Institute on Aging to run center while city, others find long-range plan

Published in the Jan. 21 – Feb. 3, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Karen Lengsfield

Karen Lengsfield

Karen Lengsfield

Morgan Hill cares about its senior residents. This is one of the primary reasons the city of Morgan Hill has partnered with the YMCA of Silicon Valley since 2006 to operate the Senior Center, located in the Centennial Recreation Center.

During the past eight years, an average of 200 seniors have benefited from this partnership each day by taking advantage of the many programs and services offered at the Senior Center, whether it be taking a fitness class, seeking caregiver support, or participating in one of the 40 other programs that operate in the Senior Center each week. After Susan Fent’s departure from the YMCA as director of senior programs and services more than one and half years ago, the YMCA and city of Morgan Hill have struggled to find the level of leadership expertise needed to best serve the Senior Center’s current population of older adults, as well as the growing number of seniors that the center will serve in the future.

To start the process of amending this challenge, the Morgan Hill City Council voted at its Dec. 17 meeting to approve an agreement with the Institute on Aging to give support for the Senior Center by providing an interim senior center director from Jan 2 to June 30. Headquartered in San Francisco with its Santa Clara County division based in Morgan Hill, IOA is Northern California’s largest nonprofit provider of senior services.

As an employee of IOA and a long-time Morgan Hill community member, I am pleased to fill this role as the Senior Center’s interim director.

Over the next six months, IOA will provide leadership and oversight of the Senior Center while the YMCA, city of Morgan Hill, community members and aging services professionals team together to determine a long-range strategic plan for Senior Center. This planning process will provide our community with the opportunity to explore and plan for a sustainable future of the Senior Center, one that meets the ever-changing needs of our growing senior population.

Within the next 15 years, at least 20 percent of Morgan Hill’s population will be older than 65. While most of those individuals will live healthy active lives, we will continue to see many more older adults who are challenged with functional disabilities, dementia and financial loss. Based on these trends, as well as many others, the Senior Center Strategic Planning Committee will work to determine how best to serve Morgan Hill’s diverse population of seniors, the structure that is best suited to provide services and what type of organization has the most appropriate capacity level and expertise to operate the Senior Center.

Along with the day-to-day tasks of planning, organizing and overseeing the many programs offered at the Senior Center, it is paramount to me and IOA that I use my role as the interim Senior Center director to develop positive relationships with Senior Center participants. The Senior Center has always prided itself on its ability to promote a sense of community, safety and well-being. Partnering with city of Morgan Hill and YMCA staff and volunteers, IOA is working to ensure the continued mission of the Senior Center: creating a culture that promotes a welcoming environment for older adults and embraces differences, tolerance and acceptance regardless of age, socioeconomic status or functional ability.

The Senior Center has benefited greatly from its collaborations and partnerships with local organizations and service groups and IOA encourages the continuation of these vital relationships. The success of the Senior Center can easily be shared with the Friends of the Morgan Hill Senior Center, the Morgan Hill Community Foundation, the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill, the Morgan Hill Kiwanis Club, the Health Trust, Sourcewise, the County of Santa Clara, the City of Morgan Hill and the Mt. Madonna YMCA.

There is an incredible feeling of family at the Senior Center that has no match. This is a one-of a-kind safe, warm place and is often the only place many seniors in our community have to go where they feel valued and appreciated. While many come to participate in a variety of exercise and educational classes, many come for the weekday lunches. They get not just a hot meal but also the chance to interact with friends and develop meaningful relationships.

The Centennial Recreation Senior Center is a jewel in our community. The Institute on Aging and I are privileged to have this opportunity to work with Morgan Hill’s senior community and our City of Morgan Hill and YMCA partners.

Karen Lengsfield is the interim director of the Senior Center. She wrote this for Morgan Hill Life.