04/03/08 - The Senior Center Is Vital To The Town, Because Over One-Fourth Of Age 70-Plus Households Will Have Incomes Under $25,000

Historically, senior centers have served needs of the older (age 76 and up) and less well-off segments of society across America.

QUOTE:

"We have all the information from the consultants and we are waiting for a meeting with Mr. Tesei," Town of Greenwich Commission on Aging led by Executive Director Sam Deibler said.

"The decision about the Senior Center site will be coming from him."

STORY:

Future Senior Center to be Far Cry from Old Town Hall

Via Connecticut Post

Men and women in the golden years were smartly line-dancing to prompting from an instructor at the Senior Center in the Old Town Hall on Greenwich Avenue Monday.

Two steps fore; two steps aft; two steps to the right, two steps to the left - the instructor directed as a recorded waltz filled the lunch, activity, lecture, exercise all-purpose dog-eared room on the first floor.

Across the hall, in upholstered chairs of a certain age, a few seniors lounged in the books on their laps. A TV was on and others gazed at the program on the screen.

The library and TV room opened on another room with card tables, and stacks of boxed board games nearby. A foursome was playing bridge.

Downstairs, a pool table was not in use. Access to the lower level was via steep stairs of a rickety elevator that could win a prize for being the slowest on planet earth.

The short tour of the current Senior Center put into focus the subject of a recent survey conducted by Gerontological Services Inc. of Santa Monica, Calif. Its subject: Greenwich's Future Senior Center.

The survey was done for the Town of Greenwich Commission on Aging led by Executive Director Sam Deibler. The Senior Center, now a Town Department, is under his baton.

Conducted last January among 4,000 men and women 60-to-80 years of age, the survey was triggered by the fact that the Greenwich Senior Center is at a pivotal moment in its history, according to Deibler.

For these reasons:

1. The older adult population is growing and will continue to do so over at least the next 25 years. By 2030, some 23,573 in Greenwich will be over 60. Projections are 9,676 will be between 60 and 69; 8,793 between 70 to 74; 5,103 ages 75 and over.

2. At the same time....

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