Vital programs kept afloat

A $96,000 Town of Hempstead grant awarded to the Five Towns Community Center’s bilingual department and Senior Center, will help the organization continue to provide needed programs and services to the area.

Program Director Kim George said the Senior Center received $11,000, which will sustain the socialization and recreational programs. “We will still be able to operate in the manner the senior citizens have become accustomed,” she said. “We provide meals, exercise and games, and it takes money to do everything.”

George said, the Senior Center provides vital services to its constituency. “We keep the seniors alive, moving and functioning,” she said. “I don’t know what a lot of them would do without us. They look forward to coming here and seeing their friends.”

Upstairs in the Aid to the Foreign Born office, bilingual counselor Yiset Abreu helps clients with immigration paperwork, school registration and translations, among other duties. “Advocacy is a big thing because of the language and cultural barrier,” she said. “The Five Towns is largely a foreign born community and they come to us for help.”

Abreu said the $85,000 received would keep the department functioning. “It helps to keep us going,” she said. “It would be nice to expand and get more assistance to create more programs but for now we sustain our programs with the help of volunteers. It would be really nice to get more support.”

The money is a boon to the Community Center that last year was on life support after Nassau County cut $400,000 in funding. The county restored 65 percent — $260,000 in January and the remainder was reinstated in June.

Five Towns Community Center Executive Director Bertha Pruitt said the Town of Hempstead awards the same grant annually for the bilingual department and Senior Center. “We utilize those funds to enrich our senior program, which is primarily funded through the Nassau County Office of the Aging,” she said. “For me it’s a joy to have this program and hear the sounds of seniors laughing and having a good time.”

The growing Latino population in the Five Towns takes advantage of the programs and services through the bilingual department, Pruitt said. “This is where people come if they move into the community for educational, support and legal services,” she said. “It’s a one stop shop and they can take care of all of their needs. This program is vital and whatever support we can get to continue it is much appreciated.”

Alternative sources of funding are being sought to hire additional staff members and to support outreach for senior citizens who are homebound, while trying to provide more services with less money appears to be the norm, Pruitt said. “We have unique services in the area,” she said. “But we’ve gotten used to doing more with less.”