45 Forward #234 - An Inside View of How Senior Centers Work

There are over 11,000 senior centers in America. They serve over a million adults every day, offering a wide variety of programs and services, from meals and nutritional programs; to social and recreational activities; intergenerational programs; and fitness and wellness classes. Most of us probably know about our local senior center, but do you know much about them? How do they actually work? What does it take to provide all their services every day? In today’s episode we look behind the scenes of one dynamic center, the Westbury Senior Center on Long Island, with Executive Director Andrea Padinha and Assistant Director Robin Lombardo. Andrea and Robin will tell us about their vision for improving the daily lives of seniors; what older folks say they need and desire most; and how they collaborate with a host of partners, professionals, staff and volunteers. It’s a demanding and often complex task—especially at a time of challenging fiscal constraints for nonprofits. But Andrea and Robin will give us an insider’s view of just how the job gets done.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
a lot of times this meal will be the only meal of a senior's day.

(00:03):
So a lot of times the senior will say to me that thank goodness for this
entree because I go home and have a yogurt or I go home and have a bowl of
cereal and they'll be honest with me and they'll say to me that I
no longer cook anymore because my husband passed away and my wife passed away
and my kids are out of the house and this is my main meal and many of our
seniors come here to eat their main meals. The average nursing home placement

(00:25):
you know it's like 190,000 over 200,000 a year. I mean
imagine being able to not spend that you know what I mean and not have that
spent on a senior because you're able to have preventative measures in place
within the community.
Hello everyone welcome to 45 Forward I'm your host Ron Roel

(00:49):
and today's episode we're going to look behind the scenes of a dynamic senior
center the Westbury senior center on Long Island Executive Director
Andrea Padinha and Assistant Director Robin Lombardo.
Now before we start a little context they're over 11,000 senior centers in
America they serve over a million adults every day offering a wide variety

(01:10):
of programs and services everything from meals and
nutritional programs to social and recreational activities
to fitness and wellness classes even intergenerational programs.
Most of us probably know about our local senior center but
but you know about them you know they actually work what makes them provide
all their services every day it's a demanding and often complex task especially

(01:34):
at a time of challenging fiscal constraints but
Andrea and Robin along with an ensemble of other key members of their
senior center team will give us an insight as to today of just how the job
gets done so when Andrea and Robin welcome to the show.
Hi Ron thanks for having us thanks a lot Ron it's a pleasure to be
here. It's a pleasure it's sort of an interesting different kind of show where I

(01:56):
you know have sort of ensemble cast I like this
so well first you know now that you're on this screen
Robin I'm I'm not to take you first and then Andrea tell us a little bit about
yourself because this is 45 forward and my guests are as interesting as the topics
we cover so I'm going to ask you and then Andrea to give a little

(02:16):
capsule view for audience about how you got to where you are today.
Well I have to say I've been in the field of working with seniors for over
30 or 20 plus years so and that's the only thing I've ever done so right from
an aid and an assistant all the way up to an administrator I've worked on every level of care
and it's just been glorious and wonderful passion of mind and seeing it

(02:40):
realized every day is just you know it's a joy and is a privilege but you know I've
been a lot of research I've been published and I've been around the block a few times I was a
professor at a college for over 17 years and you know I still teach now and so
I do a lot of really really exciting things with the seniors

(03:01):
finding money for them which I think is some pretty important
but we have an extraordinary team here and I'm just really honored again to be a part of this team
and this is the first opportunity I've had to really work in a
center where the members are healthy and don't need any kind of major supervision

(03:22):
and you know they function very well and they humble me every day.
Okay and how about you Andrea? Well I have been in this field for about 16 years
and when I graduated from college I graduated in a degree of psychology and communications
so I thought of course I was going to be a psychologist and that was my dream I was

(03:47):
going to help the world and be a psychologist and then I realized that I found a passion
working with children with special needs so I went into that field for about 10 years and I stayed
home for a little bit to raise my water and then I just decided to deal with the geriatric population
and I wanted to give that a chance and I said well I've dealt with adolescents and I want to see

(04:12):
about working with an older population and I've been here ever since and I just love it and the
seniors they teach me so much and they guide me along the way and they've opened up my eyes
just so many things and they're just wonderful and so knowledgeable so it's a blessing to me.
Yeah you know I've been working as as you guys know on a caregiving navigator guide for family

(04:35):
caregivers mostly for for their older loved ones but over the course of the last few years as I'm
doing it I realize that there are a lot of similar issues and challenges when dealing with special
needs populations and seniors and younger people and they're all kind of realizing that as part of a
spectrum of you know of issues that's not just older and younger and that kind of divided sector

(05:01):
well I appreciate that you've got that kind of a background because I think that you know
everyone has sort of special needs and I think that by attending to seniors in that way
and just recognizing their their special needs and some of them may have also issues of
mental capacities as well so anyway so let's let's just talk a little bit about that's give us

