This commentary is by Jean Olson of Montpelier, a longtime member of the Montpelier Senior Activity Center and a former member of its advisory council.
Many supporters of the Montpelier Senior Activity Center are questioning why city officials are pursuing policies that will reduce the center’s ability to provide essential services to Montpelier’s older population in the future.
And there’s a strong concern that city officials don’t fully appreciate the critical role that the center plays in providing an important quality of life for hundreds of Montpelier residents.
At the heart of this issue is the city’s decision not to support a full-time, independent director for the center. It is a decision that will make it almost impossible for the senior activity center to regain its vibrant place in the Montpelier community that existed before the Covid pandemic.
Seniors, who make up 40% of Montpelier’s population and are arguably the most diverse age cohort, want their center to thrive again. It was thriving until Covid. Memberships dropped from 1,189 to 1,125 during the pandemic.
MSAC then struggled under new leadership, selected by the city, which was focused on FEAST, the food program that grew in scope while the center memberships and congregate meals, a source of nourishing food and social companionship, withered. Without effective leadership, memberships continued to drop to 757, 64% of where the center was before the pandemic.
Now the city has decided to hire the current full-time recreation director to serve also as the full-time director of MSAC. This choice was announced, along with a city hiring freeze, following the two recent Town Hall sessions at MSAC where the No. 1 request is for a dedicated, professional, experienced director with a passion for the needs of the senior population. From those who are physically and mentally active to those who are struggling with social isolation or disability in any area.
This city decision may be based, in part, on the concept of a larger department named Community Services, which was accepted by the City Council in 2016. Initially, the council was told it would involve Parks, Recreation, MSAC and potentially cemeteries and be focused on sharing resources.
Seven years later, it involves just Recreation and MSAC, which have very little overlap in population or interest.
As this idea struggles to find appropriate footing, it is time for the Council to assess where the value lies. Seniors strongly argue it is not in having one combined department director and that MSAC needs its own leadership to help restore its incredibly important role in the Montpelier community.
There’s a lot at stake in the outcome of this debate.
For many Montpelier seniors, having a vibrant center is much more than a place to meet and take classes. It provides an essential foundation for their sense of community, personal well-being, and life-supporting relationships, and it allows them to remain active, productive and contributing members of our city.
By strengthening the role of MSAC in the lives of Montpelier’s seniors, we are also strengthening the vitality and the future of the city’s entire population.
Having an independent MSAC director is not necessarily the complete solution to all of the future challenges facing the center but it does provide MSAC with a dedicated advocate who understands the unique needs of Montpelier’s senior population and who is willing to listen to their concerns and work with them to create a community center to enhance their quality of life.