Center to become a vital hub for Alachua County seniors

Senior Center
We need your help to make the Alachua County Senior Center a place we can all be proud of.

The seniors of Alachua County deserve a facility devoted to them that they can be proud off. The Alachua County Senior Recreation Center at Northside Park (5710 N.W. 34th Street) promises to be just that.

This $5 million, 17,000-square-foot center will be the only one of its kind in the county. To help fund this project, we received $1.5 million each from the City of Gainesville and Alachua County and a $2 million state grant. But funding for this facility is not yet done. We need an additional $1 million, and we hope that organizations and residents in the Gainesville area will join to help fund this vital asset to our community.

Your gift will help ElderCare of Alachua County pay for ongoing operations of the Center. ElderCare is a division of Shands that provides services to homebound seniors.

To make a gift online to the center, click here.

To find out more on how you can get involved in this vital community need, please call Ralph Alee or Kathleen Luzier-Bogolea at Shands Office of Development at (352) 265-7237.

Some of the benefits of this new center will include the latest in fitness training, health education, nutrition services, preventative screenings, service delivery, arts and cultural activities, a computer lab and social and volunteer opportunities. This is crucial because many seniors who are unable to maintain an active and connected lifestyle often become more and more isolated and lose touch with friends and activities that they enjoyed.

“The measure of any society is how we treat our younger and our older (citizens), that group of people who have nurtured us and cared for us and taught us to care for those who come behind,” said Tim Goldfarb, Shands CEO.

Did you know?

• Alachua County has a senior population of 34,515.

• According to 2005 statistics, 15,938 people between the ages of 65-70 called Alachua County home.

• By 2030, Alachua County will have 40,757 residents between ages 65-70.

• Nearly 15 percent (5,087) of seniors in Alachua County age 60 or older live at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty level.

• About 24 percent (8,205) of Alachua County seniors live alone.

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Sean Jeng

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