VBT senior citizens say they are unhappy with changes to program

A group of a dozen senior citizens who live in Van Buren Township sat down with the Independent on Friday, Aug. 23, to tell the paper that that no one else wants to listen to their complaints about the current township senior program.
A big complaint is the arthritis exercise class that used to bring up to 30 people, including men, before the seniors were moved to Haggerty School so the community center could be built. At Haggerty School the number dropped to 15-20. Now that they are back to the senior center, two to four exercisers show up for classes.
One senior said the cost of the arthritis exercise class doubled from $2 to $4 each. You have to pay upfront for two weeks of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday classes. And, if you are ill, have a doctor’s appointment, or can’t come for another reason, you cannot cancel and that session still has to be paid for.
One senior said she asked if they couldn’t program it with computers and get credits and not have to be charged when they weren’t there. She said she was told that would be a “nightmare” and it wasn’t even considered.
She said they went to the senior activities programmer to ask her for help and the programmer said she would look into it. She said the programmer came back with the answer: “Too bad. That’s just the way it is.”
Seniors said they told the official that they will go to the Canton or Sumpter Township senior programs and they were told to go ahead and leave and VBT will get more seniors.
The seniors said they do not wish to have their names used with their comments in this report because they are afraid of retaliation.
Another senior said she stopped going to the senior center classes because she couldn’t afford them. Now she exercises alone at home with a YouTube video. But, she misses the companionship.
She said people in the classes are like family and hug each other and inquire about their well-being. Everybody knows their names.
Another senior said her Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance will pay for the arthritis exercise classes, but it takes paperwork from the township and, she said, the senior programmer refuses to work on it.
The township is catering to the teens, with bucket seats and big windows in their area and trying to eliminate the seniors, they said.
They give Director Elizabeth Renaud a reason for not understanding the seniors and that’s because she’s too young. One senior said Director Renaud doesn’t mingle with the seniors and, “She just stands by the door and watches us.”
The past two senior directors always welcomed the seniors and came to their classes to speak to them, the seniors said.
The exercise class instructor has advised them she is quitting because she has been told she won’t be paid for three months, a month following the two-month session.
“The township’s not a bank,” another senior said. “They are after the almighty dollar… They are pushing us away.”
One said the township was going to charge seniors more than the $20 a year dues it had charged in the past, but seniors complained so they kept it at $20.
Sumpter Township charges $15 per year for non-resident seniors and all the classes are free. Van Buren Township seniors say the atmosphere is wonderful in Sumpter and Mary Ann Watson, its director, works very hard and interacts with seniors, but it’s not the same because they are not with the familiar family they have learned to love.
Instead of paying for the exercise class, some have begun using the exercise machine in the community center that they are able to use for their $20 senior dues fee up to 3 p.m., but no weekends.
One said she did not know how to use the machine, but other people exercising showed her how.
The cardio drumming classes went up to $6 each and so seniors are going, instead, for drumming to the Belleville Methodist Church, which is free with donations, or to Sumpter Township.
There are no more volunteer clerks at the Van Buren Senior Center, said a senior who had volunteered for 18 years. “They got rid of me.”
And, the seniors said they also got rid of the senior library, “a room full of books,” and replaced it with a shelf of six books.
Another said the handbook with 29 pages of fees and rules for the community center/senior center is only on line, although one said she was able to get a printed handbook.
The seniors said the township didn’t have an advance meeting with them and ask them what they wanted to see in the new senior center. They felt they were not treated with respect. They say all they want is everything they had before.
“Nobody wants to listen. They are losing a lot of seniors,” a woman said.
One senior wondered if Supervisor Kevin McNamara even knows about the seniors’ problems.
On Tuesday, Aug. 27, deputy supervisor Dan Selman said the supervisor’s office is always open and they are glad to talk with anyone.