This September, Join CSR to Celebrate Senior Centers: The Key to Aging Well
Naples, FL – 9/5/19 – This September, join Collier Senior Resources (CSR) at the Golden Gate Senior Center – a nonprofit organization working to address the needs of older adults and their caregivers – in recognizing how senior centers ensure individuals age healthily and communities support their older adults.
“When we look at the numbers, it’s clear why the National Council on Aging established September as National Senior Center Month and how relevant ‘Senior Centers: The Key to Aging Well’ are in Collier County,” explains Golden Gate Senior Center Director Tatiana Fortune, MSW.
Each day in the US, more than 10,000 adults turn 65 years of age. In 2016, according to the Area Agency on Aging for Southwest Florida, 36.6% of Collier County’s population was 60 years of age or older; a number expected to increase to 38% by 2030.
“Carefully crafted offerings prevent isolation and foster relationships; enrich members’ bodies, minds and spirits; as well as help them meet basic needs while providing valuable resources to those who care for them. Between the services we offer and ongoing advocacy efforts, senior centers like ours truly are the future of aging well in America,” details Fortune.
CSR operates the Golden Gate Senior Center to offer older adults the chance to learn new skills, develop relationships, share stories, build community and feel included, especially beneficial for men and women who have relocated to the area without a support network and/or recently lost a spouse/partner.
The charity serves more than 1,300 members, including those on fixed/modest incomes, maximizing each dollar received by collaborating with trusted partners such as AARP Foundation (job placement/training for out-of-work, low-income seniors), Alzheimer’s Support Network, Area Agency on Aging, Catholic Charities (social services), Collier Area Transport, Collier County Nutrition, SHINE Medicare counseling, Literacy Volunteers, Sheriff’s Office and more.
Additionally, CSR provides: a daily hot lunch and coffee bar; weekly food pantry, blood pressure, vision and diabetes screenings, oral health assessments, balance testing and fall prevention lectures; monthly birthday parties, dance and exercise classes, art therapy, cards, games, holiday parties, Alzheimer’s support groups and crafts; Direct Assistance for Needy Seniors Program and other life-enhancing programs and services.
Through the Center, CSR serves more than 1,200 hot lunches a month to seniors in-need and provides 780+ families weekly access to a Meals of Hope food pantry, including 330 needy seniors.
For more information on National Senior Center Month, Collier Senior Resources and the Golden Gate Senior Center, please call 239.252.4541, or visit www.CollierSeniorResources.org.
###
Collier Senior Resources (CSR) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working to address the needs of older adults through programs, services, education and advocacy. CSR provides free services for seniors, caregivers and those in need, including the Golden Gate Senior Center, life-enhancing programs, services and seminars; the Leadership Coalition on Aging; the Virtual Resource Directory and more. For more information, please call 239.252.4541, or visit www.CollierSeniorResources.org.
