Explore the unique ways the senior center of today celebrates the moments, connections and opportunities that help older adults age well. The focus on purpose and community resonates in different ways for senior center attendees and consequently senior centers are always reinventing themselves to better serve their communities.
Rocky Mountain PACE and Silver Key provide distinctive programs for their attendees; both are focused on enriching life experiences. The Colorado Springs Senior Center is another resource and was featured in Episode 48.
Aging with Altitude is recorded in the Pikes Peak region with a focus on topics of aging interest across the country. We talk about both the everyday and novel needs and approaches to age with altitude – whether you’re in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida or Leadville, Colorado. The Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging is the producer.
BEACON Senior News is a proud sponsor/partner for this podcast. BEACON Senior News empowers Colorado seniors with inspiring local stories, timely coverage of senior issues, health and travel features, retirement and financial guidance, senior expos and local resources — all presented in a fun, engaging way that helps older adults lead happier, healthier lives. Catch all the news at: beaconseniornews.com/
Transcript
The following transcript has been generated by an artificial intelligence platform, and has not yet been reviewed by staff for accuracy. Speaker labels will switch to the names as the review is completed.
[Speaker 1]
September is Senior Center Month, a time to recognize the connections, moments, opportunities senior centers provide in their community and often in their neighborhood. Guests on today’s podcast include Rocky Mountain Pace and Silver Key, and they’re here to share why senior centers continue to play essential roles with seniors.
[Speaker 5]
You’re listening to Studio 809 Podcasts, the cure for common apathy and indifference. Reported side effects include a sense of being informed and engaged. Ask your doctor if Studio 809 is right for you.
[Speaker 1]
We want to thank Beacon Senior News for supporting and partnering with the Aging with Altitude podcast. This September, the Beacon takes you behind the lens with longtime Gazette photographer Mark Reese, whose extraordinary career has captured so many memorable moments, including Olympic athletes. He shares the philosophy behind his craft and the stories behind some of his favorite photographs.
Plus, we have grandparenting ideas for making memories with your grandkids and Fall Orado, our guide to the scenic drives, day trips and colorful autumn adventures across Colorado. Mark your calendar for Pueblo Beacon Fest on Thursday, October 15, from nine to three at the Pueblo Convention Center. Pueblo Beacon Fest will feature more than 60 local businesses and national agencies.
Experience live music, delicious food samples, educational seminars, prize giveaways every 30 minutes. It’s a full day of learning and entertainment, and it’s all free. Every month in the Beacon, you’ll find local events, contests, giveaways, senior center activities, clubs and community news bits, along with coverage in El Paso, Teller, Pueblo and Fremont counties.
Pick up your free Beacon at Safeway, Goodwills, libraries, YMCAs and many other spots across Colorado Springs, Pueblo and surrounding areas. Welcome to Aging with Altitude, a podcast providing information, advice and resources for seniors, families and caregivers to help you live your best life, courtesy of the Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging. We’re coming to you from the Studio 809 Community Podcast Studio at the Next Us, a professional cooperative environment for small businesses in downtown Colorado Springs.
I’m your host, Melissa Martz, with the Pikes Peak Area Council of Government’s Area Agency on Aging. September highlights senior centers across the country. There’s this theme that says happier birthdays happen here.
It’s about celebrating the moments, connections, opportunities that help people live better. Today in the studio, I have two really wonderful programs that are in our region. Most people have heard of them already, but some people might not have.
We have Carolyn with Pace. And we have Cindy and Jamie with Silver Key. As we look at our senior centers in our community, I am so grateful to know that there are these opportunities to get people together.
And you guys are constantly reinventing yourselves, creating new places, new spaces for people to gather. And so I am looking forward to asking you guys some questions and talking about it. And so first, I’d like to introduce Carolyn Wilson with Pace.
And so Carolyn, just tell our listeners a little bit about Pace. And also specifically, how many gathering spots you have for people in terms of those senior centers or activity centers? Rocky Mountain Pace.
