On Tuesday, April 24, our club will be holding its morning meeting in the Senior Center, on the corner of Tower and 15th directly across from the Superior Public Library, as part of its Club Assembly meeting. Coffee, juice and rolls will be provided.
Recently, I met with Rhoda Nagorski over lunch to discuss our club's involvement with the Senior Connections Center and our club's focus of senior citizens in our community. When we made Rhoda a member, we invited her not only to give us direction and add her expertise in understanding senior issues, we also chose to adopt Senior Connections under our Non-Profit Program that we initiated a while ago. Under that program our club agreed to add its support, guidance and expertise in order to help a non-profit. The agreement is one year in length with an opportunity for another year after input from both our club and the non-profit on the viability of the connection. In the past, our assistance has included participating in events as well as offering individual support through the talents that each of us has. At our last board meeting, Rhoda brought concerns for the center forward.
Senior Connections is seeking an independent identity. Presently, it is housed in the Senior Center. While Connections remains a separate entity, public perception sees the two as the same, creating confusion in purpose and programming. Rhoda has been seeking other sites, working with Kaye Tenerelli from the Superior BID to locate possibilities. A key issue for Connections is parking and accessibility.
Not only is a new location being sought, Rhoda is also studying the composite of her board. While representation from the Douglas County Board and from seniors is a dictate they must follow, there are other open positions that occur on a revolving basis when terms expire. She is hoping to fill openings with people of vision -- individuals who understand organizational workings and who can share their insight and direction.
"Our agency needs a shot in the arm," she said.
Senior Connections feels the frustration of wanting to make changes but realizes that it lacks the know-how. With a small staff any additional programming time and energy is at a premium. Meeting present programming needs doesn't leave time for goal-setting and activity expansion; it also doesn't enable staff to make connections with the community beyond those with whom they come in contact through the office.
In brainstorming, these are the possibilities for our club to consider:
*Loan Closet Cleaning: Rhoda has made our club aware that their loan closet is in need of serious cleaning and organization. In our discussion at a past Club Assembly, we determined that it would be better to wait until spring to do the work. With spring here, now is the time that we can do the task, organizing usable items and discarding others. We can either schedule a clean-up so that un-needed items can be placed outside the building during regular city clean-up (which means we would have to meet the scheduled deadlines) or we could haul the discarded items to the landfill and take care of the cost of disposal.
*Tomato Planting: We would be asked to help support the program through the purchase of soil as well as assisting seniors who come to the Senior Center on planting day with the task of helping them prepare their own plant.
*Adopt A Senior: Many seniors cannot afford the cost of meals. That is the reality. Our club is presently supporting an initiative by donating all of the fellowship monies as donations to needing seniors. One other possibility would be to set up an Adopt-A-Senior Program during the fall. We could set up tables at local grocery stores on a week-end and encourage people to donate. This concept is in its infancy and still needs to be developed clearer before we choose to commit.
*Become a board member or Connections supporter. With our belief of "Service above self,'" some of you might see the possibility of volunteering to serve on the Senior Connections' Board or volunteer to serve as a resource person for their events.
These are just some of the possibilities that we can consider. In talking with Rhoda, I realized that I was working under my own misconception of what Senior Connections might need. I think that as we learn more about Senor Connections we can discover how we can better serve them as well as make a difference for area seniors through our support.
Learn more about other possibilities at our April Club Assembly.