly in NEK communities.
The guest speaker, Beth Stern, Outreach Representative for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, spoke of the work Senator Sanders is doing in Congress to support elder and disabled Vermonters. Stern was also the former Executive Director of the Central Vermont Council on Aging where she worked for 30 years.
Members of the NEKCOA Leadership Team shared their experiences of working to support the needs of NEK elder friends and neighbors and the need to fight discrimination against the elderly.
The Council honored Kathy Hemmens with the 2022 Humanitarian Hero award to celebrate and recognize her dedication and service to the Council and its mission, to provide resources to communities to age well.
The meeting concluded with a slideshow of activity over the year and recognition of staff for years of service. Kim Rivard was honored for 10 years of service, and Dawn Mitchell for 5 years of service. Rivard and Mitchell are certified Information & Referral Specialists who manage the NEKCOA hotline (800) 642-5119. Rivard and Mitchell are certified with The Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS) is the professional membership association for community Information and Referral (I&R).
Retiring NEKCOA employees were also recognized. They are Karen Budde, former AmeriCorps Senior Program Coordinator and Patty Beckwith, former Senior Companion Program Coordinator.
A copy of the 2022 NEKCOA Annual Report is available at
www.nekcouncil.org.
