Visiting the Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center was a pleasant experience. We arrived early and were greeted by kind personnel who then directed us to meet with the CEO Paul Downey. Mr. Downey gave us a brief introduction to the facility and also information about the demographics of people who utilized the center. What stood out to me the most from his presentation was the fact that there are 12,060 seniors in San Diego County that are living at or below the federal poverty level. What is even more discerning is the fact that the federal poverty level was created in 1963 and uses data from 1955 to assess the poverty level today. Although, they have adjusted for inflation since then, that just allows one to measure what it means to be poor in current times in 1960's terms. I believe the federal poverty level is out-of-date and too slow to keep up with current needs so that is to say we need new measures.
After our presentation we took a tour of the facility. The facility is a complete one-stop shop in a sense because it provides seniors with meals, exercise classes, educational classes for life-long learning, dental care, and plenty of socialization opportunities. I found these socialization opportunities to be great because I got to meet two wonderful people Jess and Frank, where we discussed things such as how they were enjoined the facility and we even talked about their background and upbringing. It was great speaking with them because I could see the excitement in their eyes from interacting with someone who is genuinely interested in their story and it was my pleasure being able to listen to them. All in all, it was a great time at the center and I can’t wait to visit the friendly staff and people at the Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center soon.
After our presentation we took a tour of the facility. The facility is a complete one-stop shop in a sense because it provides seniors with meals, exercise classes, educational classes for life-long learning, dental care, and plenty of socialization opportunities. I found these socialization opportunities to be great because I got to meet two wonderful people Jess and Frank, where we discussed things such as how they were enjoined the facility and we even talked about their background and upbringing. It was great speaking with them because I could see the excitement in their eyes from interacting with someone who is genuinely interested in their story and it was my pleasure being able to listen to them. All in all, it was a great time at the center and I can’t wait to visit the friendly staff and people at the Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center soon.