Senior services director asks for inclusion in city budget

As Mill Creek city officials prepare a biennial budget, Bill Durham is keeping his fingers crossed for continued support of senior programs.

Durham is the director for the Greater Mill Creek Senior Program. The program offers events, field trips, and referrals to other senior services. Durham is hoping the city will include $7,500 per year in its biennial budget for senior services.

That amount will help the program reach its goal of maintaining the services it currently offers.

“Our goal this year is to break even,” Durham said of the senior program budget.

The city is in the process of developing a biennial budget that the city council plans to adopt by projected to adopt it by Dec. 10 of 2002. The budget must be adopted by Dec. 31. Preliminary numbers show the budget is $27,560,516, but that number is subject to change.

Donna Michelson, Mill Creek city council member, will bring up funding senior programs at the Nov. 7 council meeting. That meeting, which would normally fall on Nov. 5, is rescheduled for Nov. 7 because of the general election.

“I feel we have spent a lot of money on our youth programs,” Michelson said. She mentioned plans for parks, including a skate park, and sports fields. “We need something for our seniors.”

The Greater Mill Creek Senior Center is an arm of the Northshore Senior Center. The program has a $67,000 annual budget. Some of its funding comes from Snohomish County through the Northshore Senior Center, some is from grants and private donations. A small part comes from the $15 annual membership fees, which add up to $2,200.

In the city of Mill Creek, 11.8 percent of the population of 11,525 is over the age of 65, said Jan McStay, data services specialist for the U.S. Census office in Seattle.

In 2001, the senior program in Mill Creek performed 7,400 hours of service for 806 seniors with activities and educational programs. The senior program offers computer classes, field trips to the Evergreen State Fair, and events on holidays such as the Fourth of July. From Nov. 12 to 15, the senior program will offer the first Caregiver Training Program in the state, Durham said.

Many elements of the senior program can be traced to the work of volunteers, Durham said. “All of our computer lab, bridge instructors (and) office workers are volunteers.”

That growth may come sooner than the senior program’s budget allows if the city’s community center is approved first by the city council, and then the voters.

If approved, the center will give seniors a meeting place and will give the Greater Mill Creek Senior Program a chance to develop daily meal programs, and conduct other activities, Durham said.

Currently, they share space with other users of the Washington State University Extension office at McCollum Park on 128th St. They also have use of space at Merrill Gardens senior home and the North Creek Presbyterian Church in Mill Creek.

The goal, however, is to have a central place where seniors can have every day.

Michelson is attentive to the need for senior services. “I just want people to be aware that we don’t do a lot for our seniors,” Michelson said, adding that most people will eventually be senior citizens. “We’re all going to be there, God willing.”