Revere senior center plans to grow programs, participation

REVERE – The Revere Senior Center is in a transition with its directors and its direction.Steve Fielding took up the assistant director duties in July and will become the full-time director in January but before he does that he is trying to get a feel for what his constituents want.”I want to ensure we offer great services and programs beyond what we already have here,” he said. “So we will have three open houses.”The open houses, “Reaching Out to You,” will be held Aug. 29, Sept. 26 and Oct. 24, each on a Thursdays and all at 2 p.m. to be held at the Rossetti-Cowan Center, 25 Winthrop Ave.Fielding said the open houses will give people a chance to meet up with old friends, make new ones and help the staff create a road map to the future.”The model for senior centers has changed dramatically,” Fielding said.He said he has spoken with directors from area centers and all echo the same thoughts that there is a need for more information and more referral services. Fielding said he hopes to collaborate with other agencies to build a network for just that.He has also reached out to seniors who used to come to the center or who never came, to find out why.”The most important thing is expanding programs and services and bringing in new people,” he said. “Currently we have a core group of people and it’s wonderful but we need to reach more.”Fielding said he would like to grow opportunities for health and exercise.”We have a wonderful bocce ball group,” he said. “We have an indoor court and people would like to see that extended so they could play more days. I would also like more cultural and entertainment events.”Fielding said he also plans to bring in more speakers such as experts on elder care, elder law, health insurance and the Red Cross.Seniors 65 years old and older are facing a lot more issues than their parents likely faced, he added.”You have to realize that many people 65 or older have to work longer, others are babysitting grandchildren or taking care of elderly parents,” he said. “It’s drastically different from 20 years ago.”Since taking office in January of 2012, Mayor Daniel Rizzo has said he is committed to increasing programming and services for our senior citizen population and Fielding’s “aggressive” outreach campaign is taking them in the right direction. Rizzo said he understands that the needs of seniors vary widely from others in the community.”I am so excited to be working with Steve and the staff at the Senior Center on this outreach initiative for our senior population,” He said. “It is my hope that these open houses, along with other upcoming initiatives, will work to re-engage our senior residents and give them every possible opportunity to get and stay involved in the civic life of our community.”