Hergert_Statement of Interest — File 25-1792

Ashley, I am writing to express my interest in serving on the Council on Aging Board. While I have not been active in the Council for a variety of reasons, especially commitments, I have received your materials for years and now have time to devote, should you choose me. I am very interested in expanding activities and outreach to attract a wider variety of Somerville residents. Somerville elders are a wildly diverse group in age, capacities, and interests. There is a long way from age 60 to age 80, and a wide range in physical ability, and in intellectual and social interests. As you know, I have been active on the Somerville Cambridge Elder Services Board since 2016 and served as its president from 2020--2024. I have also volunteered for Community Cooks (for 10 years), the Alzheimer's Association, and for a few years participated in an advisory group for the Cambridge Health Alliance Home Care Dementia project. In the late 1990s, I was an appointed member of the Somerville Human Rights Commission and the Somerville Public Schools Diversity Committee, and co-chair of the Somerville Conversations Project. I love Somerville and would be pleased to find a way to contribute to my community through the Council on Aging, whose work I admire. Leslie F. Hergert