New programs to be offered at expanded senior center
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

In an attempt to get more of the city’s elderly population to use the senior center, the Council on Aging (COA) and the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District hired three parttime recreation professionals this week to assess what new programs should be offered at the Simi Valley Senior Center.

The salaries of the three professionals will cost $34,000 and be shared between the park district and the COA, said Joe Beautz, COA chair.

The COA is a nonprofit that raises funds for senior programs and services. It’s staffed by all volunteers.

Expansion of the center, which is now underway, will add 12,000 square feet of space that will include classrooms, a fitness room, computer lab, game room and lounge. The facility will be nearly double in size, which will allow for more programs to be offered. Construction is expected to be completed early next year.

“The main idea behind (hirng the recreation experts) is to

ry to raise interest in the cen

er,” Beautz said. “We have that huge expansion; we’re going to have to fill that.”

Based on the number of newsletters the center mails out, Beautz said, only about 3,800 of

he city’s 15,000 seniors use the center’s programs and services. There seems to be a stigma attached to going to the center, Beautz said, particularly among younger seniors.

But that can be overcome through education, he said. The center already offers about 100 different services and programs sponsored by more than 40 partner agencies, such as Ventura County Public Health.

Over the next several months the experts will be analyzing the center’s programs and interviewing seniors. They will then make their recommendations to city staff and the park district.

Frank Catania, deputy director of community services, said for some time the city has wanted to expand the number and types of recreational programs, such as establishing social clubs and card games, at the center.

“We have the room; we have the people. So it’s going to happen,” Catania said