SEBASTIAN — At the urging of Sebastian City Councilwoman Andrea Coy, the Sebastian City Council has agreed to pony up a maximum of $3,000 to pull together a special focus group of North Indian River County residents and stakeholders to help determine seniors’ needs in the area. Whether the City of Fellsmere will help fund a portion of that amount remains unclear.
The Fellsmere City Council briefly discussed the matter at a recent meeting but no action was taken.
Fellsmere City Manager Jason Nunemaker told the council that the best the city could do is throw in a few hundred dollars – up to $500 – to help Sebastian.
“These issues need to be addressed,” Mayor Susan Adams said.
The issues the focus group would zero in on would include what services and activities seniors in the northern part of the county want or need, matters on which Sebastian’s Coy has been working for numerous months.
“I’m going to be one soon,” Coy said of being a senior, “though some people might think I’m one now.”
Coy said this issue is important to her because it’s important to several people who have raised it to her.
“It’s one of those things you can’t let go,” she said.
The Senior Resource Association is currently conducting a phone survey of those 50 and older throughout the county, determining their wants and needs, along with how they use the resources currently available to them.
The organization is also working with Florida Atlantic University and SRA Research Group Inc., of Jupiter, to conduct three other focus groups of 12 people each divided by age – those 50 to 60, 60 to 70, and 70-plus – at a cost of $72,000.
Coy told her fellow council members that the original discussion called for the three focus groups to be divided geographically instead of by age.
“I believe the economies are different” between the barrier island and the mainland, Coy said.
In asking her council to approve a maximum $3,000 expenditure on a North County focus group, Coy said the information developed could help the city itself better plan for future senior-related projects.
“I think it would give us a nice snapshot,” she said.
Councilman Richard Gillmor agreed but cautioned that he would want to be sure that the information gleaned from their specific focus group actually be put to use.
“We can’t guarantee that,” he said of North County’s results being incorporated into the entire study.
Coy said that is precisely why she is pushing to have their own focus group.
“If we want something done, we’re going to have to do it anyway,” she said.
Vice Mayor Don Wright also spoke in favor of funding the focus group, noting that he believes North County tends to get forgotten or lost in various committees.
Wright also said he recognized the need to study senior needs in the community after having participated in Meals on Wheels that week and spoke to home-bound seniors who raised the issue.
The North County focus group is expected to be held in the coming weeks in the Sebastian Council Chambers and will be recorded as part of the record. Like the other focus groups, it will be limited to 12 participants and would include a mix of residents, caregivers, church members and others who have a stake in senior care.
Anyone interested in participating in the North County focus group or one of the three other focus groups can contact Councilwoman Andrea Coy by calling (772) 388-0961, who will put potential candidates in touch with the appropriate people.
