Closed senior center stays vital, by Nathan Weiser

The Red Hook Neighborhood Senior Center, next to the Miccio Center on West 9th Street, has been closed since last March.

While the building has been closed, the Center has been far from idle. Director Maria Sanchez has been overseeing lots of activities for the seniors during the pandemic.

Sanchez and her staff of four speak to the seniors every day to check up on them to make sure they are okay. She has one caseworker in addition to her staff and they take turns to make sure everyone is called.

“The majority of them are lonely,” Sanchez said. They are anxious for the Senior Center to open again.”

Many seniors are homebound, so Sanchez has organized getting them assistance with food deliveries.

An issue that comes up is the food that is delivered. They might complain about not liking the food or getting too much food at their home.

The director says this is more of a city issue, and that they can always freeze what they don’t want and eat it later. She thinks it is not that much of an issue as long as they are getting the food.

“Overall, thank God they are healthy and they are okay,” Sanchez said. “And they are doing well.”

“I am an engagement officer as well, so I set them up and make sure they get their food from the city,” Sanchez added. “If they need any other food resources, I deal with the Miccio Community Center, RHI or Redemption Church because they distribute food and those who are homebound get deliveries straight to their door.”

Sanchez and her staff lead virtual sessions over Zoom on how to be healthy and nutritious during the pandemic. She has a certified nutritionist who gives them guidance.

The seniors get advice on meals they can prepare, healthy shakes they can make and how to take control of their nutrition intake. Health wise, they advise them on how to take care of themselves, sleep the right amount and control their anxiety.

“For health management, it was how to drink water, a lot of them do not drink enough water,” Sanchez said. “How to control their diet, and how to body wise take care of yourself.”

She will often have specialists or experts get on the Zoom to speak to them. Mental and physical health is key, especially during Covid, and she has tried to maintain their health throughout the whole pandemic.

There are a wide range of physical activities that they do with the seniors to keep them active. Sanchez leads some of the activities and there are also some licensed instructors in specific areas that come in and teach as well.

“These instructors have been involved before Covid and have a rapport with the seniors,” Sanchez said. “These are not new people. They know who they are and what is happening.”

Sanchez will show the seniors via Zoom how to improve their balance and do exercises with a chair. Other activities include using a water bottle as a weight for exercise (if they don’t have a dumbbell), jumping jacks, sit-ups, tai chi, and yoga.

They also do arts and crafts, painting, and recently leading up to Christmas they made ornaments and built gingerbread houses. Sanchez makes sure to keep them busy.

The senior center director’s mother is involved with the Red Hook Senior Center, so she has been participating in these activities during the pandemic as well.

The seniors can pick and choose the activities that they want to participate in. Many do participate but some do not as well.

Technology can be an obstacle day-to-day so Sanchez goes the extra mile in this area as well and teaches them the basics by giving them classes on how to work their phones and iPads.

“They have children that don’t help them, which is the sad part,” Sanchez said. “It is our responsibility as a staff to teach them how to do these things.”

However, she keeps it simple so that they will be able to get into the Zoom sessions. She has her own Zoom account and makes the meetings not password protected, so they don’t have to input a password or anything else, they just have to click on the Zoom link.

Sanchez makes it as smooth as possible so it’s not difficult to get into the Zoom activities.

The Red Hook Senior Center’s director has found that she has been busier during the pandemic in her efforts to get all of the needs accounted for than she was before Covid changed everything.

“I work more at home than I did when I was in the office,” Sanchez said. “I cross my t’s and dot my i’s. It is difficult working from home. I have to use all of my resources and make sure everything is taken care of.”

Sanchez has contacts at various Red Hook businesses and organizations who give needed assistance in various ways.

Nate’s Pharmacy (376 Van Brunt Street) will deliver any medicine that they need right to their home.

This is important since many seniors haven’t really been able to leave home during the pandemic.
Sanchez deals with Nate’s Pharmacy because other pharmacies were not able to deliver the medication.

The Red Hook Neighborhood Senior Center gets assistance from the Red Hook Justice Center in various ways and Sanchez’s contact there is Ross Joy. He is a program manager in the housing resource center at the Justice Center.

“The Justice Center is renewing all of the NYCHA leases for the seniors,” Sanchez said. Anything housing related, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) related, or medicare/medicaid related, they will assist the seniors in what they need.”

The seniors have Joy’s phone number, so they will be able to schedule an appointment to get assistance with what their needs are as they come up in the above areas.

It is not known yet when the physical space might be able to open again like it was before Covid-19.

During this time there have been many activities for the seniors but its not like how it was previously.