Plans for Montclair Senior Center taking shape, says group

MONTCLAIR, NJ — Plans for Montclair’s long-awaited senior center — and all the community programs that will follow — are slowly taking shape, a nonprofit organization reports.

Earlier this year, the Montclair City Council unanimously approved an ordinance designed to give area seniors a place to call their own – a request they have been making for years.

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The community has signed a lease for a “senior center and office space” at 60 South Fullerton Avenue. According to the contract, the space will also be used as the main offices of the Department of Senior Services/Lifelong Montclair. See also: Montclair City Council votes on long-awaited senior center

As work begins on the senior center, local activists have formed a new nonprofit organization dedicated to “improving the lives of modern seniors”: the Montclair Modern Aging Collective (MMAC).

The founding of the MMAC came nearly two decades after community activists first launched the campaign for a senior center, including members of the Senior Citizens Advisory Committee, Aging In Montclair (AIM), Montclair Gateway to Aging in Place (mGAP), and Do Drop In.

According to a press release from the group:

“The center, expected to open later this year, will be 4,400 square feet and will include space for classrooms, meeting rooms, recreation areas, a computer lab and offices for the community’s seniors department and MMAC staff. The facility will be available to cooperative partners and local residents from morning to evening, seven days a week. A newly paved parking lot behind the building will provide ample parking.”

The center will also act as a “hub” for senior services – with “spokes” at satellite locations throughout the city, proponents said. Offerings include:

• Programs to enhance the work of the Montclair Institute for Lifelong Learning (MILL). MILL classes will continue to be held at Edgemont House, the Wally Choice Center, and the Montclair Public Library.
• A central contact point for all transport issues, where citizens can register and receive important information.
• A computer lab to expand the mGAP peer-to-peer technology training program currently taking place at multiple locations.
• A contact point for the dissemination of information on the subject of senior living, e.g.: issuing of housing eligibility certificates.
• Meeting rooms for support activities related to the coordination of care services, counseling and health examinations.

MMAC founding member Annette Weis, who is also president of AIM, said the nonprofit has already begun fundraising and working to create community partnerships in Montclair.

For more information, including volunteer opportunities and donations, contact [email protected].

“Our center will be a welcoming place where people of all ages can come together to participate in activities, network with peers, and access valuable resources that support their overall well-being,” agreed Katherine Nicholas, another founding member of the MMAC and senior activities coordinator at Do Drop In.

Another co-founder of the group, senior care director Judy Hurley, said the new center represents a “community commitment in partnership with the people of today.”

“Focus groups will be scheduled in the coming months to gather the opinions of interested citizens from across the community on the issues to be addressed at the center,” Hurley said, adding that the organization will also seek to recruit volunteers and build a representative board of directors.

“With this increased life expectancy comes both new opportunities and new challenges,” said Ann Lippel, founding member of the MMAC and president of the mGAP.

“The collective is committed to providing both comprehensive support and resources to enable all modern township residents to live fulfilling and active lives,” she said, adding that there are several hard-working activists who did not live to see this turning point.

“We owe so much to Jim Eason, Sharon Sandusky, Loretta Freeman and Anita Geffinger,” Lippel said.

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