Wasilla senior citizens seeking city council, financial support

WASILLA — A lack of funding and increasing costs has local seniors citizens looking for financial support.

Wasilla Area Seniors Inc., along with the seniors it supports, have asked Wasilla City Council to help pay for daily operations at the Floyd D. Smith Senior Center. After five months of discussion and planning, an ordnance that could appropriate $25,000 to Wasilla Area Seniors Inc. has made it on the council agenda. The ordinance is scheduled for a public hearing during the next council meeting, 7 p.m. Oct. 8 at Wasilla City Hall.

“We got to take care of our seniors,” said councilman Mark Ewing, a sponsor of the ordinance. “I’ll tell you why — society judges you on how you treat your children and your seniors.”

This ordinance and the people it affects are important to Wasilla, Ewing said. If adequate funding isn’t provided, the center faces closing its doors to many seniors that rely on its services.

“You don’t understand where you’re going in the future if you don’t understand the past,” he said.

According to the ordinance, the money is needed, “In order to continue to provide services and programs to residents of the City of Wasilla and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.”

Although the ordinance sounds somewhat vague, center executive director Robin Hall explained that there are plenty of services and items the center needs help paying for. Helping to cover staff salaries, the natural gas bill and the electric bill are a few of the areas where the center could use the $25,000.

“We are asking for help from city to help with our center in general,” Hall said.

The senior center doesn’t own the housing units that surround it, but there are many other services it does offer, said Jeanne Gardner, a care coordinator and resident of senior housing.

“The center itself provides Meals on Wheels, activities for seniors and some counseling for seniors when it’s needed,” Gardner said.

Not only does center provide seniors with a place to congregate, it also supports their nutritional needs, Hall said. “We actually provide lunch every day at very low cost.”

Lunch at the senior center is available, but the center also provides home-delivered meals through it’s Meals on Wheels program, said Kriss Fitzgerald, a care coordinator at the center.

“We connect clients with support services so they can remain living at home,” Fitzgerald said.

The care coordinator position is new to the center, he said.

The center receives some grants that help pay for operations, but Gardner said it still lacks adequate funding.

“The reserve funds are not there and [Wasilla Area Seniors Inc.] has tried to take on a lot of the funding by itself,” she said.

Gardner hopes the council and residents realize that seniors do more than ask for support from the community.

“We give back a lot to the community through volunteering,” she said.

Many seniors volunteer time to knit clothing, like hats, sweaters and gloves, for people that cannot afford to buy warm winter clothing, Gardner said.

As the center searches for additional funding it is also open to donations of a different kind, Hall said. Volunteers are a vital part of the operations at the center and it can always use a few more helping hands.

To find more information about the Wasilla Area Seniors Inc. visit www.alaskaseniors.com or call 376-3104.

Contact Chris Gillow at 352-2284 or chris.gillow@frontiersman.com.