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Seniors Press City Hall Over The Cost Of Travel To Springfield's New Senior Center

    Senior citizens in the largest city in western Massachusetts are putting pressure on City Hall as they call for improved transportation to the new senior center.  

   The city of Springfield’s $13 million, two-story, 25,000-square foot senior center debuted in February 2018 to rave reviews.

    " It's beautiful," said Vivian Moolden. "Very very beautiful."

     But now,  Moolden says many seniors are finding they can’t afford to get to the state-of-the-art facilities.

   "Seniors, who used to walk to their local center for activities and a $2 lunch, now face the cost of transportation and lunch," said Moolden.

       When Springfield opened the new senior center named for former State Rep. Raymond Jordan located roughly in the center of the city in Blunt Park, neighborhood senior services were consolidated under the roof of the new building.

    Two PVTA buses stop at the center, but seniors say the routes are along major streets and not convenient for many.  A paratransit van ride to the center is a $6 roundtrip.

     Twice this month, the Massachusetts Senior Action Council has organized rallies in front of City Hall.  

      Mattie Lacewell led a group that addressed the Springfield City Council.

    "We want affordability and access," stated Lacewell.

     Elliott Stratton faulted a lack of planning by the city before it opened the Jordan Senior Center and abruptly closed the neighborhood centers.

     "What are we doing to support the senior community here  in Springfield?" asked Stratton.

     Earlier this year, the office of Mayor Domenic Sarno announced that city funds had been allocated to purchase a bus for events at the Jordan Senior Center.  But a plan for how the bus will be used has not been announced.

     Tracey Carpenter, an organizer with the Senior Action Council, urges Springfield officials to consider doing the same as the city of Worcester, which she said picks up half the cost of a van ride to its senior center.

     "We want to support the success of the Jordan Senior Center and believe that affordable transportation is critical to its success to insure that every senior has the opportunity and means to participate," Carpenter said.

      In this municipal election year, the seniors’ rallies at City Hall have been attended by several candidates, including Yolanda Cancel, who is challenging Sarno for mayor.

     City Councilor Jesse Lederman said he will schedule a meeting of the Health and Human Services Committee, which he chairs, to discuss the senior center transportation issue.

  

      

  

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.
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