"Healthy, hot-cooked meals, exercise sessions and other services for older adults are on the chopping block in parts of the Bay Area as service providers feel the squeeze of shrinking government budgets. To save money, the Downtown Oakland Senior Center cut its Friday services and reduced its operations the rest of the work week by two hours a day in April."
"Barbara Griffin, 81, an amusement park retiree who's been coming to the center for the past 20 years, said recent schedule reductions have forced her to choose between her two favorite aerobic dance classes: Zumba and Keep it Moving. She said she worries the city is starting to treat seniors like an afterthought. I feel like some people would rather have us sitting on a park bench feeding pigeons, Griffin said."
Healthy, hot-cooked meals, exercise sessions and other services for older adults are being reduced across parts of the Bay Area as government budgets shrink. The Downtown Oakland Senior Center eliminated Friday services and shortened weekday hours by two hours starting in April. Sunnyvale's senior nutrition program increasingly must turn people away as demand outstrips funding and risks running out of food without controls. Contra Costa County cut a $277,000 Meals on Wheels contract after federal funding reductions, ending weekly Breakfast Bag deliveries to hundreds of seniors. Older adults express anxiety and feel marginalized as programs that support nutrition, exercise, and social engagement are scaled back.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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