(05:22):
a little bit of a broad overview of what I'll you know with either what he was starting to rob and
just the kinds of activities that the senior center covers everybody here has an incredible
skill set and I think the beautiful part about that was very senior center that kind of
differentiates us from other centers from what I'm able to observe is that we're sort of a puzzle

(05:43):
and the skill sets kind of matched and mesh beautifully together so I would love for you to be
introduced to the other three people at this table okay okay
I am Tuesday Jordan I am the kitchen coordinator here I've been here for about a year and a half

(06:05):
going on two years I come from a corporate environment I used to work for Barnes and Noble for 30 something
years until COVID and I worked and I worked in the stores as an up to manager so I was on the floor
helping people I've always been a helper and then I went to working computers with computers in the
corporate office up here my background is customer service and computer your help that's pretty

(06:30):
primarily my background but also the kitchen part is I studied for a short time at culinary academy
here in New York and I'm a pastry I work pastries and I cook the pastry and I get so that's
where I am and next I'm going to move the computer over to Delphine Way okay I am Delphine Way

(06:53):
and I am one of the newer members to the center I have a background in education I've taught
kindergarten through sixth grade I retired from the New York City Public Schools in 2018 I also
helped my husband run a ministry which we've done for over 25 years once we retired from that

(07:14):
well he retired I retired in 2018 from teaching he retired in 2023 from the ministry so after that
we embarked upon our own organization called Impact and that's an organization where we reach
out to the community we service from the birth to almost to the grave I guess and we also partner

(07:37):
with different organizations we've partnered with the senior center we've partnered with the
Westbury Fardy Department the library and some of the things we've done are addresses from dresses
for girls we've done food we've done toy game of ways we've done scholarships for educational essays
for our teens so that's a little bit about me I have recently last year taken on the position of

(07:58):
the secretary at the senior center I am proud to say that I not proud but the person who was the
secretary before me I believe she was still in her 90s was she was still the secretary and I had
my challenge was to be as good as she was we also have a new program here where we are trying to
degling some money from people who want to use a center as a place to advertise their businesses

(08:22):
so I'm one who's in charge of the table making sure that nobody puts their merchandise on the table
without paying so I'll call them up and say I saw your merchandise here you want to give us a few
dollars and make sure you're merchandise with me and seeing next is Pat let's
I'm Patricia Ling and I am well I was a former special needs teacher I did stay home from

(08:50):
many years with my family and to do caregiving of my parents and my in-laws before they
passed away and then I found my way back to this wonderful job which I really enjoy so much I've been
here since 2013 as the well the homebound coordinator as well as the special friends leader

(09:13):
recreational leader and membership since the since we have had our pandemic I then became in charge
of the membership dues for our center so flexible I do a lot of different things around here and my
group it does have some special needs they have some dementia they have some needs some as far as
just just needing help all day we do our chair exercises and different things so we we enjoy

(09:39):
ourselves we have a wonderful time together they look forward to Wednesdays I think yes they do
I mean we we are we're considered a New York State nutrition center so we have a lot of
guidelines we have to follow I'm very proud to say there were wonderfully and compliant thanks
wonderful staff that we have here but you know we have the um adult cultural education program

(10:01):
Andre is phenomenal at getting sponsorships for a lot of our programs but we have we run by semesters
classes by semesters and we've had up to 27 class per semester which is rudinary I think for a senior
center to have and many of them are sponsored so I think it's really take advantage of them how many

(10:23):
members do you have and how does this work in terms of joining the program anyone can come to the
Westbury senior center actually you can be a resident of Westbury you can be a non-resident of
Westbury I come for an intake and you come and you feel that application and we do have a very
nominal fee that you pay to become a member and you just make sure that this is the right fit for

(10:46):
you like I said anyone is welcome and all are welcome basically we have individuals out of towners
we have individuals that came from Florida that decided to come here and live with their children
and they're just really lucky to have an environment and I place like this because it really helps
them so much in so many ways the um we hear so many times of the children that bring their parents

(11:12):
here they said that there's so much isolation that goes on at home because the children are at
work full-time and the parents are watching television or they're just basically sitting in a chair
and staring at the wall I've even heard and like Robin had said we just offer so much here so many
classes and workshops nutritional programs we have trips and travel they like to go to the casino

(11:37):
so we really really like to do that for them anything that they like is what we like to provide for them
I think that um you know from what I've heard it you know one of the challenges of scene
sentences is that you're so vital in your own community resource and and yet I think a lot of
people as they get older they they could join you know I mean in my area join your 60 you know

(12:03):
or younger hum and yet you know and this this was my mom she was like when I suggested a
year ago she's passed away but at the time she was at home alone so why don't you join the scene
center and she was like that's for old people and I and so my my mom was in her late 70s and I'm like

