The senior population currently served by the Cook County Senior Center is aging and the new “young” seniors are looking for community experiences that differ from the traditional “cards, games and casino trips” typically offered by Senior Centers.
A recent study to evaluate the need for assisted living facilities in our county counted 35 percent of the county’s population 65+ years and it’s estimated to grow 39 percent next year and will continue a gradual increase over the next five years. Clearly the market is there.
The Cook County Council on Aging’s mission is to offer programs and services that allow our older residents to remain vibrant and experience meaningful relationships with other community members while staying in their homes.
We do this well, however, the average center user now is 80+. Our current model is not serving all of the seniors of today or attracting the seniors of tomorrow, which will lead to tomorrow being a far bigger worry for the future of senior centers.
Cook County Senior Center Programs and Service Coordinator Jes Rodne will soon be attending national training on successful aging.
Experts predict that baby boomers will not walk in the door of outdated centers so if we don’t innovate a key resource for our senior population may no longer exist.
We conducted a countywide survey in 2015 and found that our seniors are looking for variety of services that a include fitness facilities, education opportunities, volunteer positions and a variety of entertainment options.
To serve the senior community, the Cook County Senior Center is looking to develop a strategic plan that includes both short and long term plans to serve the community. However, we don’t know what we don’t know and we plan to work with other organizations that have developed successful programs to learn from their best practices and avoid, as much as possible, making costly mistakes.
Mathers Lifeways has been recognized for its unique way to revamp the old model of yesterday’s senior centers and lay out a blueprint for what the future senior center can look like.
They have developed a four-day informative and interactive workshop to share their model in detail. We applied for two different grants, in hopes of sending two people from the Cook County Council on Aging to Chicago to attend this workshop, which will provide us with a successful model we can use to benchmark how to attract and extend our services without dramatically increasing our budget.
On February 26, Northland Foundation approved the funding request to send me to Chicago for this training. The other grant which will allow a board member to attend also is still pending.
Our goal in attending the Mathers Lifeways training is to learn from their nationally recognized researchers about wellness aging, trends in senior living and successful aging innovations.
We wish to develop a program in Cook County that enhances the lives of older adults (50+) by providing fun, education and wellness related programs and activities. Mathers Lifeways has done this successfully and is recognized throughout the world for the work with older adults. Specifically, we hope to learn:
1. How to reach active, “younger” older adults.
2. How to re-brand our center in a positive welcoming manner.
3. How to extend our market reach and become a better community partner.
When Mathers Lifeways attendees return to Grand Marais we will share our learning with our board of directors and together chart the next steps to become the gathering place for older adults.
Cook County has a vibrant and active community of elders. Each week we offer Senior News to highlight our senior citizens. This week’s submission is about the Cook County Senior Center, courtesy of Programs and Service Coordinator Jes Rodne.
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