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Marlborough senior services director reports member growth, new programs and award
Summary
Director Shoshana Merced told the Commission on Aging she welcomed 10 new members in January, launched several programs including ClearCaption and an intergenerational series, helped four residents with energy-assistance applications, and received a "Most Creative" award at a regional conference.
Shoshana Merced, Marlborough's director of human and social services and municipal agent for the elderly, told the Commission on Aging on Feb. 17 that the senior center welcomed 10 new members in January and launched several new programs.
Merced outlined recent activities at the Marlborough Senior Center, including a ClearCaption service, a new intergenerational program, a lecture on grief, and a trip to a nearby retirement community. The center hosted "Coffee with a Cop" and ran a Cookbook Club that had 11 participants. Merced said she visited Florence S. Lord Senior Housing and assisted four residents with CEAP energy-assistance applications.
Merced also reported she attended the Connecticut Association of Senior Center Personnel winter conference, where she received a "Most Creative" award for a fundraiser called the "Human Slot Machine," used to raise funds for the Walk to End Alzheimer's. The director said these activities are part of ongoing outreach and programming intended to increase participation and services for Marlborough's older residents.
Why it matters: the new programs and outreach increase local access to services such as energy-assistance application help and informal public-safety engagement with police, and they indicate active recruitment of center members after the pandemic-era declines many centers experienced.
The commission did not take formal votes related to program funding at the meeting. Items including a planned discussion with consultant Dave Porter about the member survey and options to expand part-time support for the director (volunteers or interns) were postponed or tabled pending budget decisions.
What's next: the commission noted it had presented senior-citizen demographic and trends data recently to the Board of Selectmen; no additional actions or deadlines were recorded in the minutes for the items Merced reviewed.