(12:25):
wow you know come on so how do you break through that that you get that that way but this is a vital
place you know this is I guess you you've stressed before just if you just tell them the activities
and stress the socialization because I think that's what uh you know you mentioned a key point as
people get older you know that is a key thing where it's great to age in place but then you're

(12:48):
alone a lot of times if you're not part of an intergenerational family you're there alone and
sometimes you don't have transportation so I think you guys offer transportation don't you
this we do we have a bus on Tuesdays Wednesdays and Thursdays for people that live at full apologize
people that live in Westbury proper and you know a lot of our special friends to take advantage of

(13:14):
the bus which is really nice so if you're unable to drive they a lot of our members also take
aribal ride and they also take the town enough homestead bus we're so lucky to live in the town
enough homestead the town provides so much to our seniors and some of our seniors they take that bus
as well getting back to your question though um I think the seniors just have to come in for a tour

(13:39):
and all of our members they have to see that the beautiful um programs that we have going on they
have we have three floors going on Tuesdays and Thursdays especially all at once all at once
so you have to pick and choose which class do you want to go to do you want to do the exercise in
the main room which is where the cafeteria area is or do you want to do categories which is in the

(14:04):
living room a lounge area do you want to um you're knitting upstairs do you want to do your artwork
downstairs so I mean we have so many things happening and all the people are just amazing I mean see
them they're up to 95 years old doing exercise maybe see it but they are doing their exercise and

(14:24):
talking and socializing and laughing and carrying on so it's just really wonderful to watch
and to see so they will not come away saying they're old people I don't think
I'll just add on to that I have one senior here and she's the one who calls me to remind me of
the programs that I'm supposed to be in there's kind of like I've been holding is just like don't

(14:48):
feel worried they're calling your name you ready to get done yeah so these seniors are not seniors that
that I'm familiar with these are these are a different breed of seniors and I love being around them
I learned so much from them and I sometimes have to have the energy to keep up with them
make sure that they want to get out of bed in the morning it's almost like a cruise ship so

(15:09):
a lot of times they will say right somebody will say to me well why do you put a program on a 1030
and then a conflicting program again another program on a 1030 all of our teachers are certified
teachers and they all teach elsewhere whether it be at university is whether it be at other senior
centers at libraries so we also have to go with their schedule what's convenient for them so

(15:30):
sometimes it does conflict but the seniors always find their and they always find what their
favorite program is and it just it just works and they courage others to attend with them yeah which is
terrible I think it's so wonderful um and you know I have to go back to the whole notion of the
social connectedness that occurs here because we know that social connectedness and

(15:51):
hands is brain health we already know that we've researched on that already it slows aging down
30 20 to 30 percent longer life expectancy for those that are socially connected and socially engaged
and I you know I think the thing that we provide our seniors that I guess most people are not aware of
is we give them that wonderful third sacred space now they always say we have three spaces in our

(16:14):
lives work space home space and a third space a third space for our passion a third space for
our spiritual health and we help provide that third space we help provide that sacred space and
helps really save so much money because otherwise these people would probably end up in enhanced
care environments then here and so I really feel so fulfilled in the job that I do here because I know

(16:38):
that I'm really helping but we also again you know financially and visibly we're helping the state
we're helping you know really are because you know don't don't go away we are much more coming back
with Andrea patina and Rob and the bar and their wonderful crew at the Westbury senior center so
don't go in a minute we'll be right back are you caring for an aging loved one it can feel overwhelming

(17:05):
but you don't have to do it alone runs book the caregiving navigator is a step-by-step guide
designed to help you plan prepare and provide compassionate care with confidence from organizing
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(17:26):
it's all here find the caregiving navigator now on amazon and take the first step toward peace of mind
okay welcome back folks we're at 45 forward i'm your host and ron roel we're talking today with

(17:48):
Andrea patina and robin lambardo the Westbury senior center but also
their wonderful crew of members who support the the center in multiple ways it's i think more
you can't you must have more than two hands a piece i mean given the work you do
but anyway coming back i just Andrea wanted to talk a little bit about just

(18:11):
you know the complexity of running an organization you say oh the senior center but
you know there are just lots of moving parts there's a there's a board there's an executive committee
there volunteers and sponsors so give us a little bit of a sense of how you you know keep track of all
the pieces we wear many hands here and often we say that we need roller skates because we're always

(18:33):
we're always running it's a step of six so we do have six individuals that work for us at the
Westbury senior center two full-time staff so we do need many hands and we do need many volunteers
and luckily we're very blessed because our members are our volunteers at do a fantastic job
we also have a membership executive committee board and we meet once a month every first Wednesday

(18:58):
of the month and they do an extraordinary job they help out tremendously whether it be like i said
volunteering they help with fundraising one member in particular she is a wizard fundraising
and unfortunately she was not able to make it here tonight but she does much of our fundraising
we make sure because of the fact that we are a non-for-profit i will in three-stay we basically have

