HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19910114 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A Town-County Task Force was formed in August 1990 to examine needs for
additional space for senior citizens in Southern Orange and especially in the Town of
• , Chapel Hill where their growth has been dramatic. Made up of elected officials and
citizen representatives from Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the Task Force
held five meetings, one a public forum attended by almost 150 persons. Three
significant issues were identified:
o Older adults, and especially those 80 and older, represent the fastest growing
population segment in this area. (Chapel Hill's older adult population will more
than double by the year 2000. )
o Public and private services ( e.g. leisure/education programs for seniors) have
grown rapidly and many have had to compete for limited public space.
o Activities and services are now scattered in several locations, making it difficult
for people to know where to go for particular needs.
These are some maior needs of older citizens:
o A highly visible " focal point " facility to access varied services.
o Adequate space for activities in Chapel Hill and reliable-available space in
Carrboro.
o Mechanisms to deal effectively with seniors' issues and concerns.
o A place to go at any time for support and friendship.
Recognizing these led the Task Force to conclude that it is vital to plan a
comprehensive service delivery model. The coal should be to establish a senior
citizen center network for the delivery of high quality services to all older adults.
Such a network must address three critical planning considerations: (1) basic designs
• for senior center facilities, (2) the diversity of the older population and services
needed, and (3) various types of senior center programming.
After their review of materials and visiting senior centers in this part of the
state, and especially after listening to the November public forum input, the Task
Force decided upon both short term and long term recommendations for the Southern
Orange area:
Short term strategies are to renew leasing space with the ArtsCenter in Carrboro
and to lease additional space (4000-6000 sq ft) in Chapel Hill. Both of these would
offer programs for active seniors; and the existing Northside Chapel Hill Center would
be converted into an extended nutrition site and/or adult day health care facility for
frail older persons. Staffing arrangements for the recreational components of the new
Chapel Hill Center would be coordinated between Orange County and the Town of Chapel
Hill through an inter-governmental performance agreement for both short term (next
year) and long term programming.
Lona term recommendations are these:
o Orange County will construct at the already-approved Southern Orange Human
Services Center a comprehensive Multipurpose Senior Resource Center (to be 15,000
sq ft) to serve both well and frail seniors: this will be the hub of the network
for seniors.
o Chapel Hill will add a section (10,000 sq ft) to the Community Center on Estes
Dr. , designed to be the satellite Chapel Hill Senior Center.
o Carrboro will construct a new community center to include a 5,000 sq ft section to
be designed as the satellite Carrboro Senior Center.
o Funding could be derived from both public and private sources.
FN:TFSC-ES1.DOC
1
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SENIOR CENTER NETWORK MODEL
Final Report and Recommendations
of
The Task Force on Southern Orange (Chapel Hill- Carrboro)
Senior Center Space
January, 1991
I. INTRODUCTION
A city-county Task Force was established in April, 1990 to
investigate the need for additional senior center space in Chapel
Hill. Subsequently, its mission was expanded to include space
issues for southern Orange County including Carrboro. Elected
officials and citizen representatives from Orange County, Chapel
Hill, and Carrboro (Membership- Appendix #1) were invited and
participated Force's deliberations ipated in the Task Force s delib rations resulting in the
following report and recommendations.
II. STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES
According to the 1990 Census projections, some 11 500 Orange
g P 7 � g
County residents are over sixty years of age, with approximately
6, 000 living in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area. The older
population will be the fastest growing segment, especially
the old-old over 80 years of age. The older Chapel Hill segment
(60+) is projected to increase to 10, 357 by the Year 2000 ( a 103%
growth) and to 15,406 (a 203 % growth) by the Year 2010. For the
old-old segment the Town of Chapel will grow by 150% or 2, 111
older adults age 82 or over for the Year 2000. (Source: Town of
Chapel Hill's Comprehensive Plan, 1989, Growth Chart- Appendix #2)
Some of the major needs to be found among older citizens
include:
1. A highly visible focal point for easy access to
coordinated services and activities of many kinds.
