Senior centers trying to be draw for out-of-towners

Sometime early next year, signs will sprout along Missouri interstates announcing that senior citizen centers are as available at oncoming exits as hospitals, rest stops, gas stations and fast-food restaurants.

This is a marketing ploy aimed at increasing attendance at senior centers.

Because Cape Girardeau draws many people from out of town for medical treatment and shopping, the Southeast Missouri Area Agency on Aging wants the centers to be a part of that draw.

Senior centers are changing, said Susan McClanahan, director of the Cape Girardeau Senior Center at 921 N. Clark St. Recently volunteers at the local center got together and gave the center a new look, replacing the stark white walls with a more homey wallpaper and adding attractive tablecloths for the lunch tables. What it doesn't look like is an institution; it looks more like a comfortable, inviting family room.

What appeals to older individuals who frequent the senior centers today will not necessarily appeal to baby boomers, so senior centers find themselves changing and marketing themselves to appeal to a broader clientele. Since the seniors themselves have a lot of input into what goes on at the centers, McClanahan said, the offerings will change as the demographics shift. The baby boomers who say they aren't interested in what senior centers now offer may show an interest later on when they are the ones making the decisions. Or their own interests may change as they age.

The meal 'a bonus'

In the beginning, the centers were about feeding the elderly who either couldn't afford good food or didn't want to bother making lunch. That is still a valuable service, but eating in has also become one of many attractions.

"For many of our customers, the meal is actually the bonus," said McClanahan. "They come to socialize and have fellowship and interaction with other seniors."

As boomers age, centers have noticed a shift in the preferences for food and activities that appeal to their clientele and the people they want to reach and bring together.

"Baby boomers have a life they remember, and it's different from what we remember as far as music and food," said Fred Moyers of Cape Girardeau who comes to the center almost daily with his wife Helen.

The Moyerses -- he's the former circuit clerk in Pulaski County, Ill., and she's the former deputy circuit clerk -- also visit the Smiles Senior Center in Mounds, Ill., to visit with friends from their former home. But they don't go to either place for the food.

"We came here strangers," Helen Moyers said. "We have met the nicest people. Everyone is so friendly. We don't ever look at the menu; we come for the people."

But everyone says the food is good. It's home-cooked, nutritionally balanced and what the customers like to eat. McClanahan said she already has noticed a shift in eating habits. Some of the "younger 60s" have expressed an interest in lighter lunches, with more soups, salads and wraps. The older seniors who are accustomed to having their main meal at lunch still prefer pork roasts, ham and beans, kettle beef with hearty vegetable dishes -- like mashed potatoes, cream-style corn or stewed tomatoes -- to round out the meal.

McClanahan said the menus are prepared by the Area Agency on Aging's nutritionist, who makes sure each lunch meets one-third of the recommended daily allowance of nutrition. The meals are high in vitamins A and C and therefore heavy on yellow vegetables and citrus fruits.

"Then we turn around and give them coconut cream pie for dessert," McClanahan said with a chuckle.

'Best deal in town'

It costs about $5 per meal to feed about 350 people a day; about 110 of those meals are sent to homebound seniors. Some of the homebound qualify for Medicaid benefits for meal delivery. Anyone 60 or older, or is qualified handicapped, can make a contribution. Guests are charged $4.75. No one is ever turned away because they can't afford a meal, McClanahan said.

"It's the best deal in town," she said. "You get a drink, hot meal, dessert and a hot roll and you don't have to tip."

Restaurants don't fear competition from senior centers. At senior centers, meals are only a part of their offering and income, and the meals don't really cover the cost of the food. Senior centers are able to survive because of the people who participate in them. The centers have a lot of volunteer help from senior participants and others in the community, including college students.

Most of the center's funding comes from the Area Agency on Aging, a property tax and the United Way of Southeast Missouri, McClanahan said. The center receives donations, gifts, the money from about 60,000 meals a year and proceeds from fund raisers. McClanahan said her total budget for the year is $400,000. That covers utilities, upkeep and insurance on the center's six delivery vans, the mortgage payment on the building, salary and benefits for about 10 employees, and the cost of the food. McClanahan said the food comes from a wholesale supply house and costs a minimum of $110,000 a year.

McClanahan said that $400,000 budget is stretched as thin as it can be stretched. Last week, she sent a plumber to the kitchen to weld a metal sink because it would cost too much to replace it.

Giving back

The center continues to function because so many of the seniors who come in to visit also give back. Some arrive daily to deliver the meals to the homebound. VIP Industries recently donated a sixth van that McClanahan said will allow for some of the homebound seniors on a waiting list to be able to receive meals. Senior volunteers publish the newsletter, keep up the center's scrapbook, greet people at the door, sell raffle tickets each week for a cake that a volunteer baked, coordinate activities, make crafts to sell to raise money for the center, help prepare the daily meals and clean up afterward, wash the vans, and do whatever else needs to be done to keep the center running.

"There's no way we could afford to pay for all the jobs the volunteers do," McClanahan said. "They are our lifeblood. They are wonderful."

Whether they come to volunteer or to socialize, the benefit to them is priceless.

"They were wonderful support when I lost my husband," said Thelma Brothers, who greets visitors at the door. "Everyone is so eager to help anyone."

From sad endings have grown new beginnings.

"We've had a lot of weddings that came of friendships formed at the center," McClanahan said.

Until the 1970s when Congress established the Older Americans Act, there were no gathering places for retired people whose families have left home. Older adults are living longer. Those who had worked hard all their lives were suddenly idle and not liking it. Senior centers give them away of spending their time and being productive.

"I've got so many friends up here," said Farrel Craig who comes daily with her husband, Ivan. "We've got nothing else to do except just look at each other and fuss with him. I don't want to do that."

Instead Craig, 88, crochets crafts to sell at the center and to decorate the lunch tables. She and her husband talk with their friends, play cards, and enjoy the sing-alongs and other activities other volunteers coordinate.

"We just love it," she said. "We have been here ever since it first opened, and that's a good while. I think it keeps people young to come here."

Tai chi, computer requests

Many of the participants enjoy games of pinochle or bridge, singing along to the piano, playing bingo, Bible study, quilting, watching rented movies and munching on popcorn or putting together puzzles. McClanahan said she realizes for the "younger 60s" coming up, that may not be as appealing. She has already had requests for tai-chi classes, book reviews, computer activities, painting classes. She said she can see the possibility of offering two levels of activities as long as there are enough volunteers to make it happen.

"We are serving two generations," she said. "We have people in their 60s who come with their parents."

Bridging the gap between the age groups are offerings of education on financial and estate planning and health-related issues, blood pressure and other health-centered clinics, exercise classes, all provided by businesses and other organizations as a community service.

"We are changing the direction we are going," McClanahan said. "We are going to have to change to survive. I think we will just evolve and change the way people need and want."

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160