Today we’d like to introduce you to Joan Denison.
Hi Joan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Mirowitz Center opened in September 2019 as a pioneering concept that used Covenant Place, a senior housing community, as a location to provide a public community center for older adult engagement.
Mirowitz Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of which Joan Denison is the President and CEO.
Mirowitz Center is located in a densely senior populated area, known as a Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC). Through research, the board of Covenant Place determined there was a need to serve more people than it could house in its three residential buildings and Mirowitz Center, a 19,000sf facility, was constructed for the purpose of providing a roster of programs, classes, health & wellness resources/services, casual dining, and entertainment.
Today, the Mirowitz Center offers a wide breadth of senior engagement opportunities, with over 60 monthly programs provided at no or nominal cost. The organization’s mission is to help older adults stay engaged, well, and independent.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
COVID 19 was a huge speed bump! The Mirowitz Center opened in September of 2019 and physically closed for the lockdown in March 2020.
The isolation older adults were experiencing was magnified due to the fact that many older adults live by themselves.
The MIrowitz Center responded by implementing a tech training program that matched volunteer tutors (of all ages) with senior learners, to get acquainted with using online technology. Volunteers were matched up with seniors who have similar type technology (i.e. Apple, Android, etc.) so they could work over the telephone together and would be looking at similar screens. With 100’s of seniors trained to get online and use Zoom, the Mirowitz Center offered weekday online programs throughout the lockdown and after, ensuring people could continue to be connected to others. As one participant stated, “The Mirowitz Center programs are our lifeline! My husband and I look forward to them every day!”
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Our work in the senior housing field enabled us to see first-hand the benefits of intellectual and social engagement. As our population is aging with over 11,000 adults in our country entering the senior demographic every day, our organization studied the research on determinants of health and, consistently, socialization rises to the top. Isolation in the older adult population leads to dementia, heart disease, mental wellness issues, and other physical and cognitive decline. It’s so damaging that one day of social isolation is thought to have similar debilitating effects of smoking a pack of cigarettes.
Our organization has provided affordable senior housing for over 50 years and knowing we will never have enough housing for everyone who would benefit, we determined we could do more to serve the broader community. This led to the construction of the Mirowitz Center (https://mirowitzcenter.org) a 19,000sf facility that offers a wide breadth of senior programming at no or nominal cost. Older adults from throughout St. Louis County enjoy weekday programs, including classes on technology (Sr. Planet from AARP), wellness classes, improv, choir, crafts, educational topics, mental wellness support groups, quality entertainment, and the list goes on.
What sets the Mirowitz Center apart from other senior centers is that the 60+ monthly programs are generally free and open to the public. Sophisticated educational programs are offered (e.g. online tours of the Metropolitan Museum in NYC, physician and PhD led informational programs, professionally led arts classes) and we strive to provide excellent speakers on topics as varied as sports to the Beatles!
The Mirowitz Center actively reaches out to other organizations to build meaningful collaborations and engage a greater number of older adults.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
With the rapidly growing senior population that is living longer, there will be a need for more opportunities for older adults to stay engaged with others, have meaningful volunteer opportunities, and make new relationships as their networks change and diminish.
With families having become more mobile, it is not unusual for older adults to be living in another city or even country from their “connecting” generation and family support system. The Mirowitz Center helps provide a feeling of belonging; it’s a place to meet new people and expand one’s social support network.
Technology will help keep people connected and provide tools to help families stay in touch with the older adults in their lives. Even so, having a human connection(s) is invaluable and research shows it is one of the most important predictors of aging well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mirowitzcenter.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirowitzcenterstl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MirowitzCenter#