2. Adequate space in Chapel Hill and reliable/secure space in
Carrboro for a variety of social & recreational
activities.
3 . Mechanist; for older adults as a group to deal
effectively with issues,concerns and interests.
4. A place to go at any time to find friendship and support.
Public and private agency resources and services have grown
dramatically, but more often than not have planned independently
411 of each other. Competition for limited space has resulted in
activities and services being dispersed throughout the community.
For instance, the Chapel Hill and Carrboro Parks and Recreation
2
Departments and the County Department on Aging have had to use
411 more than twelve (12) different locations for their older adult
activities and services. (Current Center Space- Appendix /3)
Fragmentation of efforts and scattered locations make it difficult
for older persons to know where to go to meet particular needs.
II. GOAL STATEMENT
As more and more citizens reach "retirement age" with special
needs and characteristics, planning a comprehensive service
delivery model should be, and must be, a vital concern to the
community.
THE COMMUNITY'S GOAL SHOULD BE TO ESTABLISH A SENIOR CITIZEN
CENTER NETWORK AS THE MODEL FOR THE DELIVERY OF QUALITY HUMAN
SERVICES TO ALL OLDER ADULTS. A SENIOR CENTER is defined as a
COMMUNITY FOCAL POINT ON AGING, serving as a base from which
various individual services and group activities are delivered to
older adults. It is a place that seniors can call their own.
Among its purposes are developing meaningful, creative services
and activities for individuals and groups; discovering
opportunities to perform community services; and making available
information about community resources and plans relating to older
people.
Any proposed new senior center facilities should have the
following identified IDEAL CHARACTERISTICS:
a. Serves all older adults, potential and actual users.
b. Provides exclusive space in order to maintain
identity, even though shared with other age groups when
not in use.
c. Maintains a holistic approach to serving older adults.
d. Is highly visible to older adults and the community.
The center should be clearly identified and its
functions described on a permanent outdoor sign.
e. Is centrally located. Ideally, the center
should be located on a much-travelled street, public
area, conveniently located and easily accessible to bus
service.
f. Has adequate parking. Parking space should be
available and accessible for older adult and staff use.
g. Is accessible to the handicapped. There should be
special provisions for handicapped elderly, such as
handrails, ramps, wide electronic doors, grab-bars, etc.
h. Involves older adults. The center operations
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and management should utilize the skills of older adults
and participants as employees, volunteers, advisory or
41/ governing board members.
III. CRITICAL FACTORS IN PLANNING SENIOR CENTERS
Before planning any new senior centers in southern Orange,
three critical factors must be recognized and addressed: (1) The
basic designs of senior center facilities, (2) The diversity of
the older population and services needed, and (3) The types of
senior centers based on their programming.
A. Two Basic Senior Center Designs. In investigating and
visiting various senior centers, two distinct facility
designs emerged:
1. A separate. exclusive facility for seniors only.
This type of design was typically found in the
triangle area, examples being Garner and Wendell.
2 . An intergenerational facility. This type of design
involves serving seniors as part of a larger facility
for all age groups. Orange County has the best
example of this type with its Hillsborough Senior
Center (part of the Richard E. Whitted Human Services
Center) and the Carrboro Senior Center (part of the
Community ArtsCenter) .
B. The Diversity of the Older Population & Needed Services.
We need to recognize that older adults are a diverse
population group with varying decrees of functional
capacity when considering senior center planning. Three
functional subgroups of older adults have been
identified: the "Active-Well", the "Frail" and the
"Fragile" . This might be viewed as the three "stages of
aging" over time and are more specifically described
below.
1. Active/Well seniors. Most (almost 80%, in fact) of
the people over 60 in this country and this community
belong to this section of the 60+ population. Though
many of these "Active" persons may have a chronic
health problem, it doesn't constitute any impairment
or prevent them from living the lives to which they
are accustomed. The focus of senior center planning
is usually on group_activities and services for
productive living and maintaining good health.