[Speaker 2]
Pace stands for Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.
[Speaker 1]
Oh boy.
[Speaker 2]
And so we offer coordinated and holistic services to meet the health care needs of our older population. So we have three beautiful buildings here in El Paso County. We service 30 zip codes in El Paso County.
There is Rocky Mountain Pace at Pikes Peak. That’s Pikes Peak and Parkside. Rocky Mountain Pace at Quayle Lake.
And that’s over by Quayle Lake on the west side. And then up north, we have Rocky Mountain Pace at Explorer, which is right there at Explore and Research.
[Speaker 1]
Okay. And those three places, they all have spots where seniors come, right? Right.
[Speaker 2]
So actually, what we do is we want people to stay independent as long as possible by providing them all of their medical services. And so in each of those buildings, we have all of their medical services, but we also have beautiful day centers for the participants who come.
[Speaker 1]
Great. So there are three. And just to let listeners know, my mom was a Pace client with you guys, a Pace recipient.
And I just really appreciate everything Pace does do. So happy to have you in the studio today. Thank you.
Yeah. And so next we have Silver Key. And we have Jamie, who does a lot for Silver Key.
And we have Cindy, who actually, her title is actually Director of Activity Centers. So I don’t know which of you guys wants to speak first in terms of just talking a little bit about Silver Key. So maybe Jamie, a little about Silver Key in general, and then Cindy can jump in and talk a lot about the activity centers.
[Speaker 4]
So Silver Key is a local organization. We’ve been around for 56 years. We have two locations.
We’ve expanded and bookended the north and the south end of the Pikes Peak region. So we’ve got the Monument Tri-Lakes location in 3rd Street in the Monument Community Presbyterian Church, as well as the southeast corner of the quadrant of the community off of Murray and Fountains. So we have those two locations and helping elders in the local area.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah. And I think most people recognize Silver Key’s name for sure. Probably Pace at some point in time, too, I think is getting to be more of a family name, too.
Cindy, go ahead and talk about these two activity centers. So Jamie mentioned them. One’s up in the Monument area, one down here on the southeast side of Colorado Springs.
Tell us a little bit about those.
[Speaker 3]
One, we’ve been developing our activity centers. We recently acquired the activity center from Monument in 2022. And so we’ve developed and created a lot of anchor programs, which has increased our attendance in the last year by 55%.
So people really need to get out of their homes. I think now that COVID’s over, we have more opportunity now than ever to offer programming for our seniors. Down south, we redeveloped our program.
We had an active living program prior to COVID. After COVID, it went dormant for a little while. We reengaged.
And for the last two years, we have increased the percentage of people going in by 60%. So again, we are reaching out to people in ways that we never have in the past. And we’re excited to provide more technology classes, creative arts, and such for our seniors.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah. And so Silver Key’s programs, anyone can come, right? And also talk a little bit about the term activity center versus senior center, but focusing on Silver Key here for a second.
You guys are open to anybody in the Monument area and also Colorado Springs? Absolutely.
[Speaker 3]
Yeah. We’re open across El Paso County. Anybody in El Paso County can come.
And activity center versus a senior center. As an activity center, we can take any adults and eventually we’ll have some programming for teenagers, kids. But right now we’re focusing on older adults and adults coming into our centers, especially our computer classes and our fitness classes.
[Speaker 4]
Silver Key is all about the journey of aging. And so we want to embrace multiple generations and folks coming in. And we see actually a lot of grandparents bring their grandkids to the food pantry and popping into the activity center with all the different activities.
So it’s really fun to see that whole journey of aging. We’re all sharing that in life. We’re all on a one-way ticket.
And so we really embrace that at Silver Key.
[Speaker 3]
So one piece that is probably newer to the community is that we were always known for being 60 and over, and that’s not true any longer. That goes for all of our programs. So if we don’t have funding in a certain program that allows somebody that’s 60 or over, we’re able to find other funding to be able to support them.
