2017 Jay K. Morgan Award Presentation

Sheila Salyer receives the 2017 Jay K. Morgan Award from FASC President Jeff Backfisch.

The Jay K. Morgan Award is presented to recognize outstanding professional leadership in the Florida senior center field and to enhance the senior center profession, and FASC. This year’s recipient is Sheila Salyer of the Tallahassee Senior Center. In her 20+ years of service to the seniors of Florida and Leon County, Sheila has exemplified the qualities that led the Tallahassee Democrat to call her a “uniquely solid, visionary, and competent individual [that] has held Tallahassee in her hands for 20 years”.

Sheila became Executive Director of Senior Services in 1996. She has grown the Tallahassee Senior Services program into a flagship program for the State of Florida and put the program on the national map. The program has grown from just under 80 programs to more than 180 programs and classes and boasts a membership of almost 15,000 seniors each year.

Sheila has served on numerous boards in the field of aging, including Choose Tallahassee, FSU Institute for Successful Longevity, Florida Safe Mobility for Life, and the Florida and National Councils on Aging. She is a former President of the Florida Association of Senior Centers and has represented the organization as a member of the Florida Association of Service Providers and National Institute of Senior Centers. She has championed Florida senior centers with NISC and was instrumental in FASC being named the 2006 NISC State Association of the Year. She has been a driving force for Florida senior center professionals in connecting with other senior center professionals throughout the nation. Many centers in Florida owe their growth and diverse programming to her ability to share the knowledge gained from these contacts and her unselfish advocacy of Florida’s senior centers and FASC.

The Florida Association of Senior Centers is proud to recognize Sheila as the 2017 Jay K. Morgan Award Recipient and thank her for all that she has done for senior centers around the state and for the seniors of Leon County and the State of Florida.

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