2. Moderately impaired seniors,. Just over 15% of older
adults (60+) do have health problems serious enough to
make them "frail". Typically, they experience
difficulty with one or more of the common activities of
4
daily living (defined as bathing, dressing, eating,
toileting and moving around) as well as with the more
"instrumental" life tasks such as preparing meals,
doing necessary shopping and light housekeeping, or
using a telephone. Consequently, the focus of planning
for this much smaller group of persons is often upon
rehabilitation and always upon services to support and
provide the help needed in their homes to enable them
to continue to live there independently. These are
known as community-based long term care services.
3 . Severely impaired seniors. Finally, there are the 5%
of older adults (60+) who are sufficiently ill and
impaired as to be genuinely "fragile", and who need to
have almost constant care either in the home or in a
residential setting. The focus of planning for this
group is the provision of 24-hour protective care and
assistance (including often day health care in a
center) to continue to do all that they can to remain
as active and socially involved as is possible and
appropriate.
C. Types of Senior Centers Based on Programming. Again, from
visits to senior centers, three types of centers emerged
based on the programming emphasis and space available.
1. Multi-activity type - Here the center focuses its
resources on programs that involve meeting interaction
needs with others. Examples would be bridge, dances,
classes, pot-luck dinners.
2. Multi-service type - Here the center focuses its
resources on programs that involve individual service
needs. Examples would be information/referral, health
services (blood pressure check, flu shots) , nutritious
meals, case management, placement services (jobs,
volunteering) , home maintenance programs (chores,
repairs) and special support groups.
3 . Multi-purpose type - Here the center tries to maintain
a balance by focusing on both group activities and
individual services as described above. In addition,
some multi-purpose centers are also multi-function type
carrying out training, research, outreach, advocacy and
community planning.
IV. SPECIFIC FEATURES OF A PROPOSED SENIOR CENTER NETWORK MODEL
After review of the senior center critical factors and visitation
to various senior center facilities, it was concluded that
specific features for southern Orange's proposed center network
should be as follows:
5
A. A single Multipurpose Senior Center facility should be
established in southern Orange with decentralized
operations at designated satellite Senior Adult
Centers/Programs.
B. The Orange County Department on Aging would be responsible
for the operation/management of the Multipurpose Senior
Center and coordination of services at decentralized
satellite Senior Activity Centers.
C. The Multipurpose Senior Center should be comprehensive
in scope:
1. Target Population: Well, Frail, & Fragile elderly
(The "Well" and the "Frail" account
for 79% and for 16% of the total
60+ population respectively)
2. Service Area: Southern Orange County
(Estimate target area population in
1990: "Well"- 6, 518 & "Frail"-1, 320)
3. Minimum Functions: (NCDOA State standards)
(a) Focus on both multi- activities and individual
services
(b) Information Center to the public and satellite
senior programs (providing printed materials and
enriched information and referral)
(c) Care Management Center to the public
and satellite senior programs
(d) Coordinated outreach program with and through
satellite senior programs
(e) Health and Wellness Promotion
(f) Community Planning (needs identification and
service provision)
4. Additional Functions:
(a) Site for Gerontology research and training in
association with area universities and
agencies.
(b) Adult Day Health Center for the frail.
(c) Central Arts/Crafts Outlet for Seniors (homebound
and those at satellite programs)
(d) Site for demonstration projects to test state and
national initiatives.
(e) Provision of services not appropriate for delivery
at satellite service centers.
6
D. The designated Satellite Senior Adult Centers/programs
should be more limited in scope:
1. Target Population: Well/Little Impaired elderly
(The "Well" account for 79% of the
60+ population)
2 . Service Area: Area #1 -Town of Chapel Hill
(Estimate target area population in 1990:
"Well"- 4, 015)
Area #2 - Town of Carrboro /Bingham
township
(Estimate target area population in 1990:
"Well"- 1,091)
3. Functions:
(a) Primary focus on group activities, that is,
interaction with others through social,
educational, and recreational activities.
