Time To Find A Place

For A Senior Center

To the Editor:

When interviewed in The Bee most people when asked what they “like most about Newtown” respond “the people.” People of course are the heart and strength of any town and the people in Newtown have shown themselves to be community-minded in many ways.

I was reminded of this today when I read about a high school student who has planned an activity for members of the Senior Center. It was just another example of the members of this community coming together to support each other. The town, local civic groups, schools, and in many cases individual students have worked together to enhance the lives of everyone in town, including our senior population. At the heart of the effort to improve the lives of seniors is the Senior Center located in Sandy Hook.

The Senior Center in Newtown has a more than 30-year history and finds itself today struggling to meet the needs of Newtown’s seniors. Like any institution, senior centers have had to respond to the ever changing and more complex needs for services, and today Newtown’s Senior Center finds itself housed in a building that can no longer fully respond to the demands placed upon it.

A recent study identified the five functions of senior centers as: 1. Providing opportunities for social engagement, 2. Providing a link to public services, 3. Providing a link to community resources, 4. Providing nutrition support and 5. Promoting health, mental health, and healthy behaviors. To perform these core functions, centers and other town agencies which support them must be proactively engaged in senior issues. Furthermore, senior centers must be designed and equipped to provide a wide variety of activities and services to meet the varied needs of its members.

There has been an ongoing discussion for many years about the need for a new senior center in Newtown. The current center is not adequate as demonstrated by the overcrowded conditions that require members to be turned away from activities. This is an issue in which the people of Newtown can and should become involved. The first step should be an easy one and that is to identify a piece of land large enough to accommodate the center, necessary parking, any supporting facilities as well as room for growth and expansion in the future, should the need arise.

Enough time has been spent on talk and now it is time to take action. Plans for a center exist and once the land has been identified we can begin the process of raising funds for the construction of a new center. A combination of fundraising, local donations, and grants could move this project forward. None of this can happen without the first step of identifying a location. Let’s take that step before the end of April. Is it really that difficult?

John S. Boccuzzi, Sr

61 Queen Street, Newtown                                           March 19, 2012