From the SOAR President – Building a Stronger SOAR: A Best Practices Toolkit for Chapters

Bill Pienta
SOAR President

At this year’s SOAR conference, delegates expressed ongoing concerns about declining membership and low participation rates in their chapters. In response, the Board is working to develop a “Best Practices” toolkit, along with new communication strategies to engage ALL of our members. This document will not serve as a policy or mandate for how chapters should operate. Instead, it will provide suggestions that each chapter can review and decide whether to implement in order to enhance meetings and activities, making them more appealing for attendance and participation.

It is very clear to me that our SOAR chapters are having difficulty recruiting new members. If there wasn’t any participation from the members of the local union when they were working, the chance is slim that they will want to become involved once they retire. We need to demonstrate the value of joining SOAR, and we hope that developing this “Best Practices” toolkit will offer ideas that the chapters can use to attract and encourage people, aged 45 and over, to join and participate in SOAR.

We also plan to canvass SOAR members to gather your opinions on what matters to you and to solicit suggestions for growing SOAR.

There are many issues that SOAR members and like-minded individuals can and should become involved in. SOAR has a voice, and with your support, it can become even louder and stronger. As members of SOAR, we should prioritize key areas such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the impact of private equity firms on the acquisition of healthcare providers. Together, with your involvement, we can make a meaningful difference.

Further updates on this project will be forthcoming.