(b) Serve as an outreach information resource center,
that is, providing printed materials and enriched
information and referral.
(c) Serve as an outreach service center, that is,
assess individual needs, take applications, do
screening and provide direct services where
appropriate.
(d) Serve as a meeting place for self-directed senior
groups to conduct business, and offer programs.
4. Location:
(a) The satellite Senior Activity Centers should be
located within the service area where the highest
concentration of active older adults reside.
(c) A positive, active image should be projected
in identifying the Satellite Activity Centers.
Names such as "Center For Active Retirement",
"Center for Creative Retirement/Aging" or "Senior
Resource/Opportunity Center" should be considered.
7
V. SPECIFIC SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES AT THE MULTIPURPOSE CENTER
A. The initial services offered by staff of community
agencies permanently housed in the central facility
should be at least the following:
Service Agency.
(1) Information and Referral Dept. on Aging
(2) Outreach/Neighborhood Advisors Dept. on Aging
(3) Meals/Nutrition Program JOCCA
(4) Recreation/ Fitness Recreation Dept.
(5) Volunteer Opportunities RSVP/Dept. on Aging
(6) Long Term Care Management DOA/ DSS
(7) Adult Day Health Care DOA/contractor
(8) Arts/Crafts Senior Outlet NCBA/RSVP
(9) Gerontology Training UNC/NCCU Depts
(10) Literacy classes/tutors DTCC/Literacy
Council
(11) Educational classes/workshops DTCC/UNC/DOA
Senior groups
B. Specific services offered by staff of community
agencies on a scheduled basis through the Multipurpose
Senior Center (requiring formal or informal agreements)
would be at least the following:
(1) Health-Medical Services Orange Co. Health Dept.
Dept. of Social Services
Home Health Agency,OCCHS
UNC Health Sciences
(2) Federal/ VA Benefits Social Security Admin.
Orange Co. VA Office
(3) Public Assistance Dept. of Social Services
(4) Legal Aid Services North State Legal Ser.
(5) Educational/Cultural Library,Durham Tech.
Opportunities Agr. Ext. Service, UNC
8
410 .
(6) Mental Health Services OPC Mental Health Ctr
(7) Home Modifications/Repair JOCCA
(8) Employment Services NC Job Service
VI. SPECIFIC SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES AT SATELLITE SENIOR ACTIVITY
CENTERS,
A. The initial services offered by staff of community agencies
permanently housed in satellite facilities should be at
least the following:
Service Agency
(1) Recreation/ Fitness Recreation Dept.
(2) Information/Referral Dept. on Aging
(5) Meals/Nutrition Program JOCCA
(4) Social-Health Services Dept. on Aging
(Scheduling/Provision)
(5) Educational classes/workshops Recreation Depts,
Dept. on Aging
Senior groups
VII. SPACE REQUIREMENTS FOR A MULTIPURPOSE CENTER AND SATELLITE
CENTERS IN CHAPEL BILL AND CARRBORO
The space requirements listed below are approximate
estimates needed for a Multipurpose Center and Satellite
Centers of Active Retirement. Attached is a chart
summarizing the projected senior center space needs for the
years 1990, 2000 and 2010. They are based on Architect Joe
J. Jordan's publication, Senior Center Design and expressed
space needs of agency staff.
A. A Multipurpose Senior Resource Center
Total Estimate - 10, 000 - 15,000 sq ft (gross floor area)
According to Jordan's description, this is a type B facility
with average daily attendance between 125-175 older adults.
9
110
Lobby (15 X 20) 300
Staff offices- 10 @ 150 sq ft 1, 500
Student/faculty lab-work area 500
Storage/work area 500
Health Promotion/exam room (20X10) 200
Visiting Offices/small meeting rms 3-(10X15) 450
Lge Multipurpose Room with 4 dividers 3, 000
(Use for nutrition,dance, aerobics)
Kitchen (serving/demonstration cooking) 500
TV Lounge/reading areas 350
Craft room (ceramics) (20 X 25) 500
Game Room (cards/pool- 20 X 30) 600
Conference room (20 X 15) 300
Class room (training - 30 X 30) 900
Restrooms with showers -2 (20 X10 ea) 400
Adult Day Health Care room w/divider 2, 000
( 20 X 100 sq.ft)
Craft/Arts Outlet shop - Public (20 X 40) 800
Total 12,800 sq.ft.
