Council on Aging & Human ServicesStrategic Plan 2011

Advocacy

Compassion

Community

Who We Are

The Council on Aging & Human Services (COA-HS) is a private non-profit, public-benefit organization that has dedicated more than 30 years to supporting people in the community with care management, nutrition, transportation, home care services and serving as an information outlet.

This public-benefit organization serves Whitman County with nutrition and care management information and services. It also offers transportation to three Eastern Washington counties and five North Central Idaho counties. Council on Aging enhances lives and strengthens communities by offering a variety of services and programs.

Advocacy Commitment Community Compassion Professionalism Service Mobility

Background Values

COA-HS IS A COMMUNITY OF CARING STAFF MEMBERS, BOARD MEMBERS, AND VOLUNTEERS WHO SHARE A COMMON PURPOSE TO HELP EACH INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE AN OPTIMUM QUALITY OF LIFE.

Ed Morgan - President Gordon Sedlacek - Vice-President Dawn Watts - Secretary Donald Deen - Treasurer Lois Scholz Tricia Grantham Joe Henderson Hollis Jamison Muriel Jordan Dennis McDonald Barbara Morgan Mark Leeper Rita Swindal Karl Johanson - Executive Director Cindy Zaring - Chief Fiscal Officer, Operations Officer Peggy Welch - Office Assistant Carla Hall - Office Assistant, Board Secretary

Scott Hallett - Nutrition Program Director Amanda Rich - Caregiver Support & Program

Coordinator Ronda McLean, Nancy Gillard, Marie Fowler, Roberta

Rutherford, Diane Miller - Client Care Director Suzy McNeilly - Client Care Training Support Craig H. VanTine - Transportation Services Director Margie Anderson & Briget Thompson - Mobility Specialist Nancy Hoobler, Keisha Blanford, Rachel Kerr -

Transportation Volunteer Specialist, Idaho, Americorps Don Grimm, Cliff Feldner, Jim Boyd, Jon Mercer, George

Mackleit, Linda Line - Transportation Driver, Colfax Patricia Manifold & Joyce Murphy - Transportation Driver,

Grangeville Lila Myers, Deryl Ketchum, Roger Myers -Transportation

Driver, Orofino Mike Bailey - Vehicle Inspector, Consultant

Board of Directors Programs

Situation

People in Whitman County don’t realize they are not alone and there are resources out there for help. Though there are programs available, COA&HS has a hard time getting the word out. Furthermore, it’s hard for people to ask for help for, especially with the elderly who are more prideful. Due to our organization’s title, finding grandchildren and younger adults who could benefit from our programs is difficult. As a non-profit, currently we market through public service announcements with newspapers, newsletters and some TV. We want to inform people of our services to diminish stress and prevent horrible problems for people.

• I N F O R M T H E P U B L I C A B O U T O U R N U T R I T I O N P R O G R A M , FA M I LY C A R E G I V E R S U P P O R T P R O G R A M , K I N S H I P

P R O G R A M A N D T R A N S P O R TAT I O N P R O G R A M

• D E V E L O P B E T T E R WAY S TO E N C O U R A G E S E N I O R S TO A S K F O R H E L P

• R E A C H O U T TO Y O U N G E R A U D I E N C E S

• S E RV E O V E R 1 3 , 5 0 0 H O M E B O U N D M E A L S A N D 1 3 , 5 0 0 M E A L S I N G R O U P S E T T I N G S T H I S Y E A R

Objectives

“ENHANCING LIVES AND STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES”

Council on Aging & Human ServicesServing Eastern Washington and North Central IdahoPO Box 107, South 210 Main, Colfax, WA 99111-0107(509) 397-4611 TOLL FREE: 1-800-809-3351FAX: (509) 397-2917

Audiences

Seniors ages 65+, younger adults acting as a caregiver, older family caregivers ages 55+, WSU public, doctors, schools and churches.

To appeal to younger audiences, COA&HS will develop a Facebook group to generate support through social networking and make updates/events involving the organization. The organization will also change the COA&HS website to have less animation and easier browsing so access to it is more simple. The website will make frequent updates on upcoming events and post new pictures too. People from the non-profit will guest speak at schools to inform them about volunteering for community service and the potential benefits for themselves or a family member.

Strategies & TacticsTo appeal to the WSU community, we will implement 30 second commercials on WSU’s Cable 8. These will include a heartfelt story from someone who benefited from our services, Meals for Wheels commercial and email campaign, and basic commercials about programs. We will also advertise in the Daily Evergreen and in emails to instructors and students. To get students involved we will offer more community service options through CCE. For example, offer a cooked group dinner with the seniors as a part of their nutrition program. Other volunteers options will include students teaching seniors how to use computers, going to a Coug football game, and March for Wheels campaign. All of these options will make the WSU community more aware of COA&HS, provide fun activities for seniors, and generate word of mouth throughout Whitman County.

To improve our organization and assist more seniors we will create a focus group and survey asking seniors their opinions on what services they are looking for, how they can be reached and why they don’t ask for help. We will also do in-person interviews with current and past seniors for opinions about our programs and organization as a whole. PSAs will continue to be done on radio stations seniors listen to.

To promote COA&HS to all audiences we will do the following: post fliers at schools, businesses and doctor offices, make a Wikipedia page, mail brochures and email campaigns to targeted companies, students, families and senior citizens in Whitman County, create a blog so people can reflect on our organization, do a commercial at the Pullman movie theatre before showings.

CALENDER

All marketing for COA&HS and the programs offered should be done throughout the year, particularly with seniors and Whitman County families. Surveys and focus groups should be done as new people use COA&HS services and events occur. Sending out letters, fliers/brochures and e-mails should be sent in early September when school is starting and the holidays are around because that is an especially stressful time. Letters, fliers/brochures and e-mail campaigns should be sent again 6 months later as a friendly reminder help is available. The website and Facebook page should be up to date at least every month. It is important to continue adding pictures from events, heartfelt stories, rewards COA&HS received, and reminders of upcoming events. March for Meals is April 30th, so all marketing should be done at least 1 month in advance. Especially getting the word out to students about this campaign, so they can plan their participation for community service. Guest speaking at schools and contacting the WSU community would be best to have done in October-December when school is in session, the Greek community has community service hours due, and seniors graduating are looking for opportunities for hours. Powerful Tools for Caregivers is a 6-week program from the end of March to April, so marketing should be done in February for this program. Arranging new programs with CCE at WSU (the computer program, home cooked dinner with seniors, football game, etc.) should be figured out prior to Fall semester beginning in August.

Evaluation

• Count of participants in each program

• Survey seniors at beginning and end of year for their perceptions on COA&HS

• Count of community service hours recorded from WSU students on CCE

• Measurement if met goal to serve over 13,500 homebound meals and 13,500 meals in group settings this year

• Analyze blog postings for change in attitudes, responses to programs, and awareness of the organization

• www.coa-hs.org/ site views

• Count of money raised and participants at events post campaign

• Evaluate which media placements generated the most support and media mentions