FARMINGTON -- Visitors to Davis County's three senior citizen centers will notice new faces at the helm. And, while it may be less visible, there will be more coordination between the centers.
That's the positive word from J. Richard Connelly, director of Aging Services for the county. He's excited that all three centers now have on-site coordinators. Last year, after the retirement of Patsy Seach from the Heritage Center in Clearfield, there was some musical chairs necessary to staff that facility plus Autumn Glow in Kaysville.
The new center coordinators are: Linda Freer, Autumn Glow; Karen Henderson, Golden Years; Michelle Murray, Heritage; and Dawna Schultz, activity center manager. Schultz, who formerly headed up activities at Autumn Glow, is based in Farmington and will coordinate county-wide programs.
"We have a budget that has been increased by 23 percent which will allow us to provide a quality program, someone will always be in place at each center, now," Connelly said. "This is a great help to us. We appreciate the county commissioners seeing the need."
Statistics alone bear out the increasing need for services to seniors, especially those aged 75 and older. "Between 1990 and 2000, Davis County had the fastest growing population of oldest seniors in the state."
Senior citizens are not moving from the county, as may be happening elsewhere, Connelly said. For example, one in five Bountiful residents is over the age of 60.
Many are familiar with the senior centers in the county: Autumn Glow, on city block in Kaysville, Golden Years on Bountiful's city block, and Heritage Center, housed in Clearfield's former municipal center.
At the centers, seniors over the age of 60 can participate in programs ranging from hot meals, five days a week, to blood pressure and other medical checks/clinics, classes from ceramics to silversmithing to computer training, to lectures and short trips around the region.
But while several hundred people participate in those programs, many more seniors don't choose to visit the centers on a regular basis, Connelly says, adding that Aging Services tries to meet their needs, as well.
For instance, Home and Community Based Alternatives Services provides in-home care for medically fragile adults who qualify, and are at risk for entering a nursing home.
The Family Caregiver Support program offers information and assistance, as well as short-term relief, to caregivers for up to six months.
Home Delivered Meals are provided to hundreds of homebound seniors five days a week. Volunteer drivers and "runners" offer that service.
The Medicaid Aging Waiver program allows for services to be offered for individuals who would otherwise have to be removed from their homes and institutionalized. Services include home health aide, homemaking and adult day care.
Foster grandparent, part-time community service employment, and a senior companion program are also offered.
For more information call Aging Services at 451-3377.