This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Life at the Altadena Senior Center

In spite of the many horror stories we hear about the elderly these days, Altadena fares better than most nearby cities in our area.

I recently had a meeting with Claudia Curry, the director of the Altadena Senior Center and was told both the good news and some not so good.

In reference to the Altadena Senior Center the organization itself is doing well. Most of the members and people that come there to utilize this facility are doing better than many other similar facilities and elders in the nearby areas, according to Curry. Some of this could be attributed to the fact that there are more property owners up here among the elderly compared to nearby cities with more renters.

Because of this most are not at a point of desperation financially. Many of them are still fairly self-sufficient. Many still drive themselves around and still own their own homes. These are among the elders that choose to use this particular facility, but in no way do they represent the entire Altadena community of elders.

Find out what's happening in Altadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Since this center is a county government operated facility they do not have to worry about raising funds just to keep the center open.

In that sense we are very fortunate that there are facilities in our area that provide such valuable services and resources to not only our elders, but through the parks and recreation department, to our entire community as well.

Find out what's happening in Altadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

One of the top issues Curry mentioned to me was that of senior abuse and at the hands of family members. It is quite often family members get access to the finances of their elders, or parents, and abuse that privilege. There are cases where so much of their funds are depleted and the senior isn't even aware that it was happening.

Even when the elders find out about the thefts many refuse to report it to the proper authorities for criminal prosecution. It is a very difficult task for most elders to turn in their own family member(s) and further alienate themselves from any sense of family. Rather than sending their criminal children or family members to jail they choose to remain silent.

For those who are being abused there is a hotline that deals specifically with elder abuse. It is the Adult Protective Services (APS) agency. If anyone wishes to report elder abuse they are advised to contact Adult Protective Services. Their hot line is (888) 477-3646.

There are available case workers that can perform the proper investigation of such allegations of abuse and hopefully bring the perpetrators to justice.

Another issue here in Altadena, according to Curry, is the lack of affordable housing that is geared toward seniors. There is only one such housing unit according to her knowledge, the Altadena Villas, located on Calaveras near Lake Avenue, which caters exclusively to seniors. But there are only a very limited amount of units available. Altadena needs more affordable housing that is set-aside for seniors.

Many seniors also have issues finding activities that keep enriching their lives. Some come to Senior Center as a place where they may occupy their time. Several show up when the place opens and stay until closing time. This is a place where they can be around others doing things instead of becoming a couch potato at home, simply nursing their television sets.

Curry would love to keep the Center open later into the evenings, at least on several evenings, in order to provide a healthy environment for her clients and visitors to stay longer. This would allow them an opportunity to fill a lot of that lonely and relatively unproductive evening time.

This is just something on her wish list because she realizes that filling time productively is an issue for many of her members. She also knows that the state is in a process of cutting back so there is no budget in place for such things at present.

As far as more of the positive attributes, the center plans several field trips to various locations, classes to learn new things, a workout center, very inexpensive lunches, movies, a place to "hang" with their peers, and just a great environment to occupy time productively.

As opposed to a group home for seniors or a nursing home, this is not a place where one goes to remind themselves of their age. It is instead a place where one goes to feel alive, productive, and still welcomed among the living. It is a place where elders can be anything but lonely and inactive.

We are very fortunate to have such a senior center in Altadena that provides a multitude of opportunities where our seniors can remain active and feel as productive as possible under the circumstances. Although we know of many horror stories where seniors are placed in the most horrific of circumstances all across the nation, at least this is one place that stands out for its more positive aspects rather than for negative ones.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Altadena