Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-12-20-SCSC-rpt.pdf FINAL REPORT TO THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN SITE LOCATION FOR PROPOSED SENIOR CENTER Submitted by the Senior Center Site Committee Joseph Rooney, Chairman Martha Wood, Vice Chairman C Harry Erickson Jane Sumpp Leslie H York William J Sen Johanna Mollo-Christensen Mark Moore, Jr Marilyn Waehler Edward D. McCarthy Staff Advisors Nancy H. Banks Assistant to the Town Manager Joan Halverson Recreation Coordinator December 20 1978 SUMMARY The Senior Center Site Committee was appointed in February 1978 by the Board of Selectmen to -Investigate available facilities in the Town which would accommodate senior citizen programming -Investigate other needs for community services and recreation that might be integrated with a senior center if the committee finds this approach desirable -Investigate senior center facilities in other communities as a basis to compare a center for Lexington -Estimate the cost of a proposed center and investigate sources of funding Much of the Committee's efforts for the first few months was devoted to locating a temporary site for the Council on Aging which could also serve as a senior center The Committee identified over 30 sites within the Town, including many schools and churches, drew up preliminary design requirements, and investigated funding available through HUD and the Massachusetts' Department of Elder Affairs The search for quarters was successful, and the Council is now housed at the Church of Our Redeemer With the temporary center underway, the Committee began a review of facilities in other communities, visiting centers in Peabody, Leominster, Amherst, and Winchester Across the state centers range from rented store- fronts to lavish, free-standing buildings or multipurpose community centers. Programming also shows great variation A subcommittee interviewed representatives of approximately pproximately fourteen agencies providing service to seniors in the Lexington area in order to investigate available programs, how these are being used and determine what needs are not being met Based on our research and many discussions, we recommend that a senior center be established in the Munroe School in conjunction with some housing units, and that space also be reserved there for other human services agencies within the Town 1 SECTION 1 APPROACH, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The Committee in its initial review of its charge divided the task � assigned to it into two phases The first phase was to relocate the Council on Aging offices into a temporary site which was suitable to test the concept of a senior center, and the second task was to make recommendations for a more long-term or permanent center This direction was taken because the committee recognized that although a center was desirable, there was no concrete evidence of need, and, hence, it would be difficult if not impossible to expect a senior center to be supported by the Town Meeting Further, the Committee recognized that the establishment of any permanent center would require a significant amount of time, probably two or three years In the interim it would be impossible for the center to be even given an opportunity to grow because of the location of the Council on Aging offices which was on the second floor of the Visitor's Center The Committee in conjunction with the Town Manager's Office and Council on Aging assisted in the location of a temporary site suitable for testing the center concept PHASE I As a first step space requirements for the temporary site were established Working with the Council, the Committee established four criteria 1) A center should be within walking distance of Lexington's center 2) A center should include private office space for counseling which would be for the sole and private use of the Council 3) There should be meeting room space large enough for 40 people 4) Space should be available Monday-Friday In addition, the Council and Committee agreed it would be very desirable to have space suitable for congregate meals Sites considered included churches and schools in the Town center, Cary Hall, Hayden Recreation Center and the Town Office Building By May, this was narrowed to two churches, and during the Summer months final negotiations were completed with the Church of Our Redeemer for a one-year lease of two rooms PHASE II Phase II has been a more difficult task In order to answer both the Charge to the Committee and the Committee's own concerns, the Committee was divided into two groups The first group looked at what other towns were doing A summary of these findings is included in Section III The second group was assigned to evaluate need This task was complicated by the fact 2 that an indepth needs assessment was scheduled for the Fall and would provide more concrete data Because of this pending study, the needs assessment team limited their study to interviews with representatives of senior citizen organizations and provider organizations Their report is summarized in i Section IV The Committee considered a number of sites for both the temporary and the permanent centers Included were churches, schools public buildings and privately owned halls In addition, the Committee drew up a list of prelimi- nary requirements for the space needed Both of these are included in the Appendix Based on all its information, the Committee concluded that there was a need for additional senior center programming in Lexington and that needs could best be met in a senior center The Committee did not evaluate the need for a community-wide center serving a variety of age groups The experience of other communities suggests that this kind of facility be designed so that different groups have different entrances and private spaces Senior citizens generally are more comfortable with their own space Research showed that seniors, while they enjoy pre-school children, do not want continual contact with them. Also, the Committee agreed that a permanent site must be within walking distance of the Town center The senior