By Dale Palma
As the City of Everett’s Director of Elder Services, I have had the privilege of assisting and having fun alongside Everett’s senior citizens for many years. In the Connolly Center, Everett’s seniors – our moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and neighbors – have always had a welcoming place to come to. As the Elder Services team has developed programming and activities for seniors, the constant throughline has been our dedication to the mission of our office: to empower older adults to live with purpose, independence, and dignity by providing social, health and nutritional support.
As we approach a new year, ensuring that the Connolly Center is at the center of delivering on that mission to our elder residents is vital. As we navigate back towards providing dedicated activities five-days-a-week for seniors, the Elder Services team anticipates expanding opportunities for fitness classes, culturally-specific programming for our highly diverse community, expanded entertainment, and increased options for socialization.
That last part? Leveraging the Connolly Center for senior socialization opportunities? In an era in which 50% of those over 60 are at risk of social isolation and in which one-third of adults aged 50-80 reported feeling lonely and/or isolated, it is important. The National Institute on Aging has reported that seniors subjected to loneliness or isolation are not only at risk of developing mental health conditions like depression, but physical ailments, as well, including a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and cognitive decline.
The Connolly Center and the Elder Services team is, for many, a safe place to get moving, meet with friends and neighbors, and to thrive. At the Connolly Center, Everett seniors are given the chance to come together, but also to continue to experience the richness of life in a supportive, caring, and jovial environment. As we demonstrate day after day at the Connolly Center, the aging process does not have to mean life must be any less fulfilling – just the opposite. Instead, as the great David Bowie remarked, “aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.” At the Connolly Center, we will continue to allow those we serve to flourish.
To do that, we must fully consider the Connolly Center’s role in Everett. For nearly five years, the team at the Connolly Center has embraced a form of service through a weekly food pantry that falls well outside the traditional remit of the Elder Services team. We have relished the opportunity to serve those in need during and in the aftermath of COVID-19. Now, as the most harmful aspects of the pandemic have subsided, we are returning to our regular schedule so that we may better serve seniors that need that extra day of exercise, that need nutritional advice, that need the space to learn in their own language, and that need that special time dedicated to friendship, laughter, and fun.
We invite the Everett community to re-discover the programming offered at the Connolly Center for those important seniors in our lives as we continue to meet our goal of providing the absolute best experience possible for those we serve. It is our incredible privilege.
Dale Palma is the Director of Elder Services for the City of Everett.