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Date: 2/16/2022
SOUTH DEERFIELD – Jennifer Remillard enjoyed spending time with her grandparents, which prepared her for her new job as director of the South County Senior Center.
“I have always enjoyed the company of my family members who are older,” Remillard, a Deerfield resident, said. “My grandmother taught me how to play rummy, card games, when I was a child. My grandfather was always teaching me something. Learning from older people, you learn a unique perspective.”
Remillard began as senior center director at the beginning of February. The first week was very busy. She met with town administrators and the center’s Board of Oversight. She met with LifePath to discuss continuation of the meal program. She spoke to the state Council on Aging. She familiarized herself with the center’s variety of programs. She met with Fr. Jonathan Reardon at the Holy Family Roman Catholic Church.
“Pope John Paul Hall is where we have been staging our programs,” Remillard said. “There are challenges with the existing building … so we will be there [at the church] on a temporary basis, at least until the end of June, the end of the fiscal year – then, after discussions, we’ll see where we’ll be.”
Exercise classes for seniors are conducted three days a week in the church on Sugarloaf Street. Senior workouts at the YMCA also draw well. The center offers tai chi in Sunderland. A monthly foot clinic, by appointment, keeps aging feet in good shape. The center also offers a brown bag lunch at the Town Hall.
“It’s important to address everyone’s needs, whatever the age bracket,” Remillard said. “We provide services for people 50 and older.”
Providing social services is not new for Remillard, who grew up in Deerfield, Northampton and South Carolina. She moved from the south, back to this area, in the early 1990s. Eventually she landed a job with the Connecticut National Guard, providing support for veterans and their families, at home and during deployments.
“I helped seniors from World War II. I helped privates coming out of boot camp,” Remillard said. “That gave me the background to address emergency issues and concerns, and the concerns of the Selectboard, and the Board of Overseers.”
The experience of working with boot campers and veterans from the last century helps Remillard see how the generations can learn from each other. The young are strong in skills, such as working with computers, while seniors have acquired wisdom.
“It’s important to make sure young people understand their background,” Remillard said. Older generations experienced what young people read about in history books. “It may be someone who’s a child of someone who grew up in the Great Depression, so … It’s about understanding where each demographic is coming from. It’s about education. I still see that, working with seniors. They have a lot of information and knowledge to offer.”
A local resident since 2014, Remillard noticed the additional threat facing seniors from the pandemic. More seniors are showing the signs of isolation, with and without the support of children and caregivers. That combination of an active pandemic and the loss of friendly interaction put seniors more at risk of developing COVID-19.
“We have been experiencing heightened isolation among our seniors,” Remillard said. “If they isolate at home, they have a heightened risk of contracting COVID; so there are risks of isolation that I would like to reduce, by offering services to the seniors.”
An immediate goal is more face time, increasing the hours of personal contact, time she spends with center visitors. Remillard also intends to seek out and apply for grants that haven’t been secured in the past. New class offerings will be explored. COVID-19 also limited senior’s access to center offerings and Remillard and the staff will deal with those issues too.
A Volunteer Appreciation Day is scheduled for Feb. 25, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., at the center. Remillard will use the meet-and-greet as a chance to introduce herself to the wider community. She said,
“My goal is to meet as many town officials and residents as I can.”
The new senior center director also wants to know what seniors want to see at the center. In her first week on the job she spent time asking center visitors about their preferences. She also hopes to learn from residents who complete the senior survey now on the websites of member towns. The survey on senior needs and local resources can be found at https://umassboston.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9HqSnpm626X41bo.
“As we get older, we don’t feel seen or heard as much as younger people,” Remillard said. “To be able to listen and meet their needs, that’s one of the things I love about this job. I want to create a program that will draw members to attend…I love being able to interact with seniors, to create programs, and listen.”