When the new year arrives the Princeton Senior Resource Center (PSRC) will be known as the Center for Modern Aging Princeton.
The center, which has been operating as PSRC, will do business as the Center for Modern Aging Princeton in January 2024.
“If a decision was made to do business under a new name it would be a legally registered DBA (doing business as),” said Drew Dyson, PSRC CEO.
“So, we would do business under a new name, but we would maintain our corporate identity as the Princeton Senior Resource Center. That enables us to hold on to the past and boldly move into the future.”
The center serves older adults ages 55 and up from not only Princeton, but across the Greater Princeton region and also some older adults from Pennsylvania.
Dyson explained that when he joined the staff team in 2019, there was a conversation underway among the board and the staff about some of the trends in field of aging programs and services.
“There was a national trend at the time for senior centers that were going under name changes and branding changes to reflect the current state of affairs,” he said.
“Two years ago, the PSRC board and staff began an intentional process of considering changes to our name and branding to reflect who we are as an organization and who we will serve.”
With the guidance from their strategic plan and communication consultants, PSRC conducted stakeholder conversations, focus groups, had surveys and did research.
“We engaged with nearly 1,000 people. [They] told us their hopes and dreams about what PSRC might look like,” Dyson added.
He emphasized that they are committed to serving the older adults the center currently serves.
“Building on the strength of current programs and services, growing our evergreen forum, our community without walls, our onstage seniors, technologies initiatives and so many other lifelong learning programs,” Dyson said.
The center will also be committed to “reaching new people, embracing the growing diversity in the region, offering programs in multiple languages, making sure its community reflects the wider community, and its roots in Princeton.”
A new website will be unveiled at a later date for the Center for Modern Aging Princeton but is set to launch in January.
The reason for the name and identity change is the demographic they serve. PSRC serves older adults ages 55 and up, who essentially do not associate themselves with the word “senior,” therefore, the term “senior center” was not reflective of the community they serve.
More than 80% of PSRC funds are privately funded.
In 1978, PSRC was incorporated as a community nonprofit organization, according to the history of the center.
In 2014, they began doing business as (DBA) PSRC.
In November 2021, PSRC cut the ribbon on its new facility at 101 Poor Farm Road. The center named the location the Nancy S. Klath Center for Lifelong Learning, which is 12,000 square feet.