Discovering Joy in Caring for Seniors

There is a certain kind of joy one encounters upon entering the . Music and laughter are always within earshot.

The center, located on Glen Street, provides a wide variety of programs and entertainment, as well as meals and health care, to seniors residing in North Shore Nassau County.

Carol Waldman is the woman behind it all.

The Sea Cliff native has been Executive Director of the senior center for 11 years, and actively involved at the center, as well as in the Glen Cove community, for over 20 years.

Her warm smile and enthusiasm about her job is almost contagious:

“This is my passion,” she said. “The thing I look forward to the most each day is being there when those doors open.”

An interest in caring for senior citizens came later in life, said Waldman. In college, she majored in English.

“I thought I was going to be a writer,” she said. “I wanted to write novels and poetry.”

As her college career progressed, she began to realize that people had “concerns and struggles” that they were dealing with:

“I became fascinated with the idea of being more of a help rather than just telling stories.”

So she started on a new journey: social work. Her first job was working in a mental health clinic in an analytic training institute.

Waldman went on to teach English Literature to younger students before entering motherhood. Afterwards, she switched to teaching adult night classes, which better suited her schedule, as well as her interests.

“It was a wonderful feeling to be in an environment where people were very comfortable in their own skin already,” she said. “Young people are still testing the waters, feeling out who they are. Older people are more settled in to themselves.”

After realizing what she truly enjoyed doing, she pursued a Graduate degree in Gerontology at Hofstra University, and later, her Masters. All the while, she was working as Program Coordinator at the Glen Cove Senior Center.

“After my degree, I decided I really wanted to pursue this full-time,” she said.

In addition to her role as Executive Director of the senior center, Waldman is president of the Long Island Coalition for the Aging. She is also involved in various senior service providers and coalitions, and represents the seniors on a number of different levels in other organizations, such as the Melillo Center for Mental Health and SAFE.

She also helped start the city’s which helps provide the highest quality of programs and services for local seniors through fundraising, grant writing, outreach and advocacy.

“There is a very different way of viewing aging now,” said Waldman, delving into the nature of growing older, and the dramatic shift in perception that took place in recent years.

“Now, because of medical advances and pensions, people…live longer, retire earlier and have this incredible gift of time to do something meaningful with their lives,” she said. “People are looking at aging as opportunity, adventure and a chance to do more.”

This “paradigm shift" has helped shaped the way the senior center provides services and programs:

“We’re looking not only at meeting the challenges of people who do become frail – cognitively or physically – but we’re also looking at how to help people age in a vibrant way.”

Aging in a “vibrant way,” according to Waldman, is known as “vital aging.” If a person can adapt to it, adjust and want more out of life – whether he or she has a disability or not – the senior center will work to provide a “vital” experience for them.

This includes involving members in “civic engagement, socialization with friends, self-fulfilling creative endeavors, and more,” she said.

The Glen Cove Senior Center is currently servicing two generations and provides members with a whirlwind of opportunities, from Zumba classes to Spanish lessons:

“You open those doors [to the senior center] and you add years to you life,” she said. “You’re full of excitement about what it means to be alive. I’d hope people feel more and more comfortable with walking through these doors.”

Waldman radiates with joy at the very thought of helping her seniors, and enjoys recalling her fondest memory to date: The annual Senior Ball, presented by .

“At the end of that event," she said, "we always sing the song, ‘That’s What Friends are For,’ and we’re all just holding hands – young and old – and recognizing what life’s about."

Interested in donating to the SAGE Foundation? Call 516-671-2280 or visit their Web site to learn how. Or, visit the Glen Cove Senior Center’s in Patch Places.