MAPLEWOOD, NJ — With the great migration of seniors from New Jersey to places with more services and lower taxes, many municipalities in the area are working to retain their seniors with improved services and opportunities.
And Maplewood and South Orange are no different, having recently conducted a joint survey to determine the services local seniors desire. Maplewood took another step at its Township Committee meeting on Feb. 7, when it appointed the inaugural members to its new Seniors Advisory Committee.
Appointees include Sandra Bartlett, Joan Crystal, Irene Dunsavage and Kurt Kiley to three-year terms; Gideon Romann, Laura Whitmire, Lucy Wilkerson and Robert Wise to two-year terms; and Ian Grodman and Mike Summersgill to one-year terms. There is one vacant one-year term. Additionally, Recreation Director Melissa Mancuso, Health Officer Robert Roe and zoning official and Welfare Director Beverly Ashmon will serve in nonvoting capacities alongside Deputy Mayor Nancy Adams., the Township Committee liaison.
According to Ordinance No. 2844-16, which was passed last year to establish the advisory committee, its purposes are to: provide support and advice to the Township Committee regarding issues relating to seniors living and working in Maplewood; assist the township to conduct effective outreach to seniors, some of whom may not be able to receive electronic notices; and assist the township with the implementation of the SOMA Age Friendly Initiative, designed to help seniors age in place.
Kiley, a leading member of Maplewood Senior Share, told the News-Record the advisory committee will also likely be utilized to implement the recommendations from the Grotta Fund for Senior Care’s analysis of the two towns; South Orange and Maplewood were jointly awarded a $35,000 grant from the Grotta Fund in 2015 to develop successfully aging communities.
While the advisory committee has not yet set a date for its first meeting, members plan to get together sometime this week to elect a chairperson and vice chairperson, according to Kiley.
While this inaugural meeting will mostly be a chance for the new members to discuss the new committee’s direction, many already have ideas about what the committee should do.
Crystal said at the Township Committee meeting that many seniors are leaving Maplewood and that it is becoming a huge problem.
“Anything that we can do to try to retain the seniors that we do have and to try to encourage people who are approaching senior status to remain in town is very important,” Crystal said.
Grodman told the Township Committee he was “very pleased to help (the advisory committee) get off the ground” and Summersgill wants to use the advisory committee to bring senior issues “front and center.”
“I just want to bring to seniors in town all the services that they really are entitled to and all of the kinds of services that I know are available countywide and statewide,” Dunsavage said at the meeting.
Kiley, Gideon and Wilkerson all stressed that, in addition to the township helping seniors, seniors can help the township. Kiley told the Township Committee that seniors “put a lot of hours into our town.”
“I am a senior and I know I can help,” Wilkerson said.
Moving forward, Kiley believes the advisory committee should start by improving communications.
“There is a lot to do, but I think the most important piece is improving and developing communications between the town and seniors, and identifying where they are,” Kiley said in an email last week. “We want and need their feedback, and it’s important that they know about the services that currently exist and whatever may come in the future.
“Big issues we hear from seniors are related to housing and transportation,” he continued. “Some also feel isolated, and not part of the community. I personally think we want to focus on small projects that we can attack quickly and that can be an immediate benefit, and at the same time work on larger issues — like housing — that would take a considerable amount of time to come to fruition.”
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