(19:24):
to fund me for our salaries and our grants thank goodness to robin she's our grant guru that's how
we end donations that's how we the staff get paid so this fundraising is very important to us
and our membership executive committee that's what they help with they help with the fundraiser
saying and they help with running other aspects of the center as well and we get support from our

(19:48):
board of directors as well and so our most senior centers that so they're the funding comes from
multiple sources and there's some actually the funding comes from really just three sources so
it comes with fundraising donations and grant writing and that's why we actually have robin here
because she is our grant writer and she finds different grants for us to utilize and our fund

(20:08):
raisers range from a bizarre so we have our bizarre once a year that's our major fund raiser and we
also have golf outings we have a the very first time we're going to be doing a reverse raffle so
that should be exciting and we also have bingo night every one friday a month we do bingo and
that's a fun night so we have everyone from the community come out to support us and we play bingo

(20:30):
and we also offer food and great gift cards for prizes and we also have baskets we raffle off
baskets once a month pat so wonderful she'll make up baskets for us and we do anything and everything
we can to basically raise money for our center and keep it going and keep it thriving as everyone
just possible yes and we have our wonderful knitters our knitters are just fantastic they the jewelry

(20:54):
yes we have the knitters we have people that donate use jewelry and we sell that throughout the year
also have the one individual like i said her name is Mary she makes soups for us and that's a big
fundraiser she sells her soups she also sells her cakes now she's making pickles so she pickles
pickles and she's selling her pickles like i said anything that we can to actually obtain funding

(21:17):
we try so like you said it does take many hands because just the staff alone does such a great job
but we just can't run with the staff alone we have to have our members to walk tear and help out
now any for either you under a or robin or or any of your team any surprises that
yes there's many surprises it's funny because you would think that you'd implement a program and

(21:43):
all of a sudden if that's what i was going to say you implement a program and you're like oh so
many people want this or so many people inquired about this and then you implement it and then you
have maybe five that sign up and three that show up and you're like oh i thought you liked this
program but we did a hula hooping we thought that was going to be a big success it didn't turn out
that good um we have we had other classes as well where we will oh this is going to be great

(22:08):
and then it just was a flop but you have to just you have to dive in and you have to go for it and
see if it's going to work and even with presentations we buckle out of presentations here nutrition
presentations just different workshops eldercare attorney workshops and health and safety
workshops fraud prevention workshops and sometimes you think oh this is such a great workshop because

(22:31):
it's we're getting closer to the holidays and we want to protect everyone we want to make sure
everyone knows what type of fraud there is out there and then only a couple will show up
our hand to this and then more will show up to that so you just you just don't know you're not
not really sure of what to expect but it's a learning experience everything i'm still learning

(22:51):
i've been here 16 years and i'm still learning and it is it's it's a very big learning experience
and thank gosh that we're just the team is just so close and we just bounce ideas off of one another
and we just work so intuitively with one another and it just works out just that's just together
really so i wanted to get back to an important topic which is food something that brings people

(23:14):
together right and it's the social aspect of it and you guys have congregate you know meals right
yeah to talk about that because you know it's it's it's it's it's it's it's such that people don't really
talk about but you guys know that there still is a lot of food insecurity and you know in in areas
like long Island everywhere so it provides a certain you know it's not just comfort it's the comfort of

(23:36):
food that that can bring people together and socialize so talk a little bit about your stuff and
how do you do it sort of how do you make choices about that
i'm my choice is to be here so far as the food we get a menu the department of health from the
department of the department they give us a menu and it's our job to present it to the people

(23:58):
here in the saner center i enjoy doing that enjoy doing that they don't always like what we have
because you know selections that you know everybody has a choice and sometimes they're not good
but everybody eats so and this is a good it's a good price that is affordable to them to
for it to eat because it's only three dollars a meal just that don't it should i suggest that you just
get the note that it's just three dollars is like you can't get you can't get birch king you can't

(24:23):
even get that happen nowadays no for three dollars but you get a full meal and it's a full meal you get
your entree you get your vegetables you get your starches your desserts and you know have a
dessert you have a milk juice it's like it's like four or five different things you got a lot of

(24:43):
that's a lot of food you know it's good it's a good meal it's a good time people generally like it
you know of course you always you can always have somebody who's not going to like enjoy
as much as others but it's a it's a good it's a good hour to spend in the Westbury saner center
lunch i'm full lunch i just wanted to say one more thing about the meals i just wanted to say that
a lot of times this meal will be the only meal of a senior's day so a lot of times the senior will say

(25:08):
to me that thank goodness for this entree because i go home and have a yogurt or i go home and have
a bowl of cereal and they'll be honest with me and they'll say to me that i no longer cook anymore
because my husband passed away my wife passed away and my kids are out of the house and this is my
main meal and many of our seniors come here to eat their main meal so it is so vital and so

