Cibola Senior Citizen Center Provides Resources to Seniors in Cibola

GRANTS, NM – The Cibola Senior Citizen Center serves meals to seniors aged 60 and older around the Cibola County area and the facilities are open to those 55 and older. They offer congregate meals at the Senior Center from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. They also do meals on wheels, which serve people from Cubero, Grants, Milan, San Rafael, and Bluewater Village. The Senior Center serves about 165 meals in Cibola County with meals on wheels, and 60 congregate meals.

The Senior Center provides three main services, meals on wheels, congregate meals, and transportation for senior to the center for meals, to doctor’s appointments, grocery shopping, and a few others. The Senior Center also provides activities during the week which includes bingo, movie showings, exercise in the gym that includes line dancing, cardio, and other basic exercises.

The Senior Center currently has 11 staff members. Two individuals are with the senior employment program, which is a program that is to get older individuals ready to go back into the community, and training for them to get sustainable employment. There are four individuals that are also drivers for the meals on wheels, as well as for transportation for the seniors.

There is also a volunteer program that is AmeriCorps Seniors, which is a federally funded program with senior companions and foster grandparents. The senior companions support adults with physical, emotional or mental health limitations. The senior companions provide faceto-face support and companionship by taking them grocery shopping, chores around, but mainly companionship. The foster grandparents are matched with children in the local schools. The volunteers are matched with children with special needs or exceptional needs, they do one-on-one tutoring and mentoring to improve the child’s chances of moving up to the next grade

On June 16, the Senior Center held a celebration to recognize and honor the senior volunteers as well as members of the community who volunteer for the Senior Center. The volunteers recognized included individuals who give their time to assist with the senior center, advisory council members, and senior volunteers in the AmeriCorps program. The volunteers in this program receive a stipend of $4 an hour. DeArmond said, “They get a $3 a day meal allowance, and they get paid milage.” The program is income based. The age requirement for the program is 55 and older. Gabby’s Café catered the event

For Seniors 55 and older they have access to the library, pool room, and the gym. For those 60 and older they can participate in the meals. Those 60 and older interested in being included in the meals will need to fill out a form at the front desk at the Senior Center. Following the paperwork, seniors need to complete an assessment based on their nutrition. DeArmond said, “[The assessment] doesn’t mean much… We serve everybody over the age of 60, that is the only requirement. There is no income requirement. We do ask for $1.50 meal donation.” All the facilities are free to use

To get involved with the Senior Center, individuals can call the main number for the senior center, 505-285-3922. Individuals will then be brought in to figure out how they want to volunteer their time. Senior Center Director Suzette DeArmond said, “We would love to have volunteers come in and teach the seniors something… People that want to teach arts and crafts, painting anything like that.” DeArmond went on to say that the senior center needs help in the kitchen as well as with drivers. DeArmond said, “We would love to have volunteers go along with them and help them, so they don’t have to drive then jump out and then get back.”