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Milford residents and senior-center director urge funding boost to sustain core services
Summary
Residents and the Milford Senior Center director asked the Board of Finance for a sustainability increase to the senior-center budget, arguing the center prevents emergencies, supports caregivers and offsets city costs; speakers warned that failing to match inflation risks service cuts for vulnerable seniors.
Milford residents and the executive director of the Milford Senior Center urged the Board of Finance on Tuesday evening to increase the center's operating budget at least to match inflation so it can maintain essential services.
Jill Tarakani read a written statement from Pat Williams Jeffrey that called the center's errands program a "lifeline" for participants and caregivers and urged the city to "put its money where its mouth is for its seniors." The letter detailed how services such as lunches, memory-support activities and errands help frail or isolated older residents stay engaged and receive necessary care.
Leonora Rodriguez, executive director of the Milford Senior Center, asked the board for a "sustainability increase, an adjustment that allows us to maintain, not expand, the essential services our older residents rely on every day." Rodriguez said the center operates as preventive public-health infrastructure, naming services including memory screenings, chronic-disease education, Meals on Wheels and the errands respite program.
Rodriguez cited national and local reports to frame the request. She told the board that evaluations showed regular senior-center participants experience fewer emergency visits and ambulance transports, describing these reductions as cost savings for the city and for families. "These reductions translate directly into cost savings for the city and for Medicare, Medicaid, and for families," Rodriguez said.
Speakers asked the board to avoid passing increased costs to members and warned that many seniors could not afford higher fees. The public comments emphasized both the social value of day-to-day programming and the concrete caregiver supports the errands respite program provides, allowing family members to work while their loved ones attend the center.
The finance board took public comment on the mayor's proposed budget and recessed to continue deliberations; no formal funding decision on the senior-center request was made during the meeting.
The board will reconvene Feb. 17 via Zoom to continue the budget hearings and consider testimony and written submissions received for the record.