(25:28):
important that we keep up with this lunch program because it really does save the seniors to be honest
we also have low-mine-line cares they're so generous to us they do donate bags of food once a month as well
so we're appreciative for their program that's it yeah yeah i think that just any onto that i think
that you guys have talked about you know sort of providing a basal environment of health and wellness

(25:54):
and i think you know you're notion of dealing with preventative health you know preventative
practices so you know it's it's what i call you know when people talk about budgeting you know
and how much things cost you know two things one is that you know i find it interesting that people
when they look at you know government budgets i play say well no one you know questions the cost of

(26:15):
child care but elder care it's just like well you know i don't know what would that cost and you know
for me it's like you you guys need to think about a higher mass you know what what are what are
the benefits what's the return on your investment in keeping seniors healthy that's the same before
i mean the average nursing home placement you know it's like 190,000 over 200,000 a year i mean

(26:39):
imagine being able to not spend that you know what i mean and i'd have that spent on a senior
um because you're able to have preventative measures in place within the community
and this community is a vibrant community um the village of west berri itself too is a vibrant
community and i just you know you just see this all the time i mean if somebody walks in to the
senior center and is unable to provide even a voluntary donation we cannot refuse them

(27:06):
and so that's important so we're taking care of the needs of those seniors and i do i have to
dovetail off of what i'm on dry i was saying like this is primarily their only meal their only
meal and this nutrition based nutritionist gives us really good guidelines so it's healthy yeah
trust that they get their goodies they definitely get their goodies and i just want to emphasize that

(27:30):
no senior ever goes hungry there are people that literally walk in off the streets sometimes
and they ask for a meal and we do provide that meal to them if not an entree because it may be our
entrain may be given to those that sign up because all the seniors have to sign up to eat the meal the
week before on friday the following i'm not going so yes the friday before the following week the

(27:54):
senior has to sign up and if they do not sign up they still eat they have to be put on a wait list
but they are always still given a meal so we never leave any senior hungry here at the seniors
center and you should see our celebration days yeah we have celebration day we have a celebration day
once a month or we celebrate like birthdays and we say you know and the food is voluminous

(28:16):
the goodies ice cream oh gosh out of control yeah and and the seniors just thoroughly totally
enjoy themselves they're up dancing and carrying on and saying you know having a grand all time and
all the special events that we have we have once a year we have the barbeque picnic which they love
and you know it's fresh made food and it's just you just get to see this real

(28:40):
lovely vibrancy of life it's just really and i love the music program here i'm just in the
love it's cool i know i think you mentioned me that your some of your folks got on tour go pat let's
let's spin to pat i do go with them twice a year so in the spring we have a spring concert we just

(29:01):
finished that in the June and then we sing for three or four of the assisted living homes in the area
and then also at our senior center and then in around christmas a little before christmas we'll have
our holiday special and again the bus will take some of us some of us will drive separately and we
meet there and sing again all the holiday favorites and it's really lovely and the seniors look forward

(29:27):
to that we also do go to the friends academy which is a school nearby in our district and they let
that as well so the children just have such a ball and they give us cards when we leave they give us
big Christmas cards signed by all of the little five-year-olds very and we just the singing is wonderful
they practice here every week except for the summertime but every week they are here Thursday morning

(29:52):
singing by Emma Hermanere and i just want to say that the harmonies are very welcoming you don't have
the audition all you have to do is sign up and say you want to sing and sometimes someone may hold
a note a little longer after the music gets stopped but nobody complains nobody points them out
and says you didn't sing that correctly are you came in wrong so it's very uh it's very relaxed

(30:14):
kind of singing where everybody is enjoying everybody's company and i guess that anybody can
belong even if you're a little off key uh we'll we'll still take them and you're in a hard
air that are singing by my wife's and it's just so like Robyn said it's just such a warm and welcoming
feeling so yeah so on that note on that note we're going to take another quick break so folks

(30:37):
we'll be back in one minute we'll be talking much more with the folks at the Westbury senior center
about all their programs and uh all they're singing so don't go away we'll be right back
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(31:03):
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(31:23):
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welcome back folks this is Ron Roel with 45 forward we've been talking today with the folks in

(31:50):
the Westbury senior center on long island about what it takes to run a modern senior center on long
island and actually anywhere because i'm sure that there every every place is sort of its own
character but i think there's some a lot of similarities across centers and before the break we
were talking about music and i know that robin you've been very involved in with music programs for

(32:12):
those of dementia but it's a it's a broad you know it's i think we're just learning a lot about the
role of music in terms of you know really feeding your soul i mean i think you guys before talking one
of you at i'm not sure but still feene i forget who talking about sort of the you know it's a ministry
and the sense of what you're doing so talk a bit about a little bit more about music and then

