Peggy Jacques wants to bring a senior center to Peoria. As the Graceland Center for Purposeful Aging, she's planning weekly events run out of Peoria's Life Together Center.
But, with grants and future funding, she hopes to establish a brick and mortar location to offer events for seniors Monday through Friday.
I spoke with Jacques to learn more about what senior centers do.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
What is the purpose of a senior center?
Peggy Jacques: The whole goal is to get people out to get them to engage with one another. Social isolation is a real problem among older adults: you leave your workplace, some people are comfortable volunteering, sometimes you have a church you go to, but even a lot of churches don't have the ability to provide programming or provide even gatherings for older adults. So you really can get isolated. And it's recognized that social isolation is very harmful to your health.
And what sort of programs does a center for aging offer?
Jacques: It depends on the people that they serve. That's important. Some people are interested in learning. Some people are interested in hands on, making crafts, some people are interested in taking trips. The centers that we are really modeling after are nearby. The Miller Center in Pekin is one, the Activity and Recreation Center in Bloomington-Normal is another; and every community really tailors their center, depending on the population that they're serving.
The Activity and Recreation Center in Bloomington-Normal is amazing. It's almost like the RiverPlex only meant for older adults. They have pickleball, they have rooms everywhere where people can do crafts, or have learning activities. There's a “guy place” where the guys play pool and do that kind of stuff. There's a ladies area where they maybe have more crafts or that kind of thing. They offer food pantries, they have a community garden, they have a walking track. So, really, our goal is to find out what people want. When we do these weekly programs we'll offer different educational topics: how to stay mentally, physically and emotionally healthy, and other topics of interest that people want.
What sort of senior services might people think of when they hear “senior center” that aren’t necessarily the intent of an organization like this?
Jacques: That's an excellent question. And very important to clarify for Peoria, because Peoria does not have one. We're the eighth largest city in Illinois, and the only one in the top 10, if not the top 20, that doesn't have one. So it's not common for people to not know what a center is, which is a shame. So centers were created out of the Older Adult Act in 1965. And that act, President Johnson signed in, made Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. And it also required that communities should have a center for older adults to go to after they retire and stay physically and emotionally and just overall healthy. And so those centers are meant for wellness. And they're not meant for illness care.
And sadly, our culture doesn't respect aging. We're afraid of it. But I'm a nurse, I work full time as an RN, and you know, you either age or you don't. And so what should we do? We should age as best we can and try to stay as healthy as we can. And so it’s not an adult daycare. An adult daycare is an awesome resource like OSF Senior World. That's a great resource. Those are for people who need care. They need to have medications or therapy or meals or be supervised. They need assistance. And it's a wonderful program. But this is not for someone who needs that kind of help. Our center would be more, is more for adults living in their home, or maybe even living in community dwellings.
You’ve received grants from the Central Illinois Agency on Aging and the Community Foundation of Central Illinois for this effort. Are there a lot of grant and funding opportunities available for a project of this kind?
Jacques: They're harder to find. A lot of people want to fund things for children or for different, other social needs. I would almost challenge people to think of: when's the last time there was a fundraiser or something specifically targeted to the wellness of older adults? So there is some funding through the National Council on Aging and some other other grants but my hope is that we can find a sustainable program. I don't know if that will be through a city budget or if that'll be through United Way. That's what our task will be.
Jacques currently has a board of eight people and a volunteer staff of 10 and invites people to reach out on Facebook or through their number at 833-503-7773.