They would never know about how that funding is affecting them. They just come in and enjoy the services that we’re providing.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah, great. And again, you guys are open to anyone. And PACE is a little different, which again, my mom was a PACE recipient, and it’s a wonderful model on so many levels because you get really truly wraparound services from your doctor to a social worker to everything.
And then of course, activity centers too. But your centers are a little different in the sense that you guys really do just cater to people who are in PACE. Can you talk about that a little bit?
[Speaker 2]
We do. So people who qualify for PACE are going to be over 55, they’re going to live in El Paso County, and they’re going to need extra help with activities of daily living. So those are the people who would qualify for the PACE program, and then they would receive all PACE services for little to no cost.
So that’s what PACE is all about. And we also provide transportation to and from their medical appointments, all kinds of services. But as for our day centers, we have everything that a day center would have.
We have fun crafts and activities, and they can have a meal while they’re there every single day of the week, Monday through Friday. And we have some participants who come every day of the week. And then we have others who just show up once or twice.
We want to keep our older adults from being isolated in their homes. So we really encourage them to come out to many of the local areas where seniors are welcome.
[Speaker 1]
And I know that your location on Pikes Peak has a little fountain courtyard. Do your other locations have any kind of little outdoor courtyard area or is that special just to the Pikes Peak one?
[Speaker 2]
No, all three of them do. In fact, we have a program called Garden Buddies. And a Garden Buddy will pair up a participant and one of our associates, and they meet once a week, and they go out and tend their garden.
So there are many gardens on all of those patio areas. It’s really a lovely program.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah, and I love that you have a buddy, because I do have a very dear girlfriend who is one of the most amazing master gardeners in our whole region, and her little hands. She has a really hard time gardening, and that’s like her joy in life. And so to be able to have somebody come and side by side hang out and garden with her, I’m going to start crying just thinking about it, even though she’s doing it at her house, but it is so important to have that.
So thank you for having the little Garden Buddies in the special areas there. It’s great. And this whole kind of happier birthdays happen here is interesting.
It’s fun. It’s great. It’s about making connections.
It’s about finding purpose. It’s about having the right support, and it’s about having community. For you guys, I’m going to go through each of those, and I want to know a little bit about how you see your centers leading to this.
So I’m going to start with Cindy and Jamie. How do you see Silver Keys Centers creating connection? What does that look like when somebody comes into one of your centers?
[Speaker 3]
I think one of the things that we’re seeing is once there is connection within the center, it almost runs itself because people are finding their people when they come to these centers. We have a great outreach in Monument right now. If for some reason the instructor is not able to make it that day, they make it happen without that instructor.
We’re also working on getting that community and free spirit down south as well in getting that connection where it happens regardless of who may be leading that day. They know that they have ownership of those spaces, and that’s really exciting.
[Speaker 4]
I would say the variety of programs that Cindy and her team offer, everything from guitar classes to German and Spanish language and just all the dynamic things that bring people together with a variety. And then also we’re starting to host more community groups in the space. So there’s opportunity for a variety of people, and feel free to chime in, Cindy, on those groups.
But they are able to connect and make friendships and have their monthly gatherings. So we’re starting to do a little bit more of that, which is great.
[Speaker 3]
Yes, that’s important for us because not only are we getting some air time per se to get these people in, but they’re realizing, wow, my aunt might like this or my sister might like this. And hey, this is great. And so the more people we can get in our center for any reason, the more that they’re going to know about the other programming that we have at Silver Key.
[Speaker 4]
Yeah. I mean, the elders have to want to come out of their homes and go to Pace and Silver Key. They want to get out of their comfort zone and socialize.
