City Council Member Calls for Senior Citizen Outreach

 

By Matt Poe

Kent City Council addressed its senior citizen program at its latest meeting on February 17, and one member believes the city is not doing enough to provide for the elderly. Melissa Long, Council at Large, stated that city council isn’t bringing these issues to the forefront of the public and urged council to act immediately.

“City Council, as a whole, does not believe there is a problem and right now the attitude is ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ and someone else will take care of it,” Long said.

Long previously served as Mayor of Trumbull County and recently completed her second year with Kent City Council. She believes the city needs to understand the demographics of Kent before they can serve its senior citizens.

Portage County is comprised of 20,819 adults aged 65 and over, which accounts for 12.9 percent of its total population of 161,419, according to directionhomeakroncanton.org. Roughly 4.4 percent of its senior citizens are living below the poverty level.

As more than 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 each day, the number of retirees and senior citizens having access to necessary services and programs is a major concern. Credit card scams, obtaining Medicare/social security benefits and a growing number of health issues are at the forefront of major issues for the elderly, along with the challenges of everyday life.

Financial worry about retirement and lack of savings can take a major toll on senior citizens, as the baby boomer generation prepares for an unprecedented wave of retirees. Although Long doesn’t believe senior citizens should entirely depend on the city’s help for these issues, she does believe they need to put their differences aside and recognize common problems.

“You (senior citizens) all have the same problems, regardless of what part of town you live in,” Long said.

Another prominent member of the Portage County community and someone who works closely with Long is Sally Kelly, a columnist for The Record-Courier, a publication in Ravenna, Kent and Portage County area. Her column on senior life is published monthly and covers a wide array of issues that many senior citizens face, including losing the ability to drive a car or enduring another harsh winter in Northeast Ohio. Along with major issues like Medicare and income, Kelly says that many senior citizens aren’t receiving the support and services for daily challenges they may encounter.

“We’ve tried to encourage a walking facility because there isn’t anywhere senior citizens can walk and exercise safely,” Kelly said. “We also need a much broader plan for helping with things like shoveling snow and mowing lawns but I don’t think there’s a strong support system for that right now.”

Kelly started as a social worker in 1965 and served as senior services director of Portage County for 16 years. With over six decades of experience working for social programs, Kelly says that many senior citizens do not receive the required services because of how they may be perceived.

“Old folks aren’t cute and they’re not always the most pleasant people,” Kelly said. “I think there’s an issue with not wanting to take on that segment of the population.”

Not having the necessary programs and services can have a major impact on senior citizens psychologically and physically, according to Kelly.

“You become isolated, you become depressed and then boom: there goes your health,” she said.

Nancy Pizzino, recreation supervisor for Kent City Parks and Recreations Board, has helped develop programs for the elderly but believes there is room for growth in providing senior programs and outlets.

“We can definitely improve for providing services and we’ve talked to retirees about implementing more programs for them,” Pizzino said. “We have a Silver Sneakers program where senior citizens 60 and up can come to the fitness center and do aerobics and other fitness-related activities. It’s a very popular program.”

Pizzino is also working on a program for members of the community aged 50 and up who are not yet retired senior citizens. However, the main problem with implementing such programs is Kent’s lack of a main senior center, something which Pizzino acknowledges.

“It’s hard for them to have a place to call home and be with other senior citizens if there is no main center,” Pizzino said. “It’s something we’re hoping to develop and would need to be voted on.”

For more information on Kent City Council meetings and Parks and Recs Services, visit http://www.kentohio.org/index.asp. For information on Sally Kelly’s column, visit http://recordpub.com/.