SEBASTIAN — For the last few years, dozens of seniors from the Sebastian area have made do with a small room in the back of what had once been solely their Senior Center on Davis Street. And while the room, which is large enough for a few card tables and not much else, has served its purpose, the seniors have run out of space. Enter Sebastian City Councilwoman Andrea Coy, who has been tapped to lead a fundraising endeavor to fix up city-owned space for its own senior center.
Last week, the Sebastian City Council – by consensus – decided that Coy should lead the effort as a way to avoid dipping into city funds for fixing up what once was Keep Indian River Beautiful’s location in the old city hall complex.
Coy hopes to raise a few thousand dollars to replace the floor, slap a fresh coat of paint on the walls and replace the toilet.
“We have such a generous public in Sebastian with the biggest hearts ever,” Coy said during the council meeting.
Her goal is to raise the funds quickly and get the facility ready for use by Sept. 1.
Currently, the Senior Resource Association operates and manages the Sebastian Senior Center on Davis Street – a place where seniors meet throughout the week to play Mahjongg, Pinochle, Canasta, and Dominoes, to name a few activities.
With changes to laws and policies pertaining to the Adult Day Care program at the center, the seniors were moved to the back room, protecting the privacy of those enrolled in adult care. That was in 2006.
“We had to take a firm line,” said Senior Resource Association President Karen Deigl of following the policies and rules. “It wasn’t that we wanted to push them out.”
Some seniors who have taken part in activities at the center have expressed frustration about losing their space and the lack of attention they get from the Vero Beach-based association. Others are more hesitant to comment, opting instead to focus on the need for more space because their numbers are growing.
Mary McGee described the relationship between the seniors and the association as having “great animosity” because they were told they had certain services – like transportation – but those services were never delivered.
McGee said they had gotten to the point where they didn’t feel welcomed at the center.
They were told they wouldn’t have to pay extra for their activities – a rate increase, as well as a membership fee increase, had been implemented at the Vero Beach Senior Center.
Prior to the start of the year, Sebastian seniors were paying $1 per activity. Then, they were told it would be $2 per game. McGee said many of the seniors play multiple games, a couple times a week. Instead of paying a couple dollars a week, they could easily pay $4 a day or more.
Deigl said payment is on an honor system and the fee increase was meant per activity, not per game.
In fiscal year 2010-11, the Senior Resource Association collected nearly $2,200 in fees at the Sebastian Senior Center. This last fiscal year, 2011-12, revenue slipped to just over $1,800, according to Deigl.
If the City of Sebastian were to be successful in establishing its own, separate senior center and the area’s seniors were to stop going to the Senior Resource Association’s center, the association would stand to lose more revenue.
“Any money taken from the center will hurt,” Deigl said. “Every dollar counts.”
Despite the potential loss of funds to the Senior Resource Association, Deigl said she supports the city’s project.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing,” she said, adding, “That’s what the city should be doing.”
Coy’s plan is to have an open center where seniors can come and go during the day and play however many games they want and take part in as many activities as they want – for free.
“They will not be charged for anything,” Coy said of the seniors.
She said after the council meeting that it has become clear that there is a greater need for a senior center than the Senior Resource Association can provide in Sebastian.
“We know the (current) program in Sebastian is not going to expand” through the Senior Resource Association,” she added.
The former Keep Indian River Beautiful space is three times the size of the room the seniors are able to use off Davis Street, and is large enough to accommodate dances and live entertainment if the seniors wanted to incorporate such activities, Coy said.
McGee is the only senior who has had the opportunity to tour the former KIRB building.
“It’s far more than we need,” she said, adding that they would have plenty of space to grow. “It’s perfect.”
Site unseen, Lana Williams agreed, saying anything larger than their room at the current center would be better.
“We need a place to call our own,” she said.
A 4- or 5-year participant of the Senior Center, Williams said she and a few others have been responsible for growing the number of seniors who participate at the center.
“We had to do it ourselves to get people involved,” she said, noting that ads in the newspaper from the Senior Resource Association did little to generate interest.
Williams said many seniors in Sebastian still have no idea the center is even there on Davis Street, so instead spend their days sitting at home, alone, watching TV.
“It’s good for your mind,” she said of getting out to the center and playing games and socializing.
Some who attend are in their 80s – or older.
“They’re sharp as a tack,” Williams said.
Last Tuesday, 17 seniors showed up to play cards – far more than might have otherwise been expected given the time of year, she said. Many seniors are sticking around all year rather than heading north during the summer, Williams explained.
“We have a good time,” she said of the seniors who gather. “We’re a happy bunch.”
Regardless of whether the city is able to generate the funds through donations and set up its own center, Williams said seniors need to get out.
Williams looks forward to the days she regularly gets to the center, noting it gets her excited to get up in the morning, to get dressed and head out the door.
“Every senior needs that,” she said.
Coy said she targeted the former KIRB site for Sebastian’s own senior center because “it’s just sitting there, doing nothing.”
“It’s a sound building,” she said. “It’s just old.”
The city has provided space elsewhere in the old city hall complex for the Sebastian River Art Club, a quilting group, and the Coast Guard Auxiliary, to name a few. The Yacht Club, too, has been made available to various groups for activities and meetings.
Prior to making the pitch to the public for donations, Coy met with Home Depot, which has a grant program to help fund community projects.
“Home Depot is very interested in helping out,” Coy said, but added that if the city waited for the next grant cycle, the senior center would be pushed out an extra few months.
The city has already applied for a grant – and if funded – could be used to take care of the next tier of improvements Coy would like to have done. Such improvements would include ceiling fans and adding a small refrigerator to the kitchenette.
Ashima Wild, president of Keep Indian River Beautiful, said the organization decided to leave the old Sebastian City Hall in favor of a storefront at the Indian River Mall in order to be more accessible to the entire county – and to have more room.
“We didn’t have ample space,” she said.
The Sebastian City Council of the early 2000s decided to build a new City Hall because the city’s departments had outgrown the complex, Coy said, adding that the decision to build came before she was on council.
She added that the reason to build had nothing to do with health or safety concerns of the complex’s buildings.
Wild concurred, saying that they had no issues with the safety or health of building when KIRB occupied it; they simply ran out of space.
Mary McGee and Lana Williams both said they hope the residents of Sebastian – and those in the area – will step up and donate to the cause, even if they, themselves, are not yet seniors.
“It’s not like it’s a phenomenal amount of money,” Williams said of Coy’s initial $3,000 goal. “We’re grateful for anything we get,” she said.
Anyone interested in donating to the cause can send checks made payable to City of Sebastian – with a note on the memo line for “Senior Center Project” – and drop them off at City Hall or mail them to City Hall, City Clerk’s Office, 1225 Main St., Sebastian, FL 32958. Cash donations, too, would be accepted, as would donations of card tables and chairs.
For more information about the endeavor, contact Sebastian City Councilwoman Andrea Coy by calling (772) 388-0961.
