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Minneapolis Area Senior Workers Association Newsletter
November 2012
In This Issue
Happy Thanksgiving!
January 2013 MASWA Meeting
President's Monthly Note
Featured Board Member Of The Month
Membership Renewal for 2013
2012 Fall Aging Conference Photos
Quick Links
 
Issue: # 11November 2012
Greetings!

There will be NO MASWA meeting in November due to the Thanksgiving holiday. We wish you all a wonderful time of family and friends, good food and great conversation as you gather with loved ones to celebrate the many blessings in our lives.

 

The December MASWA meeting will be a joint public policy meeting with the St. Paul Senior Workers Association. Please note the change of date: Tuesday, December 11, 2:30 - 4:00 pm, location to be announced.

  

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO OUR MEMBERS!

 


Reasons the MASWA Board is thankful for YOU  
  • You bring a wide range of expertise and skills to each meeting.
  • You enjoy the snacks almost as much as the speakers.
  • You are quick to welcome new faces to make them feel at home.
  • You are passionate about seniors. You get seniors. Your goal is to provide quality of life to them and their families.
  • You've been willing to trek from one end of the metro area to the other for meetings - rain or shine, snow or blistering heat.
  • You shared your opinions, suggestions and ideas on the survey and in person because you care about making MASWA the best organization in town.
  • You attended the Fall Aging Conference in droves, and brought co-workers and friends to enjoy the networking, speakers and great lunch.
  • You jump in to help whenever necessary by providing treats, sponsoring a meeting, serving on the Board, or helping solve those annoying technical difficulties at meetings.
  • You appreciate the wisdom of our elders.

Thank you for being a MASWA member and for serving the seniors in our community with such amazing passion and energy.

  

Happy Thanksgiving!

The MASWA Board

 

JANUARY 2013 MASWA MEETING: Come early to "Meet the Board," network and renew your membership

 

The January meeting will have a slightly different look to it. The meeting space will be open early, from 2:00-2:30 pm, for members and visitors to "Meet the MASWA Board," have extra networking time, and complete their 2013 membership registration or renewal. The business meeting will start at its regular 2:45 time, with the presentation from 3:00-4:00 pm.

 

The January meeting will be held at Calvary Lutheran Church in Golden Valley on Thursday, January 24.

 

PRESIDENT'S MONTHLY NOTE


Beth Nemec

In the spirit of this month of giving thanks, I want to start my letter with several thank you's:

 

First - a great big thank you to the Fall Aging Conference Planning Committee for putting on an outstanding event! It was awesome to listen to the inspiring and educational speakers, connect and network with peers and learn more about the great resources that are available in our community.

 

Second, thank you to everyone who completed our MASWA membership survey. I want to let you know the themes of the results and some things we are putting in place as a result of your feedback.

 

Overall, 83% of the people that completed the survey stated that they are very or extremely satisfied with their MASWA membership. The top three reasons for being involved in MASWA are: 1. Networking, 2. Public Policy and Advocacy Information and 3. CEU opportunities. Where would you like improvements? The answer is networking time, meeting topics and the MASWA website. 47% of our MASWA members need CEU's and 53% of our members do not. 80% stated that the current meeting time (afternoons) is the best time for our meetings. 69% of our members have been members for 3+ years - only 3% have been a member for less than one year! Regarding Joint Programming with St. Paul Senior Workers Association - the results were pretty evenly divided between yes, no and unsure.

 

Many of you commented on the fact that the location of the membership meeting is very important in your ability to attend the meeting and that having a centrally located location would be helpful. So........ we heard you. For 2013, we are planning to have our membership meetings at the same location each month and have reserved Calvary Lutheran Church in Golden Valley. Stay tuned for information regarding meeting sponsorship and location.

 

We are also planning on changing the structure of our meetings to allow additional time for networking and will explain our new format at our January meeting (we will start the new format in February). We also are looking into planning additional networking social events apart from our membership meetings.

 

As for the website, we're making good progress with the website redesign and hope to have an updated, working website by the beginning of the year.

 

That leaves us with a full agenda to begin the New Year. If you would like to see the actual results of the survey, please contact me or if you have any additional questions or comments - please feel free to bring them forward to me or any member of the board.

 

Last, thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to MASWA.

 

Sincerely,

  
 Beth Nemec
 President

FEATURED BOARD MEMBER OF THE MONTH - Sara Laube, Membership
 

Sara Laube, our industrious Membership Chair, grew up in Plymouth with all of her grandparents living within five miles. They were a close family.

 

Early on, Sara volunteered at a local nursing home, which inspired her to consider a career working with seniors. Further work in a nursing home as a social work intern during college cemented that decision. For the past two years she's worked at Living Life Home Care as the Community Liaison.

 

"I love working with seniors in the community," Sara said. She loves being able to connect people to resources that will improve their quality of life.

 

She enjoys being part of MASWA and meeting others in the industry. "I enjoy connecting with other professionals and learning about so many different topics pertaining to our work."

 

Sara and her husband live in Champlin with their two-year-old son. They are eagerly awaiting the arrival of son #2 who should arrive in March.

 

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL FOR 2013
 

We'll be accepting membership renewals for 2013 at the December meeting.  As a reward for renewing early, you will be entered in a prize drawing for a Target gift cards. Please print the application from the link below and bring it with you to the meeting.  Membership is $20 for the year.

http://www.seniorworkers.org/images/membershipform2012.pdf

 

2012 FALL AGING CONFERENCE  - PHOTOS