Mission Statement
The mission of St. Anthony Park Area Seniors is to enrich the lives of community seniors and provide assistance in maintaining independence and interdependence through professionals and volunteers providing at-home living assistance, wellness activities, nursing care, and caregiver support.
Impact and Programs
Accomplishments
We provide services and activities to support seniors living independently and engage them in the community. Last year, we served 443 people.
Our services provide essential support and include things such as rides to medical appointments and the store, chore assistance, visiting, and clothing repair. Our ride service reached an all-time high with 558 rides. One volunteer spent 192 hours repairing clothing!
Our activities combat social isolation and include things such as exercise classes, concerts, game days, arts workshops, and virtual gatherings. One senior wrote, “A big thank you for all you do for seniors. I would not have known about your program if I had not gone to that first exercise class so many years ago. I am grateful that I took that first step!”
The support we offer is recognized by our staff, volunteers, and participants. One participant sent this about her volunteer readers, “They were delightful and thorough. Their youthful strength made it look easy! Just decent young men. They give me hope for the future of our society.” A respite volunteer wrote, “I am honored and humbled to be part of their support circle, which enables her to remain in their home.”
Last year, we started volunteer-led groups. They were a poetry group for sharing poems, a handiwork group to work on projects, and a men’s discussion group. Additionally, we launched a monthly luncheon & presentation series and a Pound Fit exercise class.
We continue to be a WIN for participants, volunteers, and the community.
Current Goals
In the coming year, we have some new activities and services that we will be looking into that we believe seniors will appreciate.
On the activity front, we will be hosting different exercise classes than the ones we have offered in the past under federally funded Title III grants. We will be looking for classes that will benefit seniors and be appreciated by them. We will also look into providing new groups that seniors are seeking. One such group is called Solo Seniors, which is meant for seniors who don’t have any close family members or friends to either help navigate the senior years or help with the end-of-life decisions.
A new service we will be offering is a weekly chore visit when the volunteer can do several small tasks in a short period instead of focusing on just one task. Another new service that we are still researching is a home-sharing service where we would keep lists of people who are interested in sharing their homes and lists of people who are interested in living with someone. We would be the liaison between those two groups in either a formal or informal capacity. This service promises to not only be a win for seniors, but also for people who are looking for housing, especially university students in this area.
All of this will become easier to coordinate through our office with the assistance of the new database system that we plan to engage early in the year.
Community or Constituency Served
In 2023-24 SAPAS provided group and individual services and activities for people over age 60.
Geographic Area Served
In 2023-24 SAPAS provided group and individual services and activities for people in our service area of the St. Paul neighborhood of St. Anthony Park, Lauderdale, and Falcon Heights (west of Cleveland Avenue).