(32:32):
how you work across the generations and music well you know i get to be honest i'm not downstairs because
we have three floors and all this starts walk but going downstairs and watching the the members
do zumba or do soul line dancing or they're just they're whole entire souls are in live and and
awakened and they you know and they're laughing and they're leaving in such a tired maybe exhausted

(32:59):
but tired but not too exhausted to play majon and listen to music while playing majon and just have
a very relaxing and nice everyone's laughing because choozy is majons i and one of the members brings
in her speaker and they just listen to music play majon play cards and you go downstairs and after

(33:21):
you're working on the computer and dealing with all sorts of stuff upstairs you just go downstairs
and you feel like this just just a decompression that comes over you just by listening to the music
that they're listening to it's it's a wonderful thing yeah really is and what about we started a touch
on intergenerational programs we have one grant right now that we're working on with the westbury

(33:42):
school district we're very proud of that grant um and uh we do some a lot of intergenerational things
like um pat for instance she did the reading of the in the birthday for dr. sues right sure i think
nothing you were involved in that yet yeah you can see the picture of her with her little cat in the hat
hat on while she was reading to the the kids loved it they loved it and and Tuesday does it did a class

(34:05):
does a class for the computers for the seniors come over and help the seniors in um the high school
was for high school come over and help and that's just really so nice to see and they you know they
feel really like useful and helpful and oh that's right this summer we have a lot of the students coming
in and serving one also had a lot of the children come over and do um a karaoke with the seniors

(34:30):
and celebrate the holidays with the seniors and just sit with them and had a conversation
about traditions so the students spoke about their tradition and the senior also spoke about
their tradition with the students so we try to do a lot of intergenerational programming here
within the senior center yeah i think that that's important because uh well i think for a number of

(34:51):
reasons number one as society's progress you know we've have a own approach of specialization will
be segment younger people and older people which is not the way communities have been traditionally
formed and sustained and so i think you know you lose a lot of that communication between generations
that's sort of passage of stories and information and perceptions you know i think that one of the

(35:13):
things that i've talked to people about in other places as well these um um once the intergenerational
i talk about multi-generational just interage programs because it's maybe i don't know what generation
it could be in many generations but that um you know that it's it's important to break down stereotypes
i mean one of the persistent issues that you guys deal with is the issue of ageism and i think that

(35:37):
by bringing it together younger and older i'm involved with the great panthers of in their city
on witches and uh i always look when i was younger and i heard about the great panthers i thought
as well that was seniors but but it was actually the the mission of the group is older and younger
together you know and uh i think that's really important notion because we're just we're just

(35:59):
two-sector in silo then i think that that doesn't help us doesn't help us communicate doesn't help us
you know enjoy life as a community yeah i like to call it transgenerational i like to use that word
because i see and then there's been a lot of research that's saying that there's more
commonality between the millennial generations and the seniors over 60 and in any other two generations

(36:22):
come on um this would be a lot of research on the way that they view life and the way that they accept
advice from each other i think what is very interesting so there's been a lot of really interesting
research on that that they seem to have it's almost almost like this camaraderie skip the generation
there's some kind of transgenerational kind of matching of needs wishes and how they process

(36:45):
information and how they learn and how they share which is also very interesting because you
think well you know then this generation is more a digital friendly but that's not necessarily the case
now things are changing very frequently and very fat where we're learning from each other and
you know helping each other and understanding each other better if we can do anyone anybody any

(37:07):
little bit of that is great and i can't you know because they they learn that age does not define you
and number does not define you whatsoever and they'll learn that oh wow even though that person is
90 oh oh i don't know they're like my best friend a lot by superb so age does not
be all right members that actually just wrote books and they are um two of my members and i don't

(37:32):
want to say their age because i would never want to do that to them but they're older and they were
very beautiful books and one book is the post of all of the seniors poetry that's just gorgeous
and she just got it published and another one of the books is about one of the seniors
fathers right and fathers no that's okay um his father his life in Jamaica i mean you know

(37:56):
correct yes his life in Jamaica and they did this later in life and it's just incredible it's
incredible it was so inspiring to see that yeah those kinds of stories i think are important to
you know to pass to longer people as we pass to you go ahead those two members as well as quite a
few others were also involved in basically running a um especially event for us one was for black both

(38:21):
well two different ones were for black and history i would say right so we had yes we had
she did the fashion show we had the um the book itself was and we spoke about the Jamaican culture
and we had Jamaican speak was last year but we have a lot of very talented people in our center

(38:42):
that are not afraid to come up and take an hour or it goes a lot of time it runs over that and we
could have often 20 people in the in our one room that really is overpacked but we one wants to come
and see what this is all about and what they learn from each other and they just are so interested
we have so many folks that are from different areas of the world and they love to speak about it talk

(39:07):
to others about it when a new member comes in they tell them well we're from such an
such where from this town and and everyone you know they just love to um you know to be involved
with each other and it's it's wonderful yeah i think that you know and yes now we're using
technologies where i'm in a different place talking with you uh at the same time that human
connection is really how you guys have talked about it and that being able to congregate

