Thursday’s “Fall Fest for Lynn Seniors” at Old Tyme Italian Cuisine provided pizza and service information to local seniors and put smiles on a lot of faces.
Organized by new city Elder Services Director Christopher Gomez with Ward 5 City Councilor Dianna Chakoutis, the event also underscored how important it is for city leaders, seniors, and concerned residents to assess the state of senior service needs and resources in Lynn.
Gomez coordinates resources connecting seniors with services, and elder care organizations provide a variety of services to Lynn seniors.
But Lynn hasn’t had a senior center since September 2019 when the city and Greater Lynn Senior Services (GLSS) ended a partnership centered on operating the former 8 Silsbee St. center.
Mayor Thomas M. McGee announced at the time that the city would initiate steps to eventually operate its own senior center by June 2020.
Thanks in no small part to the COVID-19 pandemic, that effort has not reached fruition. City councilors on Tuesday learned that two city solicitations seeking requests for proposals (RFP), to identify a local site for leasing or renovation as a senior center, failed to attract bidders.
Plans for a third RFP are in the works and city officials said including a 10-year lease term might make the solicitation more attractive to bidders.
COVID-19 cut a brutal swath through senior populations across the country and, most likely, around the world when the pandemic began in March of 2020. Since then, senior-care organizations, medical providers, and municipalities have, to varying degrees, reached out to seniors to provide care even as they assess the pandemic’s impact on seniors, in particular from a mental-health perspective.
Senior advocates who criticized GLSS’ Silsbee Street operation in 2019 focused on the need for more programs to enhance senior health and well-being and connect seniors with their peers.
Proactive programming must, in our view, be the primary focus of a new city senior center if and when a center becomes a reality.
In the meantime, Thursday’s event at Old Tyme underscores the need for the city to take the lead in identifying local seniors and assessing how well their needs are being met.
