Support the senior center at the voting booth

There are plenty of reasons to vote in favor of the North Big Horn Senior Citizens Center service district mil levy that keeps the organization flourishing. I did (when I voted by mail), and here’s why.

Since its creation in 1972, the North Big Horn Senior Citizens Center in Lovell has become a hub of activity for seniors in our community offering nutritious, economically priced meals, rides, special celebrations, support, social opportunities and the chance to feel useful through volunteer opportunities. It’s a place to make new friends, to find information and to get help with things like filling out confusing paperwork or referrals to someone who can help. The mil levy is a critical part of the funding that makes these much-needed services available to senior citizens in our community.

The mil levy funds are used for capital projects, like the purchase of kitchen equipment and operating costs that are not covered by other grants. It is also used as matching funds to obtain grants. Without the mil levy funds the senior center would be facing serious challenges that would limit or eliminate its ability to provide services to the growing senior population of North Big Horn County. The service district includes the communities of Lovell, Byron, Cowley, Frannie and Deaver.

The North Big Horn Senior Citizens Center provides both in-house and home delivered meals to seniors 60 years and older who live in the service district. Meals are also available on a take-out basis. According to senior center director Kim Gifford, the need for these services has increased in recent years, especially the need for meals and rides.

“Our meal counts have increased 23 percent over the last two years and will continue to increase with our growing population of seniors,” said Gifford. “Last year we served 33,450 meals to our seniors in North Big Horn County. We used to give 700 rides per month; now we’re up to 1,000.”

Gifford noted that a lot of that increased usage has taken place in recent months.

According to the National Council on Aging (NCOA), adequate nutrition plays a key role in maintaining physical strength, managing chronic conditions and preventing malnutrition in older adults, and at least half of adults living independently in their own homes need nutritional intervention to support or improve their health.

Group meals are served Monday through Friday in Lovell. Meals are also served a few days per month in Frannie, Deaver and Cowley. In Frannie, an average of 25 people share lunch at the old school, and approximately 30 seniors are served at the Deaver Community Center. The meals are served on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month, alternating locations. Once a month, a group of around 15 seniors in Cowley enjoy a lunch delivered by the center to a group dining at the LDS Church. 

Along with everything else these days the cost of purchasing the food to prepare the meals has gone up, however, those 60 or older pay only $4 for the meal; it’s $8 for those who are not senior citizens. The meal cost is subsidized by funding from state, local and federal sources. For some seniors, especially those with very low incomes, it is their only meal of the day. 

A ride service for seniors is another highly utilized program offered by the center. According to a NCOA survey, one in five seniors 65 and older drive very little or not at all, and more are giving up driving every year. To service the needs of that population, the senior center offers low-cost rides within its service area to medical appointments, the grocery store, post office, hairdresser or barber, to the senior center itself or to visit friends and family.

As seniors age, they often find themselves living alone. According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2020, 27 percent of U.S. adults age 60 and older were living alone. The number is expected to increase as the baby boomer generation continues to age.

The isolation of living alone does present challenges like loneliness, inability to get services and the inability to get proper nutrition. In addition to help with meals and transportation, the center provides numerous opportunities for socialization like cards, bingo, quilting and crafts at the center. 

And to help seniors manage their health, the center provides exercise programs, educational workshops focused on a healthy lifestyle and blood pressure clinics, and the center even loans out durable medical equipment.

Let’s face it, there comes a day when most of us look in the mirror and wonder who that old gal or guy is looking back at us. That is, if we’re lucky enough to make it to those golden years. We’re even luckier yet to have a senior citizen center like the one we have in north Big Horn County to look out for us and our loved ones at a time in life when we are vulnerable and (though we hate to admit it) increasingly in need of support.

Citizens of all ages should take this into consideration when voting on the mil levy at the upcoming general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Whether it’s for oneself or a family member, a neighbor or a friend, the North Big Horn Senior Citizens Center provides necessary services that support our community.