(39:33):
not just for meals but for talk and learning and that that kind of connectedness i think is a really
valuable service that's in and and a lot of it has to be semi-organized but also informal people can
just really you know improvise in their relationships and really take advantage of things they don't
expect but i think that that's a really important function and we you know we missed that today i

(39:54):
think we're so technologically sourced and separated social media is not that social it can be pretty
anti-social but when you're in person that's when you really learn about the other people and you can
be authentic you know and not history book they lived through it they know what this is like they
know what this experience was like and there's they don't know what you can find that in a book

(40:18):
Tuesday is one of our writers we have a right group writing club and last year we did this wonderful
cultural arts program called seasons they're incredibly we have some amazingly talented artists
yeah who did and they so they did readings and then they did we show the artwork which was just

(40:39):
the you know art came with paragraphs of what it's about you know and it just and the harmonies sang
at the opening which was nice so we got to see the the music and the arts and the fine arts and just
all together what we have to offer yeah yeah the was very very counsel and so well for sculpting who

(41:01):
asked the wrong last painting jewelry making writing and a lot of the seniors they once they've
retired that's when they decided you know what i've raised my family and now it's me time and i'm
going to see if i like you know these classes and all of a sudden they get into these classes
and they realize that they've had such hidden talents all along but they were not able to

(41:25):
zone into them because of the fact that they've been so busy working full time and raising a family
and now they're coming up with these gorgeous pieces of sculpture and paintings and just drawings
it's just incredible i'd go downstairs and i said oh my gosh that's so beautiful how long have you
been an artist for you know just a couple of years and i just can't get over it because it just it

(41:48):
looks like they've been drawing and painting and doing this for years and years so it really is
incredible to stay i really have while this is pretty amazing because i think many for some of our seniors
you know it's now it's their time right it's my time and it's time for me and it's a beautiful thing
yes well i think that it's important though that you're pointing out that these talents you continue

(42:12):
to grow all the way through life and these things come out and i've had people in my show i had a very
successful woman who was she was a corporate trainer and entrepreneur and then she decided that
when she was done with that she wanted to do what she had wanted to do since she was nine was in
Catholic school and no one had any expectations of her she wanted to be a novelist and at the age of

(42:36):
69 she published her first historical mystery so you know it can you know what what your folks are
doing is is just to me a testament to the fact that we continue growing all the way through life so
some you've got a lot of territory i would like to i'm gonna take one more quick break because i
would like to have a shorter but i would like to have a wrap-up session where we can go around the

(42:57):
table again and then get some final thoughts so folks that when we come back well i've one more
dynamic session with our great group from the west beret senior centers so don't go away
caring for a loved one can feel overwhelming that's why we created caregiving nav.com your
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(43:21):
the caregiving navigator book with tools designed to make your journey easier whether you're
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(43:48):
nav.com because you're not alone on this path and the help you need is just a click away
so folks once again welcome back to 45 forward your host Ron roel i'm here with you talking with

(44:08):
Andrea Padinha and Robin Lombardo and her wonderful crew from the Westbury senior center
on Long Island we've been talking a lot about what it takes to run a modern center we've had a lot
of interesting stories which are always the centerpiece of these places and the last segment we
were talking about the you know people being politically active and getting out there and I think

(44:33):
that's important you know one of the things that i've talked about to advocates but they say well
what do we what do we need i think what i hear more and more is that older folks i don't even like
to say seniors older folks need to hear their voices heard so what what what do you want to say to

(44:55):
those and and when you know in terms of your needs in terms of your wants in terms of your hopes
and dreams what do you want of those in positions of authority or or in positions of distributing
funds what do you want them to know i'll start with you Andrea we're nervous because we're hearing

(45:16):
down the pipeline that this may be get cut that grant make it cut and that really terrifies us because
with that happening we are in a big problem here so i want the legislators have been so kind to us
in the past and they've really helped us so much and we just want them to know that please you know

(45:37):
please continue to support and continue to help us because this is this is where the seniors want to
be and we we want to be here as well and we want to be able to provide this for them
well as robin started to say earlier too you know this is where we're all going
we're all getting older and i think that you know there's a certain amount of denial about this in

(45:58):
our society and so you know i like to emphasize that you know these are not handouts you know they're
grants but they're not handouts and i think that if people think of them in terms of investments
you know you're investing in keeping your older population engaged healthy productive there's been

(46:20):
a lot of work done on you know the what they call the you know the 50 plus economy and how much
older people contribute to the economy even financially and economically in ways no disrespect
to our younger people but this is where the money is now the seniors are at the top and there's
really no support for them so you kind of reverse the whole Apple pyramid and you know most of the

