From:
To: City Council; Don Schwartz; Mary Gourley
Cc: Katie Davis;
Subject: Sebastopol Senior Center Funding
Date: Sunday, March 17, 2024 8:13:25 PM
March 15, 2024
To: Sebastopol City Council members, et al
From: Barbara A Harris
Re: Sebastopol Senior Center Funding
The city of Sebastopol budget constraints and challenges are not to be taken lightly.
Our city is facing important challenges toward what matters, and which remain toward consideration and/or receipt of necessary funding.
We are aware of the statistics, analyses, policies and procedures which affect all of our citizens.
Yet most significantly for me, as one of the 30% of the local senior citizens is to be considered as viable and significant.
Many of us arrived as residents during the early 1970s and continue to remain as relevant toward the health of our community.
We are now much older in years, while recognizing our contributions in understanding and guiding much of the qualities of life here.
For us to continue our thriving, we as seniors, offer and require support from community, resources, opportunities and possibilities.
1. We are vibrant and viable members of our community, contributing our history, interpretations, and continued current involvement;
2. We earn and spend money here;
3. Our expertise translates as volunteers and resources within education, the arts, social services - justice, the law, climate challenges, while addressing changing and abruptly viable concerns;
4. We remain willing and able to offer our unprecedented leadership (as we address the most immediate concerns with minimal exposure; so many of our concerns have no or little prior modeling);
5. Many of us arrived before the expenses outweighed the resources. Many of us are sruggling to retain modest qualities of life with so many increases in expenses.
6. The Sebastopol Senior Center has, and continues to provide us with activities, camaraderie, leadership, advocacy, compassion, care and understanding of our needs.
Each and all of these requires financial support to realize this continued healthy and involved life for us as well as others in receipt.
We are in need of your support in order to continue our well being from the Sebastopol Senior Center.
Please do not reduce the resources.
Many of our thriving lives literally depend upon this support.
With care, Barbara A Harris
(707)
(50+ years Sebastopol resident; 15+ Sebastopol Senior Center member and volunteer)