01907 Winter 2022

30 | 01907
CENTER, continued from page 24
members in 2022. Fifty-four percent of
the members come from Swampscott,
the remaining is from the other towns.
Attendance is 79 percent female,
according to Director of Aging Services
Heidi Whear. The daily active members
are around 50 in 2022.
The center meets an important, even
life-saving need, said Outreach Social
Worker Sabrina Clopton. In person and
in letters to town officials, Swampscott
seniors said they felt lonely, disconnected
from the world around them and
isolated at home.
In some instances, said Garfinkel, a
sense of dignity blocked seniors from
leaving their homes. To put it another
way, they were proud to seek help. She
credited Clopton for assembling an
extremely effective outreach program
connecting seniors to all the center has
to offer.
One challenge involved reaching
seniors in an online, social media-oriented
world.
“She (Clopton) does put everything
online, but a lot of people that are stuck
in the house, they probably don't even
know how to use their computer,” said
Garfinkel.
Clopton adapted her outreach to
identity seniors who recently became
non-drivers and were threatened by
inactivity, making sure that they had
access to the Senior Center.
She went out into the community
who wouldn't be able to leave their
building or wouldn't want to leave their
building to come out. That's where
Robbi Mohammad and his happy van
come into the picture with the driver
making the rounds to pick up seniors
and make their rides to and from the
center an occasion to kibbitz, laugh, and
look forward to a busy and fun day.
After working at MBTA for five
years, Mohammad believes the Senior
Center is the best place he has ever
been, “I always believe I am helping the
senior people.”
Clopton and Garfinkle said the
center is thriving. They agreed there is
more work to do to attract more older
residents to Essex Street and help enrich
their lives.
“If I could give myself a grade on
that, I don't think I'm quite an 'A' yet.
There are so many seniors that we just
don't know about that are home and
07
isolated,” said Clopton.