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On a recent morning, the Wilson Park Senior Center hummed with people participating in about 20 different activities. Some attended classes in Hawaiian dance, Buddhist meditation, or exercise on floor mats or seated. Others worked out on fitness equipment. Some gathered around billiard tables or played Scrabble, card games or cribbage. Woodworkers, weavers, ceramicists and quilters worked in dedicated workshops, while others used computers. People drank coffee, chatted and read newspapers. Volunteers coordinated senior-dining check-in. Some 30 flyers along a wall described upcoming programs by type: fitness, hobbies, travel, health services and education.
Similar program rosters play out at four other centers owned by Milwaukee County, including options tailored for each site. For example, a male choir, and the Roselettes, a female dance troupe, rehearse and perform at the Clinton and Bernice Rose Senior Center. The McGovern Park Center teaches metalsmithing and lapidary and offered pampering services before Mother’s Day. Tai chi, yoga and Zumba are Washington Park Senior Center’s options. Kelly Senior Center in Warnimont Park hosts bird walks and a monthly writers’ group. Centers routinely offer walking and book clubs, piano lessons, Wii bowling, film screenings and musical events, some presented by residents. Centers also offer health screenings, monthly distribution of pantry “stock boxes” and informational programs. Field trips include upcoming outings to the musical The Color Purple and the zoo.
Any Milwaukee County resident age 50 or older may attend these senior centers, which operate weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thousands of people use the centers, many daily. Participants and program coordinators describe the centers as gathering places and safe havens that decrease isolation by promoting friendship, well-being and independence, especially for those with limited means. Most activities are free, except for field trips and some higher-demand programs. The suggested donation for lunches is $3 for those over 60; guests pay $8.
Centers Funded Through Multiple Sources
The federal Older Americans Act, passed in 1965, mandates providing certain types of services for seniors. However, implementation is localized and varies. The Milwaukee County Department on Aging (MCDA) facilitates federal and state-funded allocations for senior services, including transportation, nutrition, healthy aging, caregiver and dementia support and other resources.
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Municipalities may also use the tax levy to provide senior services. In 2019, Milwaukee County allotted about $1.1 million from its levy for programming at the five centers. That is $200,000 less than budgeted annually from 2014 through 2017.
Serving Older Adults of Southeastern Wisconsin (SOA), a nonprofit organization, was contracted last January to manage the centers. Previously, Interfaith Older Adult Programs had done so for decades. Participant fees—up to $160,000 annually, also defray program costs. Interfaith and a friends group raised more than $100,000 annually from donations, rentals and resale shops at the centers. Additionally, volunteers conduct or assist many programs—totaling about 25,000 hours a year at all centers.
County Administrators Consider the Future of Senior Centers
As part of long-term strategic-planning, MCDA recently began hosting “community conversations to hear from older adults and community stakeholders about [their] vision for our senior centers.” Discussions focus on inclusion, prioritizing services, potential partnerships and funding, and expanding delivery of senior services. Sessions continue through September 3. A survey is also online.
A four-page handout, labeled as a draft, poses the following options:
“Should Milwaukee County own and pay for programming in large facilities that are exclusively devoted to older adult services?
Should Milwaukee County consider, instead, the use of multi-generational community centers...? However, it may require consolidation of senior center operations into fewer facilities.
If county leaders deem it impractical or unaffordable to own senior or multi-generational facilities, should MCDA focus on funding outside agencies to provide senior-center-type programming…?
Alternatively, should the county simply allow senior centers to be the exclusive domain of municipal and community-based partners and instead use MCDA’s resources for expanded services in areas like transportation, enhanced community supports and an expanded call center?”
Milwaukee County has owned place-based “social infrastructure” for seniors since 1968; the age of the centers ranges from 35 to 61 years old. Stephanie Sue Stein, MCDA’s executive director for 22 years before retiring in 2015, says, “The only job of the Milwaukee County Department on Aging is to work with seniors to promote, protect and enhance their quality of life. Senior centers promote health, wellness, social engagement and lifelong learning. They must be a celebrated asset, not a worrisome liability.”
