Survey seeks input on senior center

For several years local folks have been talking about a Sisters senior center. Now, a survey is being circulated to find out if area residents want one.

Surveys are to be completed by Wednesday, October 31.

The survey is the first step of a feasibility study that is being conducted by the Senior Council of Sisters. Scott Aycock, program administrator for the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, is facilitating the feasibility study.

"The Senior Council of Sisters has an interest in looking into developing a formal senior center of some sort to serve the community of Sisters, which is the only incorporated community in Central Oregon that does not apparently have a senior center," said Aycock.

The senior council is assessing what kinds of programs and services a Sisters senior center should offer and what kind of site should house the center, Aycock said.

"Should they (the services of the senior center) be offered in conjunction with services for the general public? In other words should it be a community center that has a senior component or should it be a stand-alone senior center?" said Aycock. "Right now they're (the Sisters senior council) wide open and they're looking at all options."

Aycock's hope is for as many area residents as possible to complete the survey.

It is available at the Sisters Library and at City Hall, at SOAR (Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation), at Sisters Coffee Company, at Sisters Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store and ReStore, at the weekly senior meal at noon on Tuesdays at Sisters Community Church, at the lodge at Black Butte Ranch, at the Camp Sherman Store, at the Thursday morning meetings of the Sisters Kiwanis Club and at other sites.

"The most important input ... is from the folks who might use it themselves or have a family member who might use it or who in the next 10 to 15 years might be using it, like the (baby) boomers. What kinds of programs and services do they want to see?" said Aycock.

After results from the survey are compiled, a meeting will be held with stakeholders, including the City of Sisters, the county, the Council on Aging, the Department of Human Services, SOAR and "anybody who might actually help make it happen or have a stake in what this senior center looks like," Aycock said.

Another component of the feasibility study is the actual analysis of operating models.

"Some of these centers are operated by the city, others by a non-profit, others through a partnership of a whole bunch of different groups," said Aycock.

For more information call 548-8163.

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