Princeton Senior Resource Center lets loose with Cajun way
By: Christian Kirkpatrick
Necklaces of green, gold and purple beads hung from the chandeliers Saturday night. With doubloons, feather boas and sparkling masks, they were strewn across the ornate mantlepieces and tables of the Nassau Club. It was "Carnival!," the annual gala for the Princeton Senior Resource Center.
Guests had come to eat a meal of Cajun and Creole food, bid at the silent auction and dance to the music of the Steve Kramer Band. But they were happy to talk about the importance of the PSRC to Princeton.
"We help people age in the community with safety and dignity," said Meredith Murray, director of development. To this end, the PSRC provides various programs to aid seniors and their families.
Lifelong learning courses are offered through The Evergreen Forum, a peer-led organization that the PSRC sponsors. Members of the forum suggest topics and instructors; some even teach courses themselves. Courses run for six weeks. Upcoming offerings include Dante’s "Divine Comedy," the Civil War, and "Images of Power in Art."
Other educational opportunities, offered directly through the PSRC, include classes on computers, art, literature and English as a second language, as well as talks on science and such topical matters as insurance fraud.
In addition to being interesting, these classes are wonderful excuses for getting out of the house and meeting new people, former board member Norma Smith said. Fellow Princeton resident Roz Denard said she attends as many PSRC-sponsored events as she can.
The PSRC regularly presents programs on health issues. Recently, for example, it held one on breast cancer awareness. For seniors who want something more strenuous than a lecture, the center provides yoga, Pilates, ping-pong, ballroom dancing, strength training and aerobics classes, as well as a program of exercises performed seated, for those who must limit their activity.
The PSRC provides services for those who need them assistance with obtaining food stamps and medicare, for instance. It also sponsors support groups for caregivers and the bereaved.
PSRC director Susan Hoskins mentioned that the center offers several volunteer groups for the elderly. Those involved with GrandPals tutor students in the Princeton Regional School System. High school students participating in the Link program visit a homebound person one day a week to talk and do little chores around the house. HomeFriends is for adults who are willing to do a few tasks such as read the mail to someone who is visually impaired or shop for someone who can no longer get to the store to help an elderly person continue to live at home.
"Stopping driving shouldn’t be a reason to stop living independently," said Ms. Hoskins, who regularly talks to people, frequently from out of state, who are worried that their elderly mother or father should no longer live at home. She and her staff of three social workers can frequently find a way for seniors to continue to do so. However, if other arrangements are necessary, they have extensive information about local options.
"We want to be the first stop for seniors, for finding an activity or a program," Ms. Hoskins said.
The PSRC provides far more services than its local counterparts, said Carol King, who is the organization’s bookkeeper. It can do so, in part, because its funding sources are wider. It receives support from individuals and businesses as well as from state and local governments. Sponsors for "Carnival!" included Withum Smith+Brown and College Park.
"The elderly are not always a well-served population, and it will get larger," said Ann Laughlin, president of the PSRC’s board of trustees. " It’s nice to offer a place and set of programs to interest them."

