Senior Centers serve vital community role

Recognized by the Older Americans Act (OAA) as a community focal point, senior centers have become one of the most widely used services among America’s older adults. Senior Service Agencies through local senior centers serve as a gateway to the nation’s aging network, connecting older adults to vital community services that can help them stay healthy and independent.

To maintain operations, senior centers must obtain resources from federal, state and local governments, special events, businesses, bequests, participant contributions, in-kind donations and volunteer hours. Most centers rely on three-eight different funding sources.

Recently, an article portrayed Red Oak Senior Center as on the verge of closing. That is not the case. While there are days that only six people participate in house, other days there may be 15-25, depending on the meal or activity. Meals continue to be delivered to homebound older adults or are picked up and taken home, in addition to ones that come to the center to eat. Thee daily average of meals served in the month of January was 22 meals and the total for the month was 429. In the agencies current calendar year to date, beginning in July 2012, Red Oak Senior Center has served 2,557 meals. It would be great to see 20 or more each day coming to the meal-site at the new locations. We would love to serve you!

We do so appreciate the Red Oak Express for featuring articles about Red Oak Senior Center throughout this past year. However, some facts were missing that give a clearer picture of the operation as a meal site, as well as a place to meet and greet neighbors and friends and participate in a number of activities and special events. We also are grateful to Good Samaritan for their support in transportation and programming that is informative as well as enjoyable.

Carol Walters is the regional manager for Southwest 8 Senior Services.