B. Satellite Centers in Chanel Hill and Carrboro
Total Estimate- 4,000- 10,000 sq ft (gross floor area) each
According to Jordan's Description, this is a type A Facility
with average daily attendance between 75 to 125 older
adults.
Lobby (15X20) 300
Staff Offices (4) DOA, JOCCA, Rec. Dept. 500
Health Promotion/exam room (drop exercise area) 300
Visiting offices/small meeting rms- 2 (10X15 ea. ) 300
TV Lounge (Waiting Room) (15x10) 150
Reading/Library area (15X10) 150
MultiPurpose Room (dividers,3 areas) 2, 000
(use for nutrition, dance, aerobics)
Activity Rooms- 2 (20 X 25 ea. ) 1, 000
Conference Room ( 10X20) 200
Craft room (20 X 25) 500
Game room (cards/pool- 20 X30) 600
Kitchen (serving/demonstrations) 400
Restrooms - 2 (15 X10 ea) 300
Total 6,700
10
110
VIII. SPECIFIC STRATEGIES FOR A NETWORK OF SENIOR CENTER
FACILITIES
A. SHORT TERM RECOMMENDATION. Until approved long term
solutions are implemented, short term strategies for
meeting the current senior center space needs should be
addressed. Naturally, one short term strategy would be
to remain as is and use the existing facilities. Listed
below are the proposed short term strategies based on the
Task Force findings and public forum responses. (Survey
responses at Forum- Appendix /4)
1. Current Carrboro Senior Center space (300G E. Main St)
-renew space lease with the ArtsCenter (with clarification on
additional shared space) until a final decision is reached on
the proposed Carrboro Community Center that might include a
Senior Center. (Renew for 5 years with option to extend or
shorten)
2 . New Chapel Hill Senior Center space (To be identified)
-lease additional space (3,000 -5, 000 sq.ft. ) in Chapel Hill
for consolidating the Dept. on Aging, JOCCA and Chapel Hill
Recreation & Parks senior program efforts. The leased space
would serve as a temporary facility until the programs can be
transferred to the County's new Southern Orange Human Services
Center (to be constructed by 1993) and until a Senior Citizens
addition is made to the existing Chapel Hill Community Center
on Estes Drive. Ideally, the selected lease space should be
conveniently located to Seniors, in a public visible area,
accessible to both the handicapped and bus service. A senior
Center Space Subcommittee has been formed by the Task Force to
further investigate and recommend specific rental space and
service design for leasing by July, 1991.
3 . Current Southern Orange Human Services Center space
(Caldwell St. ) - convert the limited Chapel Hill Senior Center
space at Northside into extended nutrition or adult day health
program for the frail elderly in southern Orange. (The
existing activity space would accommodate approximately 20
adult day health clients out of an estimated 300 in need of
the service in Southern Orange. ) The current Department on
Aging administrative staff should be moved to new Chapel Hill
Senior Center leased space for more visibility and to free up
space at the Northside facility for other agencies' pressing
space needs such as the Orange County Dept. of Social Services
or Mental Health Center.