(46:41):
research indicates that 75% of health occurs within the community not in an office setting so if you
think about that 75% of health and there's a lot of health going on here there's a lot of good health
going on here and seniors don't disappear when they get older they often think they do but this is
a place where they don't have to disappear they don't have to become gone visible and purposeful

(47:06):
and meaningful and and it enhances the entire community not just the senior him or herself
and it's hard because when when you're writing grants lots of times the grants will delineate
exactly what the money is supposed to be used for and sometimes it's not always the things that you
really need you know sometimes it's not things that sometimes it's payroll sometimes it's other things

(47:29):
but it's um and it's very difficult because you know you have to the landscape for grants have
changed tremendously um and I think with the new administration I think the landscape has changed
also so you know I'm making sure that the funding was your base budget so we have what we have
no one had love what we have I got going to have below we have but pretty much we have what we have

(47:54):
and so to lose grants is a huge issue for us because something's got to go
well my final thought is the fact that I just I'm so appreciative for what we have I'm appreciative
to foreign members I'm appreciative so appreciative for my style it takes a village and I'm just so
blessed to have what I have and also I just wanted to put it out that I wanted to thank my donors

(48:17):
because we do have a lot of people including our members that are wonderful donors to our senior
center and we're always willing to take donations and that means so much that could definitely be
a tax write-off so if anybody would ever like to donate to the Westbury senior center they could always
we have a website we have a Facebook page and personally they can they can call me I can speak with

(48:40):
them and I can definitely guide them towards doing that but I just wanted to just be so thankful for
what we have and our seniors and keep on rubbing our little engine and I'm now going to pass it on
to choose day what's very senior center senior center dot org is the website I just I'm just
hoping and thankful to be able to serve in the capacity that I do here at the senior center my

(49:07):
my thought is to just be able to continue to give service and a joyful way because that's the way
I like to do it my thoughts are I've lived in Westbury we moved here in the year 2000 and at that time
I was working in Queens and you know raising the family so I didn't really know a lot of the neighborhood
I didn't know a lot of the residents in Westbury it wasn't until I retired in 2018 and I needed to

(49:31):
find something to do that I joined the senior center and it was there that I met so many people that
are in from the community and in June our organization impact outreach we presented the senior center
with fish frying a barbecue for the members free of charge and we did it the year before and we had
about 30 members come but this year we did it again and it's about 70 members that came and

(49:54):
and we had singing we had all kinds of food items for them free of charge and I could say that
because of the senior center that I have gained at least 70 or more friends and it's just a community
and if also know that there are people moving into them the community and they're coming in for
the first time and I'm meeting them at the center and they'll say oh I just moved here from Brooklyn

(50:15):
I just moved here from another community and so they're coming to the center and this is a place where
they will find friendship here and something to always do I feel very blessed with everyone around me
here have so our staff is fabulous we have such very kind and spiritual people I have to say for
the most part I have been to more churches and more services because I was invited and I I went

(50:38):
to so many different things whether it was for a funeral or for just a women's day of
finding that we have very giving the members that are always donating to a lot of the problems
that are happening in the world to different groups that we have tried to help Alzheimer's as
well as veterans and so forth and they also are just giving of themselves always looking after

(51:06):
someone else in this this membership they're always saying what happens happened to so and so can
you call them if they don't have the phone number or they want we have a writing a part writing staff of
folks that are just volunteers the same with the calling and others just visit them that are
homebound it's really a beautiful beautiful community I just wanted to say another thing I didn't

(51:29):
really get a chance with I'm complaining about being the parent right always complaining about not
having enough money but we do have some wonderful grants that our senators senator lean and senator
bind out the village nassau county the new york senator tom miss new x state part of the aging
in the school district we do have a lot of people that we do work with that by grants for that

(51:57):
without which yeah absolutely yeah well I think that you know we we talk about it takes a
village all the time and it really does take a village and so so I want to thank you very much for
these insights and these stories and as my final thought I just wanted to mention that I

(52:18):
I went you know many people know that I wrote this what I call a manual on family caregiving
called a caregiving navigator and so I look at the work that you do and it to me it's
it's a it's a broad sense of caregiving how do we care for each other so we get older and it's
you know it there's individual family caregiving but this is community caregiving so I applaud you

(52:42):
for that then thank you for your work any last thoughts Andrea and then I'll have a sign off
oh ron this was a wonderful opportunity rosa I want to thank you so much thanks again to all the
folks at the Westbury senior center again this is your host Ron Roel thank you for spending
this time with me and helping to make our journey through the second half of life even better than

(53:02):
the first which by tagline uh be sure to join me next time we're on we're gonna have another
podcast coming up after this one I think you'll find interesting bear I'll be talking with a man
named Jack York who is the founder of tailgate he travels thousands of miles every year talking to
seniors and most notably centenarians people over a hundred sharing their stories with the world

(53:22):
until then folks keep moving forward 45 four