A3
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021
Senior center: ‘If I have to work, I want to do something that has a purpose’
Continued from Page A1
One recent morning, two
women divided packets of
cookies into plastic sandwich
bags. One of the women,
Judy Choate, has been vol-
unteering with the program
for years. The work helped
keep her busy and distracted
during diffi cult times, she
said.
Nearby, Hayes prepared
other food. Originally from
Michigan, Hayes is a multi-
media artist and experimen-
tal musician. He has lived
in Clatsop County for more
than 30 years. For a good
part of that time he worked
in the mental health sec-
tor and he consistently fi nds
himself drawn to work that is
social service-adjacent.
“If I have to work, I want
to do something that has a
purpose,” he said. He likes
to connect with people and
understand them — in some
ways it feels like a moral
responsibility.
Which has made the pan-
demic even more diffi cult.
The lunch he used to serve
in the dining room to mem-
bers — or any senior who
could spend $6 on a meal
— functioned as the center
of many of those people’s
day. Hayes could look out
and see that this was where
people had important con-
versations. They discussed
the news, their health, their
friends. T hey checked in on
each other.
“It’s hard to imagine all
that gone,” Hayes said now,
sitting at an empty table,
among a sea of empty tables,
in an empty dining room.
About half of the peo-
ple who used to eat at the
senior center or have meals
delivered to them still come
to pick up a sack lunch or
ask for delivery. Most of
them have means, pensions
or S ocial S ecurity. As far as
Hayes knows, they almost
all have consistent, reliable
housing. And that’s another
thing he thinks about: all the
homeless seniors who used
to rely on the center for a
meal and a place to rest for
a moment.
In the last few years,
Hayes had started conduct-
ing interviews with the
area’s homeless, hoping to
better understand them and
their situations. It was a sort
of holdover from his days
in social work, the long lists
of questions you would ask
people to try to gauge their
situation and needs. He was
inspired by the documentary
fi lmmaker Frederick Wise-
man, who turned a camera
on American institutions to
chronicle a certain type of
everyday life.
“I just thought it has
value and it ended up teach-
ing me a lot about where we
are in our society right now,”
Hayes said.
What he saw, both in his
interviews with the homeless
and his work in the kitchen
making lunches for seniors,
was how “there’s this trick-
le-down isolation that hap-
pens as people become
increasingly marginalized.”
Though the pandemic lim-
its his ability to reach people
in the same way, Hayes tries
to provide fl exibility with the
meals. If a senior is in need
and reaching out maybe for
the fi rst time, Hayes tries to
get them a free lunch.
Miller is also aware of
this isolation — and how dif-
fi cult and even damaging it
can be for both housed and
unhoused seniors.
He often fi elds phone
calls from seniors who just
want someone to talk to.
He’s helped others fi ll out
online forms to get in line for
a coronavirus vaccination.
Many do not have their own
computers, or are not com-
fortable with navigating the
technology.
“I think it’s pretty tough
on them,” Miller said. “The
senior center is still here
for them. Everything we’ve
done for them in the past,
we’re still doing.”
Seaside: ‘We want to be fl exible’
Continued from Page A1
With fi rst and second
graders back at school and
older students returning in
the weeks to come, the park
district adjusted their pro-
gram, which had been lim-
ited to emergency child care.
Students in the fi rst cohort
are dropped off at the Sun-
set Recreation Center, then
bussed to Pacifi c Ridge Ele-
mentary School for classes
before being returned to the
recreation center to be picked
up at the end of the day by
parents and guardians.
“We want to be fl exi-
ble and adapting until chil-
dren are back to their normal
schedule,” Archibald said.
Another related change
will come with the resump-
tion of in-person meetings .
While safety and distanc-
Katie Frankowicz/The Astorian
Judy Choate, left, and Betsey Jones help prepare meals for pickup and delivery for the Loaves
and Fishes meals program housed in the Astoria Senior Center.
S e a s i d e A m e r i c a n Le g i o n P o s t 9 9
The Seaside American
L e g i o n i s l o o k i n g to h i re
2 PA R T T I M E B A R T E N D E R S
To a p p l y, s to p by f ro m
3 -1 1 p m fo r a n a p p l i c a t i o n
ing protocols will remain in
place, work sessions and reg-
ular meetings will be held in
the Bob Chisholm Commu-
nity Center or a space in the
Sunset Recreation Center.
“Hopefully we won’t
be closing again for some
time,” Archibald said.
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