In December 2017, a county-funded facility assessment report ranked each Milwaukee County-owned senior center in “good condition.” It said that their “highest and best use is continued use as senior centers… [and] with repairs should continue to serve as senior centers for many years.”
Among other public sites in Milwaukee County that specifically serve older adults, most offer senior dining and modest recreational options. Some suburban centers have broader programming and amenities.
The senior population continues to rise as baby boomers mature. Poverty among older adults is also increasing, according to the University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty. Also, more seniors live alone, especially women, including in Milwaukee County.
A Major Funding Solution Proposed
Due to funding challenges faced by Milwaukee County, senior centers have increasingly faced cuts and uncertainty. On June 28, the Milwaukee County Commission on Aging unanimously passed a resolution urging the “Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors and the Milwaukee County Executive to take all necessary steps to obtain approval for continuing the [Milwaukee] Brewers Stadium tax and earmarking the revenues for maintenance of Milwaukee County Parks, including Senior Centers.” The stadium sales tax is scheduled to sunset in 2020, and Milwaukee County’s share of that 0.1% tax is about $10 million a year. The Wisconsin Legislature would need to approve continuing the tax for another purpose.
Jim Kimble supports reallocating the stadium tax for senior centers and parks. He has volunteered at Washington Park Senior Center since 1997, where he teaches classes and coordinates bocce ball and billiards tournament. He is on the center’s advisory committee and has served on the MCDA Advisory Council since 2000. He says, “I am 100% behind keeping the senior centers as they are. There are ways to fund senior centers, just as the county has found ways to support the Bucks, Brewers and other ventures in the community.”
A local advocacy group called the League of Progressive Seniors said in a statement, “The Department on Aging has been wise to broaden the discussion about the future of senior centers in our community. The League of Progressive Senior urges even more community consultation and dialogue. Let the senior centers be shaped by the people who use them—Milwaukee County’s growing, vibrant and dynamic older adult community.”
Updating Senior Centers
At public meetings about senior centers held at Westlawn Gardens and Alverno College, suggestions included the following:
• Expand hours to accommodate more seniors. Many seniors continue to work, by necessity or choice, and could benefit from evening hours. Having centers open even some evenings and weekend days would afford broader programming. For example, Barbara Wyatt Sibley, who chairs the Commission on Aging, suggested hosting viewing parties for football or baseball games, preceded by an “on-site tailgate party.”
• Cater to three tiers of seniors. Interests and needs vary within a cohort that can span up to 50 years. Wyatt Sibley suggested targeting programs aimed at active younger seniors, transitioning individuals with greater needs or limitations and frail seniors. Proposed intergenerational opportunities include creating a café atmosphere, engaging grandchildren in some programming, encouraging more drop-in visitors and hosting wide-ranging special events. At the Alverno session, some said there has been “considerable pushback” to having seniors share space with teenagers. A longtime participant at Washington Park’s center said, “There are many programs for young people, such as the Boys & Girls Clubs and other community centers. That’s not the case for seniors.”
• Address transportation concerns. Seniors reported glitches in the system of rides that seniors may request to attend senior-center programs or other places.
• Increase outreach and publicity about programs. Participants said that many seniors who might benefit from programs are either not aware of them or do not engage for other reasons. They suggested more publicity, both mass and targeted, and other types of outreach, including to diverse populations. Some seniors may believe that programs are solely for low-income individuals or avoid “senior” programs due to stigmatization relating to aging.
• Update and modernize centers. Attendees noted problems with elevators and other accessibility issues and suggested ways to make them more welcoming and accommodating to varied populations.
• Expand collaborations with other community resources. Potential collaborators included with higher education, wellness providers and others serving seniors.
• Build on senior centers’ success. Dain Maddox, a senior and advocate, said “This is a unique, once-in-a-generation opportunity to assess what senior centers and other programs mean to the community and how they can continue serving Milwaukee County’s ever-growing older population. Let’s have a robust, transparent process involving everyone who could help develop, fund and promote relevant programming. And let’s take the time to get it right.”