center must also be available seven days a week The preliminary requirements included in the Appendix further outline the minimum criteria Most important ih these is the requirement that the facility allow the provision of daily congregate meals for at least 40 people Under the congregate meals program, the food is distributed to the center pre-cooked and, therefore, only minimum kitchen facilities are required. RECOMMENDATIONS After evaluating all sites listed, and in view of the November 9, 1978, announcement that the School Committee will consider closing Munroe School in June 1979, the Committee recommends that a senior center be established in Munroe School The Committee feels it would be necessary to use one level of the building for this purpose and would recommend that the center be consolidated with senior citizen housing and/or human services office use The Committee has done only preliminary evaluation of the building and further recommends that if the Munroe School is closed that part of the closing costs be set aside for preliminary architectual and engineering studies for one level of the Munroe School to be converted into a senior center 3 SECTION II COMMENTS ON SITE EVALUATED Outlined below are brief comments on the sites evaluated Church of Our Redeemer Currently, the Church is housing the Council on Aging Although the Council does not have significantly more space, the space is much more accessible and additional space is available for large group meetings and private counseling In addition, the Church is very supportive of the Council 's activities The Council and Committee agree that this location will not meet the long-term needs of a center First and foremost, the Church is unable to commit the space required for congregate meals on a daily basis because of other demands on the space This is considered a high priority program by the Council Both the Council and Committee agree that a permanent site must have the facilities for this program Secondly, space is available only in one room on a permanent basis, so a drop-in or hospitality room can not be set up Unfortunately, the use of the second room is limited to Monday through Friday, and, therefore, furniture must be moved weekly Cary Hall As it is currently Cary Hall does not present a workable alternative The building offers poor access for the elderly--except for the back storage rooms, all areas are reached via stairwells The storage rooms would require extensive renovation and would still provide very little actual space, certainly not enough for a congregate meals program The other drawback to Cary Hall is the limited parking Hayden Recreation Center Preliminary discussions were held with representatives of the Hayden Recreation Center All agreed that if Hayden were to be used for this purpose, major renovation to the second floor would be required While the actual space potentially available is probably suitable, the location of a center at Hayden would require extensive physical renovation Changes in the will allowing Hayden to be used to serve senior citizens would also be required It is clear that this choice would be a very expensive one in terms of renovations and the cost of a long-term lease and would also require a great deal of time to work out 4 Schools The Committee spoke to Dr Lawson, Superintendent of Schools who indicated that at the time there was no space for a senior center in any of the operating schools While space is becoming available, this is happening slowly Furthermore, the spaces becoming available are not suitable for use as a center Churches All the churches in the center of Town were evaluated, and the leadership of several churches expressed some interest However, on evaluating the facilities, the Committee discovered that most churches could not provide the space needed on a continuing basis and still meet their own space needs Storefronts Storefronts were ruled out on the basis of costs Outside funding support is not available to subsidize rent only permanent renovation As such the rental of a storefront would place too high an overhead cost on the Town SECTION III INVESTIGATION OF CENTERS IN OTHER COMMUNITIES Based on recommendations from the Department of Elder. Affairs, members of the Senior Center Site Committee visited four CoA/senior center sites in Amherst, Leominister, Peobody, and Winchester All four communities provide free transportation services (dial-a-ride) for seniors (although Winchester's program is quite limited) , and all four have a congregate meals program and kitchen facilities Except in these two areas, the four centers were quite different from each other, each community finding a unique way to meet its own needs Winchester has a single story, free standing, new facility, privately owned by Winchester Seniors Association The center is located in the town parking lot and is about one-half mile from the two elderly housing sites Leominster's CoA rents what was once a hardware store having added kitchen and bathroom facilities The Peabody CoA has rent-free office and meeting space in the Knights of Columbus building downtown, but provides approximately 120 meals daily at a now unused high school building This building is being converted into a senior center and 80 housing units 5 The Amherst CoA is located in that town's Human Services Center, one of a complex of redeveloped downtown buildings which includes senior housing, subsidized public housing, as well as commercial space This Human Services Center, once a public school, is now a barrier-free, four level, modern building, airy and light, housing the Health and Recreation Departments, the Veterans Office, the Council on Aging, and has space for community groups to use and/or rent Staffing in the four centers varies from Peabody's 45 staff members (including outreach workers who speak Greek, or Polish, or Portuguese) to Winchester's one full-time coordinator and part-time secretary Leominster has a well worked out policy of using senior volunteers to aid two paid staff directors Amherst has a recreation director, a social service director, and a