SCAC conducts reviews of 2009 programs
Participants in SCAC’s annual meeting at the Senior Activity Center on January 21. From the left, seated, Janet Rescigno, Karin Bennett, Ida Marie Bottone and Ron Lucas; standing, Alan Krauss, Stephanie Zinger, Dana Hallman, Art Barnett, Henrietta Roberts, Bob Gundlach, Tom Morritt, Chris Lewis and Lois and Tom Charls. (Unable to attend: Gert Bourne, Ruth Staehle, Carolyn Willberg and Phyllis Gillespie.)
The Senior Citizens Affairs Council met Thursday, January 21 at the Senior Activity Center for its annual review of 2009 programs and initiatives. Reports from Henrietta Roberts, Senior Service Office coordinator; Karin Bennett, Nutrition Site manager; Tom Charls, Residential Repair coordinator; Lois Charls, Silver Circle program director; and Dana Hallman, SISCA spokesperson, underscore the health and vitality of these programs.
In his annual report, Chairman Alan Krauss acknowledged the leadership and dedication of those men and women who head up the activities that make the Senior Center a busy and welcoming location. On a weekly basis we have two morning yoga classes, two afternoon Mah-Jongg groups, the Poker Table and a women’s reading and discussion group; and on a biweekly basis, Cinema 114, which is flourishing. The Senior Service Office now offers the AARP Driver Safety Course semi-annually, and SCAC provides a free hearing screening annually.
Chairman Krauss also praised the Town Hall personnel who manage SCAC’s finances, and County Legislator Ed Romaine who secured two $5,000 grants — one for SCAC and one for the Nutrition Program. He noted the generous financial support of the Senior Citizens Foundation of Shelter island, which helped fund the Silver Circle, Residential Repairs and home safety checks.
Looking ahead to 2010, Chairman Krauss anticipates new initiatives and further development of those still in the embryonic stage.
• The completion of a database of volunteers and all seniors who receive services, undertaken by Dana Hallman, SCAC secretary and Senior Service Office administrative assistant.
• The completion of a review of each senior program’s structure by Town Board liaison Chris Lewis and Town Attorney Laury Dowd, in an effort to bring each of them into compliance with town insurance and liability needs.
• A revised NORC survey addressed to seniors, ages 60 to 74 (to complete the survey of older seniors begun in 2007).
• The development of a new program, “Options for Life,” which will look at senior housing on Shelter Island, just one aspect of what we call “aging in place.”
SCAC and the Office of Senior Services were created by a resolution of the Shelter Island Town Board on September 19, 1986. Then there were 5 members; today there are 19. Then there was one principal program, the telephone reassurance program, unique at that time to Shelter Island. Today there are over 20 programs meeting the needs of Island seniors and serving this community.
