NAPLES, Fla — Collier Senior Resources (CSR) at the Golden Gate Senior Center has reopened its doors and is providing in-person programs and services to the non-profit’s 1,460 members.
The nonprofit organization works to address the needs of older adults and their caregivers. Three months ago the renovations for the center's building began and while COVID-19 restrictions were still in place and many members were benefiting from the charity’s programs via online services like Zoom, personal phone calls from staff and volunteers, as well as the on-site daily hot lunch and food pantry. The work was finished on June 28, 2021 and since then different social groups have all resumed on-site.
“It was crucial for us to complete the needed work as quickly as possible to continue providing members the in-person connection they so vitally need for health of body, mind and spirit,” explains Senior Center Director Tatiana Fortune, MSW. “For many, our Zoom programs, outreach calls, in-person daily hot lunches, which restarted in June 2020, and on-site food pantry have been the only social interaction they’ve regularly experienced since the pandemic began so we are thankful to have this year’s renovations completed in just 12 weeks.”
Collier Senior Resources opened the Golden Gate Senior Center in 2014 as part of the organization’s ongoing efforts to provide seniors on a modest/fixed income fellowship, enrichment, wellness and basic services, along with continuing education, in a safe, diverse and welcoming environment.
Programs are free of charge and designed to address the increased risk of depression, declining mental and physical health, as well as increased risk of death, associated with social isolation among the elderly – an issue which has taken prominence since the pandemic – and include providing:
- Local and long-distance caregivers a centralized source for senior-related information, services and resources in Collier County.
- More than 1,200 hot lunches a month to seniors in-need and weekly access to a Meals of Hope food pantry to 780+ families, including 330 needy seniors.
- A daily hot lunch and coffee bar; weekly food pantry, blood pressure, vision and diabetes screenings, oral health assessments, balance testing and fall prevention lectures; monthly birthday parties, yoga, dance and exercise classes, art therapy, cards and games, holiday parties, Alzheimer’s support groups, crafts and other life-enhancing programs and services for seniors.
The charity collaborates with trusted partners, including the AARP Foundation (job placement and training for out-of-work, low-income seniors), Alzheimer’s Support Network, Area Agency on Aging, Catholic Charities (social services), Collier Area Transport, Collier County Nutrition, Literacy Volunteers, the Sheriff’s Office and more.
For more information on Collier Senior Resources and the Golden Gate Senior Center, please call 239.252.4541, or visit www.CollierSeniorResources.org.
