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Jarett Hughes, Senior Policy Advisor on Aging for the Governor, will explain the basics of the Lifelong Colorado State Plan, as it promotes quality of life for older Coloradans as vital members of our communities. Lifelong Colorado is our statewide initiative that captures local, regional, and state strategies supporting aging in the community. At the state-level, this involves coordinating agency planning and aligning implementation efforts in-line with Colorado’s Strategic Action Plan on Aging. At the local-level, one of the most critical components in response to our shifting demographics are livable community efforts through either the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities and the Denver Regional Council of Governments Boomer Bond initiative. Both AARP and DRCOG efforts focus on housing, transportation, built environment, workforce development, social engagement, health care, and community support services. Access, or lack of access, to these domains across the lifespan drive health disparities and impact health outcomes in later life. Our emerging demographic reality is a first and will become our new normal as generations of Coloradans continue to live long and productive lives. It also requires us to confront, and boldly address, the challenges that adequately supporting an aging population raises.

We will host happy hour in person!!  Details to come.

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Join the SRC for our annual presentation: Colorado and Regional Population Trends and Aging.

Colorado was the 2nd fastest aging state in the nation last decade. Cindy DeGroen, the Senior Demographer in the State Demography Office, will discuss Colorado’s changing demographics and present the trends in Colorado’s aging, looking back over the past 30 years and looking forward to the next 30 years. Always an informational and interesting presentation especially this year with the implications of Covid on our population.

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AAA Medicaid Consulting and the Palisades will be co-hosting our March Council Connections. They will both share how their services can support the seniors our SRC Members serve. Food and drinks will be served, along with opportunities to win a prize!!!

We will also have time for networking!

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Our April General Membership Meeting will focus on Affordable Housing options for Seniors in and around the Pikes Peak Region.  We will hear from a panel of experts to include: Steve Posey, Nancy Henjum and Silver Key.

Join us to learn more about affordable and low income housing inventory in Colorado Springs, who is working to support these efforts and what we can do as SRC members to help educate and support the seniors we all serve.

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Steve Posey

Steve Posey is the Community Development Manager for the City of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Prior to joining the City of Colorado Springs in 2012, Steve worked as a HUD program consultant for multiple jurisdictions in Arizona, including the City of Flagstaff and Coconino County. His specialty is the financing and development of public facilities and affordable housing using Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnership Program funds, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and Private Activity Bonds. Steve is dedicated to leveraging public resources with private investment in projects that result in long-term community benefits.

Nancy Henjum

Nancy Henjum is a 30-year resident of City Council District 5. Her dad was Joe Henjum, an Air Force pilot who was an instructor at the Air Force Academy where Nancy spent several years of her childhood. She received her Master of Social Work degree from Loyola University in Chicago, where she worked as a clinical therapist before moving with her husband to start a family in Colorado Springs. She and her husband, Steve Kern, a retired schoolteacher, have raised two children, now grown.

Nancy’s professional life in Colorado has included being the Chief Operations Officer for a public-private partnership that managed behavioral health services for 43 of the 63 counties in the state. She was also a faculty member at the Center for Creative Leadership, engaging in leadership development and executive coaching. She runs her own leadership consultancy business, working with a wide variety of organizations, both large and small, including energy companies, arts groups, non-profits, and civic entities.

Nancy has also served as a local volunteer-leader in many capacities: as board president for CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates); as facilitator with the Illumination Project promoting dialogue between law enforcement and community members; and as moderator of the council of First Congregational Church in downtown Colorado Springs.

Lee Patke

Lee has thirty years in corporate and non-profit settings that combined business operations, execution of strategic plans, workforce readiness, housing and program development, and service to clients across a variety of settings. Lee has served as Executive Director for Greccio Housing in Colorado Springs since 2010. Immediately prior to Greccio, Lee was Chief Operating Officer for Griffith Centers for Children, having served as a wilderness-based Therapist, Program Director, and COO over 12 his years there.  Lee is a long-time member of the Pikes Peak Kiwanis Club, spent 6 years on the Board of Housing Colorado, currently serves on the Board of Innovations in Aging Collaborative, and is a founding member of the Affordable Housing Collaborative in El Paso County.  He earned a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from Sam Houston State University, and a Master’s of Science in Social Work for the University of Texas in Arlington.  Lee and his wife Laura live in northern El Paso County and have 4 daughters.  The family enjoys a traditional outdoor Colorado lifestyle, and has lived, worked, and volunteered in the Pikes Peak region for 25 years.

