By Jack Cumming
This is about municipal senior centers, though there are parallels between senior living and senior centers. Both are congregate. Both provide life enrichment and meal service. One provides housing, while the other supports living at home. One is in the private sector, while the other is public. You can complete the table of similarities and differences.
Two Senior Centers
While we lived in Los Angeles, my wife and I were members of the Culver City Senior Citizens Association Inc., which works closely with the leaders of Culver City to manage the Culver City Senior Center. The Center serves not only Culver City residents but anyone who is age-eligible and open to the senior center experience.
When we moved into a CCRC, we came to Carlsbad. Since I had been active in the Culver City Senior Center, I gravitated to the Carlsbad Senior Center. I found, though, that there were many cultural differences. Moreover, given that our CCRC has food services, there was no need to take lunch or find friends at the senior center.
Perhaps, this should be a “Tale of Three Cultures,” since the culture of the CCRC is also a part of the contrast picture. There is almost no relationship between the CCRC management and the senior center. That, too, is an aspect of the cultural picture, but our focus here will be on the contrast of the two senior centers since that is illustrative of cultural differences among senior living communities as well.
For the Members
In Culver City, the municipal authorities have traditionally deferred to the members of the Culver City Senior Citizens Association Inc. Changes that the senior center management is considering, either for compliance or for other reasons, are first presented to the Board of the Citizens Association. Of course, the city has the final word, but the facility is run fully for the benefit of the members who pay a nominal annual membership fee.
An example will illustrate the essence of that commitment to the welfare of those served. While we were members, the Culver City Senior Center was open every day of the year since many older people are otherwise alone on holidays. Those are the very days when it can seem that the rest of the world is loved and embraced by family, while many oldsters are alone and forlorn. The Lions Club, as a social project, provided a holiday meal, and the camaraderie among the attendees was wonderful to experience. That may have changed since, but I hope not.
A City Service
When we moved to Carlsbad, we found that the senior center is equally active with the signature lunch meal program, which is common to many, perhaps most, senior centers. The difference was that there was no membership nonprofit organization working with the city to ensure that the programs matched the wishes of the members.
Carlsbad has a hierarchically organized council-manager government. The result is that the senior center is nominally accountable to a Senior Commission, which consists of five members appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council. Members must be residents and normally serve four-year terms. That’s a very different structure from that in Culver City.
Differences
Although Culver City and Carlsbad have the same council-manager form, the structure for the senior center is very different. In Culver City, the members form the agenda for the nonprofit’s board meetings with input from staff, and the board is chosen and elected by the members.
In Carlsbad, the staff prepare the agenda for the commission meetings, and the users of the facility play a much more muted role. In a California twist, the Brown Act limits the free flow of discussion for the Carlsbad Senior Commission, while that does not apply to the Culver City’s partnering nonprofit member support organization.
One consequence is that the Carlsbad Senior Center follows the holiday schedule for the city employees. There are no services on holidays. Perhaps that says it all. The one is a city service with holidays off. The other is a member service with holiday events. We should quickly note that users of services at both senior centers seem content with what they have.
Culture Matters in Senior Living
What relevance does this have for senior living communities? Only this, those who define the culture should be thoughtful to be sure that the culture follows the mission. Those served may be content, regardless, but those who have a stronger service culture will be more content and will be enthusiastic supporters of the community they love.
