Planning for Hudson's Elders

There is still no word about when the senior center at the Armory, now known as the Galvan Community Learning Center, will open, but Amanda Henry, Hudson's new Commissioner of Aging, is not letting that uncertainty deter her. "I decided," Henry told Gossips, "that without funding, programming, or an official space we could move forward on creating something unconfined by those parameters."

To that end, Henry is initiating a grassroots effort to start a series of different programs in various accessible locations in Hudson run entirely by volunteers "with a space, interest or passion." Two meetings have been scheduled to bring together all those who want to be involved--both seniors with ideas about the kinds of opportunities they want and non-seniors with ideas about what they might offer. The first meeting will take place on Wednesday, January 27, at 11:00 a.m., the second on Wednesday, February 3, at 6:30 p.m. Both meetings are being hosted by Camphill Hudson at 360 Warren Street.

Henry hopes that working together and pooling their many interests and talents the people of Hudson can forge a "superhighway of elder excellence." "This," she told Gossips, "is a vitally important issue given the current statistics." Every year, in Columbia County alone, a thousand people turn 60. "We have to take a radical and proactive approach to returning elders and our care to a vital issue for society as we age."

The programming conceived and implemented by volunteers is meant to be a pilot program. "Once we have some idea of how well these volunteer programs are being supported, we can develop a budget and pursue funding." There are grant writers standing by to help with the latter.
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