Dayton Romero

Dayton is a Colorado Native, born in Trinidad Colorado, and has lived in Colorado Springs for over 12 years. He is an alumnus of UCCS where he earned a degree in Psychology with a minor in Gerontology, and is currently a Master of Public Health candidate, concentrating on leadership and public practice at CU Anschutz Medical.  He is completing his capstone as a part of the Community Collaborative Response Task Force that is aimed toward reducing fragmentation in our state’s healthcare system through care coordination.

Dayton has served in several leadership positions at Silver Key over the past 6 ½ years, where he has had led the Health and Wellness teams including behavioral health and housing programs; designing of programs and systems flows; and developed Silver Key’s centralized phone system and data base.

Dayton currently serves as Director of Healthcare Strategy and Integration at Silver Key. He is responsible for guiding and influencing local, state, and national design of projects and efforts to ensure a pathway is made for Silver Key to maximize service delivery and resources. Additionally, he provides leadership through development of strategy, presentations, and implementation internally and externally for senior service expansion.

May’s Dine & Develop will be a virtual event. Come learn how the Direct Care Workforce Collaborative is working to standardize training and curriculum for Personal care workers.  We will hear from Penny Whitney and Brooke Snyder!

Personal care workers provide most of the paid, hands-on home care received by millions of frail older adults living in their own homes, assisted living and other non-institutional settings. The Personal Care Assistant (PCA) workforce is projected to grow 45% and create 56,500 job openings by 2026 in Colorado. Standardizing training will prepare PCAs to care for complex clients and provide career mobility and workforce flexibility for PCA’s if they want to move from one place to another.

We hope to see you May 18th for this exciting and informational event by our friends at the Direct care workforce collaborative.

Don’t forget to RSVP to receive your meeting login.

MORE about DCWC
The DCWC is a stakeholder led Colorado initiative with a Mission to stabilize the direct care workforce by implementing strategies to support three identified priority areas (Compensation/Benefits; Training/Career Advancement; and Value/Awareness) and to raise awareness of the essential contributions of this workforce to healthcare.

The Vision for DCWC is to be recognized as the central hub for action, expertise, and advocacy on behalf the direct care workforce. This vision is beginning to become a reality this year as each of our three Action Groups begin implementation of the strategic action steps developed in 2021 and as the DCWC develops important partnerships across the State.

DCWC is positioned with a full agenda of goals for 2022; however, the success of all the goals is linked to an increased awareness and understanding of the important healthcare role of the direct care workforce.  Colorado is identified as the second fastest aging state in the US.  Research confirms that 70% of those over 65 will need the support of a direct care professional sometime in their life. The work DCWC does today to stabilize the direct care workforce and raise awareness of their essential value will provide benefit well beyond 2022.

Penny Whitney
Hello, I am Penny Whitney.  It is my privilege to serve as the 2021-2022 Co-Chair for the Colorado Direct Care Workforce Collaborative. My path to the DCWC has been both professional and personal.  During the last ten years the focus of my professional consulting practice has been strategic facilitation and interprofessional team leadership development in healthcare and most specifically long-term skilled healthcare.  Although my consulting focuses on leadership teams, I know and value the importance of the direct care workforce for quality care outcomes. However, it was not until I had two family members diagnosed with terminal conditions ultimately requiring the support of direct care givers that I really understood the importance of the direct care workforce and the value they provide not only to clients but to families.

Join us for our quarterly General Membership Meeting where we will share how we can continue to help support the seniors in our community.

More details to come soon!

Council Connections will be hosted by various SRC members for networking and development.

Details to come soon.