I will be voting Yes-Yes-Yes for a new Bresnahan School, a rehabilitated Nock-Molin School, and Newburyport's first Senior Community Center. More information at http://www.portpride01950.com/
We have good quality senior services provided in a very cost-effective manner by the City's Council on Aging Director Roseann Robillard, a couple of staff, and a lot of volunteers. These services are a very small part of the City operating budget. We are one of a handful of municipalities in Massachusetts that does not have a central location for these basic services.
There's a simple reason why it's a good idea to put these services in one spot: it's easier for the customers/seniors/elders to use. And here's another good reason: it's more efficient for the limited number of staff to operate these programs when they are not begging/borrowing/renting scattered spaces.
Bill Plante in the Daily News does a great job of reminding us that the push for better services for elders has been a long struggle in Newburyport http://www.newburyportnews.com/opinion/x1561284454/Time-is-right-for-new-schools
He's right on:
I don't want to make a case for the supernatural here, but a week ago, I came across an old photograph of my late mother, Bertha M. Plante, and that of the mother of Newburyport's late Mayor Albert H. Zabriskie, together with the Rev. Bertrand H. Steeves, minister emeritus of the First Religious Society, who is still very much with us. It was taken because they were leaders in the pioneer efforts to let the voices of the elderly be heard. Senior citizens were so with the times that they were invited to appear on Boston television.Generations of other local voices continued taking up their cry, and it was heard and responded to in a great many communities, most of which built senior centers. Newburyport hasn't, and this is another attempt, because the mean age of Americans is growing older every day.
Here's a recap of the services and where they are provided:
Services currently provided by the
Council on Aging and what could be done in a suitable space:
Current Future
Nutrition Meals on Wheels Cooking
for One’ classes
Congregate meals
Eating with
Diabetes program
Brown Bag
program ‘Men’s Meeting’ Breakfast program
Fitness Exercise to Music Yoga
Line Dance Tai
Chi / Reiki
Ball
Room /Tap Dance / Square Dance
Weight
training
Wii
Stationary equipment –
bikes/treadmills
Health Podiatry
Blood Pressure
checks Chronic
Disease Self-Management Program
Hearing loss
evaluations Chair
Massage
Info Seminars Walking club
Vaccinations
Durable
Equipment loan
Support Low Vision Weight
Management
Grief/Bereavement Panic/Anxiety/Depression
support
AA –Sober after Sixty / Gamblers
Anon
Care Giver support / Alzheimer
support
Grandparents Raising
Grandchildren
Outreach Telephone Reassurance Friendly
Visiting Program
Creative Knitting for Newborns Teddy
Bear Workshop
Watercolor
Painting Class Art exhibits
Memoirs
workshop
Quilting
- Bunka
Scrapbooking
Woodcarving
/ Model Ship building
Rughooking
Social Bridge Poker/Whist/Cribbage/Scrabble
Retired Readers Golden
Age meetings
Bingo Red
Hat meetings
Day Trips Birthday parties – Holiday
parties
Mah Jongg Sports
Fan Club
Community TRIAD (safety
programs) Ask
A Cop
COA Board
meetings State Rep/Senator office hours
Property
Tax Work program 'News & Views’ meetings
Snow Shoveling
program FRIENDS
of COA
Veterans services
Volunteer/Job
Bank
Education Health Insurance Counseling
Monthly
Newsletter Investments
Club
Tax Filing
Assistance Computer classes
Housing Options Retirement
planning
Information
& Referral
Transport NEET – out of town transport
Evening Meal Van
service
Medical
transport
Food shopping
The mission
of the COA is matching the Needs of Elders with the Resources in the Community
The focus of
a senior center is providing services/programs that fulfill significant needs
in the lives of the community’s elders. The number, types and frequency of
programs is dependent upon the availability of space, staff and funding.
Adult
transition to a new phase of life (retirement) can be helped by the
availability of services and programs designed to anticipate the challenges
they may face.
- Health/Fitness,
- Information/Education,
- Outreach/Support,
- Social/Recreation.
Many
COA programs are social/recreational/entertaining by design because the need
for new opportunities for socialization increases as family and other long-held
supports decrease.
Two
common tracts of aging: (Bad/Good)
Isolation, Loneliness, Depression, Fatigue, No appetite, Illness,
Complications, Drain on community services
Socialization, Stimulation, Affirmation, Self Esteem, Self-care,
Community Involvement, Ability to give back to community
through volunteerism
The
availability of a Senior/Community Center is an enhancement to a Healthy
Community where adults have more opportunities to age well, be involved in and
give back to the community
COA Service/Program Locations
- Salvation Army building
- People’s United Methodist church
- Elks Hall
- Newburyport Public Library
- Emma Andrews Library
- City Hall
- Anna Jaques Hospital
- Atria Merrimack Place
- Salisbury Hilton Center
- Sullivan Building
- Heritage House
- James Steam Mill
Demographics:
2010 census
info
Total Nbpt
Residents = 17,416 Age 60+ = 4,261
(24%)
Babyboomers:
born between 1946 – 1964 comprise 35% of the population (6,113 residents)
Demographic
projections predict increase in aging until the year 2050.
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