And really, Silver Key is all about social determinants of health and having people gather and connect and have that quality of life and share their experiences and once again, make new friends. So the socialization, like you said, with the activity centers, wherever they are in town, is ultimately really critical to their quality of life.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah, great. And how about at Pace? We talked a little bit about connection already because of the gardening, but what other kinds of things generate connection over there with the Pace places?
[Speaker 2]
We pick up participants in groups from wherever they’re living. So from their neighborhood or from their building where they are living independently. And I think that gives them a real sense of community because then they meet people who they never would have met otherwise.
And they pick them up, take them over to the day center. And in the day center, they find out who their friends could be. There’s lots of people there.
They’re able to go in and do crafts. And there’s all kinds of activities. And they’re like, hey, you want to do this with me?
Sure, let’s go in. Let’s see what it’s all about. And it’s just that camaraderie, that connection, the same piece that everybody of an older age needs.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah. And I know too, that at least at your Pikes Peak location, if people have memory issues, you actually have a little separate opportunity for people to get some extra special care and attention. Are those available at all three locations?
[Speaker 2]
So at two of our locations, so Pikes Peak and Explorer, we have Memory Lane. Memory Lane is for any participant who becomes overstimulated due to some kind of dementia or Alzheimer’s condition. And we love our Memory Lane because it gives the caregivers a chance to take a break.
We will take good care of their loved ones while they’re with us. And then it gives that caretaker a break because we really care about taking care of our caregivers as well.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah. Thank you. And purpose.
Cindy, when you and Jamie were talking about community groups coming together, it made me think about like, oh, I happen to know an older woman who has a group of folks that meet that talk about environmental issues and things like that. So they have this purpose and they gather. And they’re currently meeting at the Independence Center.
But anyway, so tell us a little bit about purpose and how centers kind of generate purpose. And what are you guys doing around that?
[Speaker 3]
Purpose can come in any facet through Silver Key. Sometimes it’s through volunteering. Our volunteers are finding that they’ve found their purpose.
They’ve found that I really love teaching bingo, or I love setting up for potlucks, or I love helping our instructors get ready for their classes. Or we’ve got purpose in other ways where you’ve got people coming in to the groups. And Jamie, help me with this one.
[Speaker 4]
Sure. As an example, one of the groups that we’ve had for several months is a kind of a low vision to blindness group that comes in. And I don’t know if they have a name to them.
But anyway, it’s a low vision to blindness group. And they come and they meet, socialize, and they have a safe space to gather. And it gives them purpose to really understand how they’re operating in the world with different devices and different things and socializing with everybody at Silver Key, but also operating in their daily lives.
And so we’ve been able to invite them to the campus. They’ve been able to gather and really feel welcomed. Cindy and the team do such a great job of making people feel at home.
And it gives them purpose to come there. Like you said, a pace they want to gather every day. People want to come and gather in places where they’re welcomed and they have open arms and they can come and play and have fun and make friends.
And so that’s just one example of this low vision group that comes in of various levels of eyesight. But they’ve been able to really embrace what we do at Silver Key.
[Speaker 1]
And so while Jamie was talking, Cindy opens up this ridiculously huge calendar that there’s literally no white space on it whatsoever.
[Speaker 5]
That’s a good font size, you know?
[Speaker 1]
And so I imagine is this on the Silver Key website if people wanted to look for it?
[Speaker 3]
Yes, absolutely. We have this on the website. What do you see there, Cindy?
That’s our vision loss support group. And they’re doing that twice a month in September. One is related to fear.
We have another support group for anxiety. We also have another group that will work in tandem with them to also explore other vision and loss and coping mechanisms. For folks that are experiencing whether they have cataracts or full blindness.
[Speaker 1]
Love it. And so speaking of purpose, if an older adult wanted to teach a class at Silver Key at one of your centers, is that possible? Does that work?
Could that happen? Yes, absolutely.
