Agenda - 02-16-2010 - 3a - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: February 16, 2010 Action Agenda Item No. 3 - a SUBJECT: Presentation of the North Carolina 2009 Ernest B. Messer Award to Orange County DEPARTMENT: Aging PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Award Notification Letter-January 13, 2010 Jerry Passmore- 245-2020 PURPOSE: To receive the North Carolina 2009 Ernest B. Messer Award from Dennis W. Streets, Director of the North Carolina Division of Aging and Adult Services. BACKGROUND: The Messer Award recognizes a community that has excelled in addressing the needs of its older residents. Orange County through its Department on Aging is a recipient organization for the 2009 Messer Award. This award is named for Ernest B. Messer, a champion for aging in the North Carolina General Assembly and former assistant secretary for aging for the NC Department of Health and Human Services between 1981 and 1985. Orange County, the first North Carolina County with a public department on aging, has the unique honor of receiving the Messer Award for the second time. The County received the 2004 Messer Award for establishing the County Master Aging Plan: APublic-Private Partnership for 2001-2005. Barry Jacobs, then Chair of the Board of County Commissioners, accepted the award for the County's leadership in passage of a bond for and planned construction of two state-of-the-art multipurpose senior centers, and for the startup of the County's first adult day health program. The 2009 Messer Award recognizes Orange County and the Department on Aging for fostering community partnerships and creative programming through an inter-disciplinary team of professionals who champion person-centered, holistic care of older residents. Programs highlighted by the award are: (1) A dedicated County Aging Information Hotline staffed by professionals who, if needed, can follow up with a home visit or office appointment at a senior center; (2) A strong commitment to public awareness of aging services by the publication of an annual Community Resource Guide, a quarterly Senior Times newspaper, and producing an award-winning weekly community access television show, "In Praise of Age";