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San Clemente Seniors
And Info About the Proposed….
Dorothy Visser Senior Center
Front elevation of Planned NEW San Clemente Senior Center
(Includes section devoted to Fire Station--see the
tall doors)
Current San Clemente Senior Center and Library
The senior
population of San Clemente has just outgrown the current senior
center. There are two
reasons for this.
1.
San Clemente has rapidly grown to a town of nearly 70,000 people. Today, seniors
make up a good portion of the city population. In the approximately
30,000 San Clemente city housing units, 7.8%
of them had someone who was aged 65 or older living alone.
2. Improved U.S. health
services which cause people to live longer. In 2002, according to
the
Social Security Administration’s actuarial tables, at age 65 a
U.S. male had a life expectancy of 16.5 years. A female at the
same age had a life expectancy at 65 of 19.09 years. And the
life expectancy for each has increased since 2002, due to even
better preventative treatment and medical advancements
The Services:
The new San
Clemente Senior Center will offer a wide choice of social and hobby
activities, daily lunches, health and stay-well programs, a center
for using and learning about computers, Meals on Wheels and
facilities in which to hold meetings, club
get-togethers, seminars and classes by San Clemente organizations at
large.
After
completion of the new center, the existing San Clemente Senior
Center on Avenida Del Mar will accommodate a San Clemente city
library expansion.
The proposed
8,000 square foot Dorothy Visser Senior Center is planned for
construction on an empty real estate lot on Avenida Victoria behind
Hollywood Video which fronts El Camino Real.
Already raised
is about $2.5 million of the expected cost of $3.7 million. The
$2.5 million includes $1 million pledged by the city of San Clemente
for real estate and construction.
Honorary Chair
of the new center is former San Clemente Mayor, Susan Ritschel, who
has launched a “walking program” to help raise funds for the center.
Susan Ritschel
Thursdays at 10
a.m., she invites the public to walk along with her from the old
senior center at 242 Ave. Del Mar to the proposed Dorothy Visser
Senior Center home site on Avenida Victoria.
On Tuesday and
Friday mornings at 9 a.m., she invites San Clemente citizens to walk
with her along the new Coastal Trail.
Ritschel says,
“The point of all this is to first, increase awareness about the new
center, and second, to raise money to build it.”
Ritschel is
seeking sponsors and volunteers to walk with her and undertake other
tasks related to the new Dorothy Visser Senior Center.
Footnote:
Ritschel also holds a seat on the San Diego Regional Water Quality
Control Board, a state agency that regulates what effluent cities
can discharge into the ocean and other waterways.
The Dorothy Visser Center’s Computer
Service for San Clemente Seniors
Time Magazine had a new moniker for seniors who
use the Internet: “Senior Netizens”
According to latest studies by Pew
International research firm, seniors are jumping online at a fast
rate. The new San Clemente Dorothy Visser Senior Center will become
a boon for those citizens eager to master email and Internet
browsing.
And they are not alone. Today, 54% of adults
over 50 use the Internet and of those, 24% have a high speed (not an
old fashioned dial up) Internet connection. In 2002, the figures
were only 38% and 5% respectively.
The greatest activity occurs among seniors from
50 to 69, and there’s a big decline in frequency of use after 70
among those who are connected.
As would be expected, the main use is email,
often to stay in touch with friends and relatives around the
country. In fact, 87% of those over 50 who use the Internet use it
for emailing. They stay in touch with friends as well as keep up on
the grandkids.
Other Internet Web site usage involves getting
health information, researching various financial programs, games,
streaming videos, virtual touring of the world, reading books,
filling in educational gaps, or even getting college degrees online
through e-learning programs.
Many seniors engage in online discussion forums
or chat rooms, which often are segmented by age group. This helps
them maintain a group of friends with whom they can share their
thoughts, concerns and goals. Fully 81% of them, according to AXA
Group researchers, are looking for information on Google, Yahoo and
other search engines. Being on the Internet can help them stay
focused.
AXA says that retired people, while at their
home, average nine hours weekly online. A major appeal for them is
that in retirement they can travel virtually anywhere on Earth,
learn anything they choose, pursue lifelong hobbies with greater
depth and skill than they ever dreamed possible.
Those San Clemente,
California seniors who are the eldest baby boomers, are in their early sixties and still
some years from full social security benefits. Nonetheless, many
today take early benefits as well as take up a whole new career,
either full time or more often a part time one. Look at the seniors
you see working now at big box stores San Clemente stores including
Wal-Mart and Lowe’s in San Clemente’s Talega shopping center, and
Denault’s Hardware and CVS/pharmacy
on El Camino Real, and many more.
Knowing how to
operate a computer and use the Internet, which now is how most large
firms communicate internally, gives a senior a big leg up when
seeking a part time retail, real estate, clerical, or other
non-physical-labor job.
You often hear the
phrase that today that 60 is the new 40, and there’s much truth in
that. Just take a look at a few aging movie stars including our
California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the new, svelte
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
The San Clemente Chamber of Commerce
Has Endorsed the Dorothy Visser
Senior Center Fund Raising
Drive
At its February, 2007 meeting the
Chamber’s Board of Directors voted to support the raising of $3.7
million to build the new senior center.
The center will be
a partnership between South County Senior Services, Inc., and the
City of San Clemente. SCSS will manage the new center and the funds
needed for building. The City is providing the land and the new
senior center will be in the same building as a new downtown San
Clemente fire station. (see the drawing on this page).
The Chamber support
was granted after Susan Ritschel, former San Clemente mayor and
honorary chairperson of the fund drive, asked for a chamber
representative to be on the Dorothy Visser Senior Center cabinet.
Jeff Bott, Transportation Corridor Authority, will fill that role.
When completed, the
new 8,000 square-foot center will double the size of the old senior
center, now way too small to accommodate the ever-increasing senior
population.
By the end of
February, 2007, the capital campaign had grown to more than $2.5
million, including Marblehead Coastal’s donation of $1 million.
Many local service clubs, associations and individuals have
contributed to the cause since 2005.
If you’d like more
information, or wish to make a donation, please contact:
Cathy Lee
Director, Seaside Senior Center
949-498-3322
Tom Larimore
Campaign Consultant
949-498-1664
Links:
South County Senior Services
In Southern California, The South County Senior Services
organization leads in to ensuring that seniors can stay in their
homes longer and maintain the quality of life they deserve by
providing home and community based services.
This
organization promotes adult empowerment, prevention of
abuse, and advocates for the rights and
dignity of those undergoing aging and health
challenges.
City of San Clemente
San
Clemente Senior Links
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