As Population Ages, Revamped Senior Centers Needed by City Council Member James Vacca
September 17th, 2007
As New Yorkers live to be older and many of us baby boomers continue to age, demographics in the next 30 years point to a significant increase in our senior citizen population. With September being Healthy Aging Month, it is
appropriate that we highlight the importance that senior centers play in the health of our seniors and identify ways that center services can be improved.
As chair of the Senior Center Subcommittee of the New York City Council, my focus has been to plan for the Senior Center of tomorrow and ensure that centers are adequately serving and protecting one of the most vulnerable segments of our population. Based upon a series of hearings and site visits, I must report that we have our work cut out for us in the years ahead.
So much of the success of senior centers revolves around leadership at each facility. The role of the center director cannot be underestimated, yet most center directors leave their jobs during the first three years, make less than $40,000 and are not eligible for pensions or tuition assistance because they work for nonprofits, instead of the city. We have to seriously encourage stability of leadership at senior centers and provide our center leaders with growth opportunities and learning tools that can evidence itself in daily center life.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2005 American Community Survey, New York City’s elderly poverty rate is 20.2 percent of seniors, compared to 9.9 percent of seniors nationally. The City Planning Department says that New York City’s 60 and over population is expected to increase 46 percent over the next 25 years and will account for 20 percent of the city’s overall population by the year 2030. Centers link seniors with an array of services designed to improve their quality of life and provide them with much needed assistance, yet only 23 percent of eligible seniors use senior centers. This has to change.
We must provide senior centers with better resources to augment their daily programming so that they can attract new participants. In the FY08 budget, I sponsored the Healthy Aging Initiative, a $1-million dollar program that provides funding to 33 senior centers across the city. These programs will be designed to increase the quality of life for seniors through activities such as strength training to prevent injuries and improve flexibility, early intervention for diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, arthritis and pain management, nutritional education and other programs designed to increase physical activity and exercise. It is this type of new programming that must be made available to seniors in every center so that we can ensure that all seniors enjoy an active and healthy lifestyle.
We must overcome the feeling that so many have that the senior center is “not for us.” The traditional bingo or shopping trip may now become the technology class, job training for a second career or early morning yoga. Yes, we have to stop thinking about people getting old and start thinking about people with active minds and bodies who want to remain engaged, meet other people, learn new skills and grow professionally and socially well into “old age.” Today’s 75-, 85- and even 95-year-olds are much more active than they were in the past.
There must also be a strategic plan that identifies neighborhoods throughout our city where additional senior centers must be opened to meet the projected demand. By opening up new centers in areas where the senior population is expected to increase we will be proactively addressing the looming crisis that New York City’s senior population is facing. By laying the foundation now, we are making sure our city’s growing senior population will have adequate resources in the years ahead.
James Vacca is a Democrat representing parts of the Bronx in the City Council. He is the chair of the Council’s Senior Center Subcommittee and previously served 30 years as the president of the Northeast Bronx Senior Citizens’ Center.
appropriate that we highlight the importance that senior centers play in the health of our seniors and identify ways that center services can be improved. As chair of the Senior Center Subcommittee of the New York City Council, my focus has been to plan for the Senior Center of tomorrow and ensure that centers are adequately serving and protecting one of the most vulnerable segments of our population. Based upon a series of hearings and site visits, I must report that we have our work cut out for us in the years ahead.
So much of the success of senior centers revolves around leadership at each facility. The role of the center director cannot be underestimated, yet most center directors leave their jobs during the first three years, make less than $40,000 and are not eligible for pensions or tuition assistance because they work for nonprofits, instead of the city. We have to seriously encourage stability of leadership at senior centers and provide our center leaders with growth opportunities and learning tools that can evidence itself in daily center life.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2005 American Community Survey, New York City’s elderly poverty rate is 20.2 percent of seniors, compared to 9.9 percent of seniors nationally. The City Planning Department says that New York City’s 60 and over population is expected to increase 46 percent over the next 25 years and will account for 20 percent of the city’s overall population by the year 2030. Centers link seniors with an array of services designed to improve their quality of life and provide them with much needed assistance, yet only 23 percent of eligible seniors use senior centers. This has to change.
We must provide senior centers with better resources to augment their daily programming so that they can attract new participants. In the FY08 budget, I sponsored the Healthy Aging Initiative, a $1-million dollar program that provides funding to 33 senior centers across the city. These programs will be designed to increase the quality of life for seniors through activities such as strength training to prevent injuries and improve flexibility, early intervention for diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, arthritis and pain management, nutritional education and other programs designed to increase physical activity and exercise. It is this type of new programming that must be made available to seniors in every center so that we can ensure that all seniors enjoy an active and healthy lifestyle.
We must overcome the feeling that so many have that the senior center is “not for us.” The traditional bingo or shopping trip may now become the technology class, job training for a second career or early morning yoga. Yes, we have to stop thinking about people getting old and start thinking about people with active minds and bodies who want to remain engaged, meet other people, learn new skills and grow professionally and socially well into “old age.” Today’s 75-, 85- and even 95-year-olds are much more active than they were in the past.
There must also be a strategic plan that identifies neighborhoods throughout our city where additional senior centers must be opened to meet the projected demand. By opening up new centers in areas where the senior population is expected to increase we will be proactively addressing the looming crisis that New York City’s senior population is facing. By laying the foundation now, we are making sure our city’s growing senior population will have adequate resources in the years ahead.
James Vacca is a Democrat representing parts of the Bronx in the City Council. He is the chair of the Council’s Senior Center Subcommittee and previously served 30 years as the president of the Northeast Bronx Senior Citizens’ Center.
