My History with the Senior Resource Center

My story starts with a divorce. At that time I needed a job. I had no job skills apart from typing. It was important to find a good fit. My interview with the director and outreach worker went well and I was hired. The children and I lived a block and a half away from the Methodist Church where the first Senior Center was located. There was a sitting area, card tables, a kitchen and a desk by the entrance where I sat. My job description was secretary, social director, and transportation organizer. There was one old van, one driver, a director, outreach worker and me. My friends, Toni and Bob Myers, worked for Sjostrum signs and kindly donated their time painting the tree logo and name on the van. Our staff were all devoted to helping seniors live a better life. Best of all we liked each other and are still friends. We had a local printer make our newsletter and volunteers would assemble the pages, staple them, fold and put on mailing labels. Our staff would take boxes of newsletters in bundles of 50 to the local post office and pay for mass shipping. Part of my job was setting up the work areas and keeping the cookies and coffee available for volunteers. An assembly line was formed and each worker knew exactly what their job was. It was a happy and busy day when newsletters were being assembled. 

Every morning I transferred calls left on our recorder to a tablet and sorted them by need. Some needed a call back and most needed the van to take them to buy groceries or go to medical appointments.  The director would bring a rough draft of a letter for me to type. I'd make a large pot of coffee to keep by the entrance for drop - in visitors to help themselves. Part of my job was hostess to drop in visitors. Chatting, playing cards and listening to their stories.

Once a month we celebrated everyone with birthdays. I set up a table with a sheet cake, nuts, and punch or coffee. We'd sing the birthday song and enjoy social time. We had potluck dinners monthly, programs on health and safety and during local elections each person running would talk to a room full of seniors. We had musicians, movies and popcorn, and once a magician with an assistant. Doctors and lawyers educated our groups. Crafts were taught by volunteers.

Rapidly the Senior Center grew. Raising money was a big part of the director's job. My job became more demanding and the outreach worker made home visits, delivered books from the library and connected seniors with what they needed. The van driver's job became more than she could handle so another van was needed and a driver hired. A second outreach worker was hired to care for our black community. There were lunch sites in another church basement and another in a church on the East Side. A sister agency handled the lunch sites, hiring chefs, purchasing food, and promoting the lunch sites. We worked cooperatively...our vans and expenses were shared. I was making transportation schedules for each of the van drivers. 

Day trips taken on big buses. I was the hostess on trips to plays, and shopping in Chicago before Christmas. Every week I taught exercise classes which were a blend of stretches and marching in place to raise heart rates.  There were still regular drop in hours where groups of women friends came to play games and older gentlemen came to have coffee and wait for their drivers to pick them up following their time at the Masonic Temple across the street. 

During this time I met Phil and we married in the Episcopal Church across from the Senior Center, with my coworkers serving as ushers. Soon I retired to be more present in my children's lives. Eventually I took a job as Director of Women's Services with the former YWCA. There I saw some of the same people I knew from years before at the Senior Center. Now I participate in activities at the Senior Resource Center. Having come full circle is interesting. I'm the only person who was once an employee and now enjoying the many things the SRC offers. 

It must be mentioned that the Senior Center was started by a group of Episcopalians who wrote a grant and found a director and location in the Methodist Church basement. Sadly, the Methodist Church burned down and there is a parking lot in that space. The Senior Center had already moved to its second location next to the Art Museum on Harlem St. From there it had offices in the Lincoln Mall, and finally relocated to their present location on Stephenson St. Now called the Senior Resource Center and again starting classes and programs. They maintain and use a large fleet of vans still providing rides to grocery stores and medical appointments.