The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Local senior center coping with coronavirus
Officials keep watch on members, encourage residents to do the same with elderly neighbors
TORRINGTON — Senior centers around the state provide a place for older residents to take trips, participate in a variety of activities, enjoy a hot meal and, most importantly, spend time with others. Most centers have a core group of members who see each other every day, and depend on those relationships.
So when the state shut down nonessential services and businesses in March, including area senior centers, those friendships and the bond between senior centers and the elderly completely changed. But the shutdown was seen as a challenge for the centers’ directors, staff and members.
In Torrington, for example, senior center Director Joel Sekorski knew he had to take steps, and quickly, to be sure his se
niors weren’t forgotten. If family members aren’t checking in, he said, someone from the center or its programs is.
“People are looking in on each other a lot more now, and I would say the sense of community in Torrington has broadened,” Sekorski said. “As for us, we’ve been checking with people when we deliver Meals on Wheels, and we have nurses
checking on people to identify problems they might have. For the most needy that we’re aware of, we’re doing a good job to make sure their needs are fulfilled.”
The Sullivan Senior Center is providing 5,300 curbside meals a month, Sekorski said. “We’ve been fulfilling needs with Meals on Wheels, using the phone tree to check in on people, and doing curbside pickup for food,” he said.
“On the bright side of things, we’re seeing our core people all the time,” Sekorski said. “We have 100 people coming for our curbside luncheons, and we’re delivering 50 bags of groceries this week. So the core population, who aren’t
using Meals on Wheels, we do car hops in the parking lot, and people sit in a circle with their beach umbrellas and have lunch. They have a wonderful time; it’s been highly successful.”
The risks of isolation
Isolation and loneliness are two factors Sekorski said are always considered when it comes to older people who are suddenly cut off, and are unable to socialize and have a normal routine.
“With people who were alone at home and had reasons to be depressed anyway, it’s been devastating,” he said, pointing to nursing home and assisted living residents who were unable to have visits from their families since March. Only recently have facilities begun easing restrictions on visitors, but many family members are only allowed to visit through a window or from a parking lot.
“We’ve had to schedule visits with my mother-inlaw, who’s in a nursing home, and it’s been hard,” he said. “Thank goodness it’s summertime. In the winter months, at my mother’s house, no one was going over, but she has a pool, so our kids have been visiting and she can see them outside.
“But the loneliness and depression can’t be overstated,” he added. “(The senior center) has lost some people to suicide. So it’s a real thing.”
To help those who feel cut off, the director recommended checking in. “Peek in on your neighbors, and call them when you think of them,” he said. “Bring flowers or a little baked good. That contact is the most important thing. There’s no one thing that works, really, it’s a combination of things. Watch out for the elderly, the widowed, the financially unstable.
“If someone mailed a card to every senior they knew, that would go a long way,” he added. “Seniors love getting mail. Put your phone number in and tell them, if they need something, call.”
Keeping cool
Usually by late July and early August, Torrington typically has offered cooling centers for people who need them. Emergency Management Director and Fire Chief Peter Towey said the city hasn’t scheduled any cooling centers this year.
“It’s a concern,” he said. “We’re monitoring the situation and at the same time, we’re hoping people can find alternative resources for the heat.
“Unfortunately we have limited resources, and we can’t trade one risk for another,” he said. “The community has really been great about keeping watch over each other, and assisting each other when they can.”
But opening cooling centers, which previously were provided at locations around the city, isn’t something the city can do right now, Towey said.
Sekorski agreed, and said if a senior center member needed relief from the heat, he’d find a way to help. “If it was 100 (degrees) out for days, we’d come up with some kind of plan,” he said. “We’d find a space that was more conducive to deal with people; and if we felt there were people who were identified as really being in need, we’d bring them here.”
No discussion of cooling centers has happened to his knowledge, Sekorski said. “It’s an interesting point we haven’t had time to think about yet, not on my end, anyway. But when we did open as a cooling center in the past, it was our core members who came down. They were coming in and out anyway.”
The city’s website, torringtonct.org, has a bulletin board on its home page with a list of alerts and services for residents, who can also call City Hall at 860-489-2228, or the senior center at 860-482-4151. To reach the office of Emergency Management, call 860626-7537.