COMMITTEE ON AGING CONCERNS (2008)

History

When the McCutchen Friends Home was laid down in 2007, the board used its endowment to establish the Friends Foundation for the Aging. Since The McCutchen was located in North Plain- field, NJ, the board felt a particular concern to enable some type of program for seniors within New York Yearly Meeting.

A working group under the care of Nurture Coordinating Committee was appointed at Summer Sessions, 2007. The working group, with support and input from the Foundation, designed a program that would help connect seniors and the disabled in New York Yearly Meeting with the resources they were eligible for but, often, were unaware of. At Fall Sessions 2007 NCC made the working group a committee in order to provide the mechanism for the transfer of funds from the Foundation.

Functions & Activities

The Committee on Aging Concerns (CAC) operates a pilot program named ARCH: Aging Resources, Consultation, and Help. ARCH presently serves those meetings within one hour of Albany. Meetings are offered skill-building workshops to assist intergenerational activities within the Meeting, such as: Life Stories, Share the Care, Healthy Choices, Advance Care Planning, and Seasons of life.

It is the intention of the committee to expand ARCH to all of New York Yearly Meeting if the program proves feasible. To that end, CAC also coordinates activities with other New York Yearly Meeting committees and meetings, in addition to their responsibilities for ARCH, in order to identify and meet the needs of all seniors in New York Yearly Meeting.

Finally, CAC disperses the funds received from the Friends Foundation for the Aging.

Organization & Method of Appointment

The Committee on Aging is made up of six to eight members in three classes of three-year terms, approved on the recommendation of the NYYM Nominating Committee. The committee names a clerk, a financial clerk, a recording clerk, and a representative to Nurture Coordinating Committee. The committee hires, pays, and supervises the appropriate number of coordinators to support the ARCH Program. Presently two coordinators are under the care of CAC. The coordinators are legally staff of New York Yearly Meeting, and therefore also fall under the staff policies as promulgated and interpreted by the Personnel Committee in the General Services Section.

Meeting Times & Places

Meetings are held at the convenience of the committee, but no less than three times a year.

Finances

The ARCH Program and its coordinators are funded by the Friends Foundation for the Aging. CAC itself is funded by the New York Yearly Meeting budget, with a budget line under the Nurture Section.