The Salem City Council Committee on Administration and Finance recommended fiscal 2026 funding for the Council on Aging (COA), approving a department total of $539,780 (personnel $462,680; expenditures $77,100) during its June 9 hearing.

Terry Arnold, director of the Council on Aging, summarized recent staffing and program changes, including a new transportation coordinator and a newly hired bilingual outreach coordinator intended to increase participation by Spanish‑speaking older adults. Arnold said the department provides roughly 1,151 one‑way rides per month and that the city was awarded two electric vehicles through a MassDOT program.

Arnold described social‑service additions: a newly hired clinical social worker, Fabiola Alvarez, and outreach staffer Ingrid Patterson, who focuses on Spanish‑language community engagement. Arnold said the city’s MetroBridge study informed outreach plans and hire choices and that the COA has seen “significant growth” in programming since moving into the community life center.

On emergency response for isolated residents, Arnold described the Confirm OK wellness check program (formerly referenced as RU OK). Residents register with the social‑service team, receive automated calls in the 8 a.m. hour and if a participant fails to pick up on the third call, the police are notified for a welfare check. Arnold said only about a half dozen people were enrolled and urged broader outreach; Councilors suggested targeting visiting‑nurse companies, Meals on Wheels deliveries and other direct contacts to boost enrollment.

Arnold also briefed the committee on a proposed kitchen upgrade in the community life center intended to add ventilation and enable more on‑site, cooked meals and small enterprise food offerings. He said an earlier ARPA application was not funded in time, so those ARPA funds were repurposed; the administration supports completing the project and staff have prepared studies and construction documents to go to bid pending capital approval. "The big thing with this project is to have a vent in this building," Arnold said.

Committee members voted to recommend the COA budget to the full council. The motion, moved by Councilor Stott and seconded by Councilor Harvey, carried by voice vote recorded as “four hands plus my own.” No new staffing was added to the FY26 operating budget; some responsibilities were shifted on the city’s org chart as COA becomes an independent department.