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B. LONG TERM RECOMMEDNATION. Attractive and functional
facilities can be established in a number of ways. The long
term options recommended by the Task Force to meet the
social, health and recreational needs of all older adults
into the 21st Century are as follows:
1. Future Senior Center Facilities should be designed to be:
A. Part of intergenerational (multi-age group)
facilities
B. An exclusive section of existing or future government
or community centers with a separate highly visible
entrance
C. Inclusive of all older adults, but certain
centers would have different population focuses
2 . Specific Facility Recommendations for the Future:
A. Construct a comprehensive Multipurpose Senior Resource
Center by Orange County at the proposed and approved
Southern Orange Human Services Center (Network
Facilities Chart- Appendix #5)
Features:
(1) Management - By the County Dept. on Aging
(2) Population - both well and frail
(3) Service area- Southern Orange
(4) Focus - Human Services plus special activities
(5) Space Design - Part of a larger facility with a
separate highly visible entrance
(6) Space Use - Exclusive,but shared with others at
certain times
(7) Space Size - Minimum future square footage:
(Center Space/Location chart- Appendix #6)
Year 1990 - 12,800 sq. ft.
Year 2000 - 15,000 sq. ft.
Year 2010 - 17, 000 sq. ft.
B. Expand the existing Chapel Hill Community Center (Estes
Dr. ) to have a section designed as the satellite Chapel
Hill Senior Activity Center.
(Network Facilities Chart- Appendix #5)
Features:
(1) Physical facility-managed by Chapel Hill Parks &
Recreation
(2) Program - coordinated/scheduled by Dept. on Aging
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(3) Population - Well-Active
(4) Service area - Entire Chapel Hill area
� . (5) Focus - Group activities plus limited human
services
(6) Space Design - Part of larger recreation center
with a separate highly visible entrance (Location
provides access to pool, shower, gym, bocce ball,
outdoor basketball and rose garden)
(7) Space Use - Exclusive, but shared with others at
certain times
(8) Space Size - Minimum future square footage:
(Center Space/Location Chart- Appendix #6)
Year 1990 - 6,700 sq. ft.
Year 2000 - 8,000 sq. ft.
Year 2010 - 12, 000 sq. ft.
(9) Key Programming Areas- Leisure- Chapel Hill
Recreation & Parks, Health/Social Services-Dept.
on Aging, Meals/Nutrition- JOCCA
C. Construct a new Carrboro Community Center by the Town
of Carrboro to have a section designed as a satellite
Carrboro Senior Activity Center.
(Network Facilities Chart- Appendix #5)
Features:
(1) Physical facility- managed by Carrboro Parks and
Recreation
(2) Program- coordinated/scheduled by Dept. on Aging
(3) Population- Well/Active
(4) Service area - Entire Carrboro/south Bingham twp
(5) Focus- Group activities plus limited human services
(6) Space Design- Part of larger recreation center with
separate highly visible entrance (Location provides
access to gym, racquetball, shower, activity rooms
(7) Space Use- Exclusive, but shared with others at
certain times
(8) Space Size- Minimum future square footage:
(Center Space/Location Chart- Appendix #6)
Year 1990 - 4,000 sq. ft.
Year 2000 - 5,000 sq. ft.
Year 2010 - 7,000 sq. ft.
(9) Key Programming Areas- Leisure- Carrboro Recreation
& Parks, Health/Social Services-Dept. on Aging,
Meals/Nutrition-JOCCA
Prepared by Jerry Passmore, Director Orange County Dept. on Aging
FN:TFSC-RPT.DOC (Final Report)
410 . Appendix #1
Southern Orange Senior Center Space Study
Task Force Membership
1990
At Large Representatives
1 . Robert Seymour (Chair)
2 . Betty Landsberger
Orange County Commissioners
3 . Don Willhoit
4 . Moses Carey
Town of Chapel Hill
5 . Alan Rimer, Councilman (Vice-Chair )
6 . R. D. Smith
Town of Carrboro
7 . Hilliard Caldwell , Councilman
8 . Ruth Stroud
Orange County Advisory Board on Aging
9 . Harry Phillips
10 . Ruth Eddy
Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Commission
11 . Eleanor Scandlin
12 . Lee M. Pavao
Support Staff :
Orange County Department on Aging
Jerry Passmore
Janice Tyler
Kathie Kearns
Chapel Hill Recreation and Parks Department
Mike Loveman
Melody Trent
Lisa Baaske
Carrboro Recreation and Parks
Richard Kinney
FN:TFSC-MBR.DOC