Dear Eleanore Turkington:
“Why are people at the senior center so bored? Notmany people come there. There is supposed to be stuff to do here. Also, why do you come in for lunch and there is a limit? There is not enough napkins, milk and the coffee runs out before lunch. Bathrooms are dirty and tiles on the floor are broken. There are also not enogh chairs in the lobby”
Unhappy Senior Citizen
Dear Unhappy:
I sent a copy of your letter to Mayor Dorinda Borer and she responded promptly with the following response to your complaints:
Dear Eleanore Turkington:
I’m sorry to hear some of the seniors are bored as I know Alyssa, our director, is working hard to provide social and entertaining activity. We want our seniors to have a robust socialization as we know isolation is detrimental to anyone’s health and seniors are more susceptible to isolation. Having said that, we do have some good updates.
A few weeks ago, we announced that in 2025 we will be moving our Senior Center over to Meloy School. This will provide more spacing for better access which will not only open up to more seniors but will give the spacing we need for better equipment and activity. We also just brought in a brand-new Bingo Machine last week which is something requested to me when I visited in June. We are working to bring back more recreational activities, and I put in a position in the budget to help with that. Currently that position is being recruited for.
I’ll speak to the center for napkins, milk and coffee runs this week.
We also had a request for a new ice machine which is also in the works.
It really is our goal to make for a great experience for our seniors and we will continually work on this.
Dorinda Borer
Mayor City of West Haven.
Readers, if you have any other suggestions or requested improvements at the senior center send them to Gripe Vine 840 Boston Post Road, West Haven or email them to me at gripevineatwh@yahoo.com Please include your name, address and phone number or email address kept in strict confidence with me.