coordinator Generally, staffing is in proportion to the center's hours, uses, and programming All the centers provide a variety of senior programs - information, counseling, and referral, as well as interest clubs, classes, trips, and recreation activities Program participation varies as does use of drop-in facilities Peabody and Leominster have a large attendance Amherst had just started operations and had no attendance figures available Winchester did not seem to have a large attendance at the center inself, but has a vigorous senior association The directors in Amherst and Leominster spoke of the need to break down socio-economic barriers which keep different groups from using the facilities and participating in activities When Amherst's CoA moved from its offices in a rather dingy old building to the new Community Center, participation by a greater variety of people was noticeable Of concern in Leominster are those seniors who are in a "grey area" financially, the low-to-middle income persons who in the past were financially independent, who do not now qualify for most welfare-type programs, and who have difficulty asking for assistance We discovered that there is no prototype for an ideal senior center Lexington will have to keep the needs of its own people in mind - finding suitable accommodations as well as the necessary funding 6 SECTION IV NEEDS ASSESSMENT SUMMARY As a means of establishing a better understanding for the need of a senior center and the specific problems which could be addressed in such a center the Committee established a Subcommittee on Needs This Subcommittee conducted interviews with fourteen individuals who were rep- resentatives of senior citizen groups and providers of services for the elderly Topics discussed included health services, transportation, housing home care services, alternatives to independent living, meals, outreach, information and referral, rehabilitation services, social needs, counseling and recreation needs As a result of these interviews the Subcommittee gained a better under- standing of some of the needs of senior citizens and was able to rank them. Some of these problems could be dealt with in a senior center, others could be solved through greater coordination and the communication of the availability of existing services for the elderly These needs are as follows 1 No new taxes 2 Transportation 3 Housing alternatives 4 Information, referral, and coordination of health legal, and counseling services 5 Home care services on a sliding scale 6 Congregate meals 7 Outreach 8 Recreation and social programs 9 Day care In view of these findings the Subcommittee recognized that the current Council on Aging facility will allow program testing and growth to continue for at least a short term period In addition, the Subcommittee recommended that there be an increase in the funding for administration of the Council on Aging 7 SECTION V FUNDING SOURCES Investigating sources of funding was one of the first tasks undertaken by the Committee Specifically we were hoping to find monies for the rental and equipment costs for the temporary center and also for planning for the permanent site There are two major sources of funding the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Small Cities Grants, and funds available under the Older Americans Act We learned that grant requests made to HUD are ranked by two criteria 1) the number of low and moderate income persons residing in the community, and 2) the number of low and moderate income persons to be served by the facility By these standards, a request for funds from Lexington for a senior center would get a low rating because of our population characteristics, and also because a senior center would serve more than just low and moderate income persons The Committee feels that it would be more realistic to look to the Massachusetts Department of Elder Affairs (DEA) for support under the Older Americans Act Based on grants given by this agency last year, funds to sup- port the renovation or building of a senior center would be an eligible service Representatives of DEA have indicated their interest in and support of a senior center serving Lexington residents Because we have no information on how much money the Congress will appropriate, we cannot say at this time if money will be available next year for this purpose On a town level, the monies for the Council on Aging rental at the Church of Our Redeemer have been generously supplied by the Bridge Charitable Fund 8 APPENDIX I SITES CONSIDERED West Lexington Maria Hastings School United Methodist Church South Lexington Temple Emunah Dan Curtin properties (possibly a storefront) Franklin School Trinity Covenant Church Jonas Clarke Junior High Temple Isaiah Lexington Center Lexington High School Old Belfry Club Grace Chapel St Bridget's RFK Hall Vinebrook Village First Baptist Church - serves as drop-in center School Administration Building Muzzey Junior High Cary Hall Church of Our Redeemer Hayden Recreation Center Red Cross Building North Lexington Knights of Columbus Greeley Village East Lexington Church of Christ Harrington School Museum of Our National Heritage Grey Nuns Sacred Heart Church - serves as drop-in center Follen Community Church - serves as drop-in center Nursing Homes East Village Pine Knoll Hancock House Fair Lawn APPEXDI% II PRELIMINARY REQUIREMENTS FOE SENIOR CENTER A. Hours of Center 9 - 5 weekdays 10 - 3 Saturday 12 - 3 Sunday B Facilities Large meeting room - Part-time usage Meals program for 40 people 11/2 hours daily Large meetings of education and/or recreational nature Card groups Media presentations (movies, slides) Exhibits Small Meeting Room(s) - Full-time usage Council on Aging Board Meetings Committee Meetings Conferences Lounge Area Arts and Crafts Consultation Room - Full-time usage Health related Rest area with cot Lounge - part-time usage Kitchen Offices - Full-time usage Coordinator (private) Clerical/Volunteers area Production - Part-time usage Office machinery, dqilioaLpzs (Secure and soundproof) Lavatories - Part-time usage Security and Storage - Full-time usage