During the past couple of weeks I’ve spotlighted organizations in Sussex https://www.activeadultsdelaware.com/blog/posts/2024/01/12/cheer-is-another-great-service-for-seniors-who-want-to-stay-in-their-homes/ and Kent Counties https://www.activeadultsdelaware.com/blog/posts/2024/01/16/enjoy-friendship-and-caregiver-support-at-dover-s-modern-maturity-center/ that offer a wide range of services to enable seniors to live healthier and more sociable lives. While they do lots of things – from providing meals, to companionship, to assistance with Medicare, to transportation to events around the community – one common objective is to enable people to age in place in the homes they love. The community centers at the heart of each organization are great places for your aging parents, family members and friends. They’re also good places to volunteer your time.
This week I’m spotlighting a major force in New Castle County – the Newark Senior Center https://newarkseniorcenter.com/. The organization is celebrating its 50th Anniversary, and offers the following services for members who pay $33 a year or $300 for a lifetime membership:
Meals on Wheels and Daily Lunch
Cooking for one or two people can be a challenge because many groceries are packaged to serve whole families. It can also be a hassle if you have limited mobility or just don’t have as much energy as you used to.
Fortunately, the Meals on Wheels program is available for homebound residents. The meals are delivered around lunch time, and the service can be coordinated through the Newark center. You can learn more at https://newarkseniorcenter.com/meals-on-wheels-clients/. And if you’d like to volunteer you can visit https://newarkseniorcenter.com/volunteer-for-meals-on-wheels/.
If you don’t feel like cooking and want to hang out with friends, you can also enjoy lunch at the Newark Senior Center every Monday through Friday. Here’s the menu for January https://newarkseniorcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/January-2024-menu.pdf
Fitness and Wellness Activities
In addition to an indoor pool with aquatic therapy classes for movement, flexibility and cardiovascular health, the center offers several exercise programs. It also offers some wonderful spa-styled services, from facials for smoother and younger looking skin, foot-soaks for pain relief and de-toxification, Reiki treatments for more pain relief and relaxation, and health screenings to detect memory loss and the TOPS weight loss motivation group.
The fitness activities are especially affordable, costing $30 a month for unlimited visits to the pool and to group exercise classes, or $8 for individual visits.
Arts and Educational Activities
Seniors who want to expand their educational horizons can also take part in group activities at the center. Every week there are lessons to help you use technology more effectively, discussions of current events, movie screenings and discussions about the arts and history, genealogy, health and wellness, investing and financial management, Bible study and book clubs and a lot more.
Jitney Jaunts
Even if you enjoy spending time in your home there are all kinds of fun things to do around northern Delaware. If you don’t want to drive you can join the Newark center and choose Jitney Jaunts that will take you and other members to restaurants and entertainment and cultural events. Visit https://newarkseniorcenter.com/programs-and-services/trips/ for details.
Easy Travel to and from the Center
You also don’t have to drive to get back and forth to the center. Thanks to the center’s bus you can get picked up at your home shortly after 8 a.m. and leave the center around 2 p.m. The service is available to all members, and is also available to take you shopping on Fridays. This is a terrific service if you have aging parents and family members and aren’t available to drive them back and forth to the center.
Click on this link for details about the program and a map of the area that’s serviced by the buss https://newarkseniorcenter.com/programs-and-services/transportation/.
Need some more info before you decide if membership is right for you or a family member or friend? If so, check out the monthly newsletter for a fuller description of what’s happening at the Newark Senior Center https://newarkseniorcenter.com/monthly-newsletter/.
If you’re interested in volunteering, click here https://newarkseniorcenter.com/volunteer/ to learn about the opportunities and download an application.