[Speaker 3]
What we generally do is we do an informal interview to see how that would fit in and determine if it’s programming that we can put in at the time that they’re available. We usually try to accommodate our instructors to what their availability is. And then from there, they would go over to our volunteer department, talk to the volunteers and see what we have there.
They do some background checks, and then they become our volunteer instructor.
[Speaker 4]
And we have a lot of people that teach classes both on the volunteer side, as well as kind of our sponsorship supporters. So we have folks that come in and teach fall prevention, wound awareness. We have a lot of just general safety courses, different things, health related and nutrition.
But we have one volunteer that took on a trivia class. He was interested in questions and bringing people together in terms of learning and growing. And so that’s just one example.
But he created kind of a trivia opportunity. Is it weekly or monthly? Weekly.
Weekly. Okay, weekly. So that was an example where he had a skill, he had an interest.
You got together, we collaborated. And so it’s an outlet for him to make new friends, but be able to do something meaningful in trivia.
[Speaker 1]
Really? And very purposeful for him. Yeah, absolutely.
And then what about at PACE? How do you guys see purpose getting cultivated at PACE? There are so many ways.
[Speaker 2]
First, I’d like to shout out to our associates who are so amazing with our participants. And they engage with them on a daily basis. But we also have a very good volunteer program.
And it’s quite unique because we get volunteers of all ages coming in and talking with our participants and taking care of them and just collecting their stories and just being a part of their lives. And we have a new program where we are inviting people who have homeschool children who would like to expose them to a volunteer situation. We will accept them at Rocky Mountain PACE.
And we have lots of activities that younger generations can do with older generations. Great. Good.
It’s amazing.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah. And so purpose for youth, purpose for seniors, purpose for staff, purpose for volunteers. Yep.
[Speaker 2]
And we do have participants who like the stage. I’m thinking of Miss D and she gets up and has a time when she can speak to participants right after they’ve eaten lunch. She has a cute little story time and then she tells jokes and just really engages everyone.
And it’s just a lot of fun. And which location is she at? Is she at both?
She actually travels. She’s at the Explorer location, but she has been down to Quail Lake and Pikes Peak. Okay, good.
Glad she traveled south. She did. Since we have transportation as part of our program, it makes it pretty easy.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah. Good. And so how about support?
I’ll keep it with PACE for a second. How do you see your centers providing support for your participants?
[Speaker 2]
Absolutely. We know that people are going through a lot of things. So every single participant has access to their social worker.
They can talk about whatever’s bothering them on any given day. We have faith support. So we have several chaplains that come in to the center.
And so we always offer that. We have nutritional support. Every participant has access to a dietitian.
Right now we have quite a few people who are really concerned about their health and they want to make sure that they’re eating right. So the dietitians are often down in the center talking with their participants. We have every kind of support you can have for our participants.
Great.
[Speaker 1]
And so how about Silver Key with support? How do you guys see yourselves and your centers providing support?
[Speaker 3]
So the centers, all of our staff and volunteers are trained or are offered mental health first aid training. They go through an eight hour training session in order to be prepared to look for signs of decline, signs of concern. And so Silver Key has case managers.
We have resource navigators. We have food resources. We’ve got durable medical equipment.
We have it all. And so what we do with our center folks is we train them up so they can do an appropriate referral to our elder line and get them into the system to where they’re getting the appropriate support.
[Speaker 4]
I would echo that. I would just say also we have calls of reassurance too. I mean, kind of ties in with the activity center where they’re calling them and encouraging them to come and explore and have fun.
But it’s that friendly voice that they’re calling and checking in. We have a lot of volunteers that have conversations with them on a daily basis or weekly basis, whatever they need. It’s nice to rally around and have that wraparound support for the members.
[Speaker 1]
Good support. And my last question to bring this to close in some ways here is community. Community means a lot of things, different things to different people.
But how do you see the senior centers, the activity centers, really cultivating community for folks that are stepping out and coming? And I’ll start with Silver Key and have you guys share a little bit. How do you see you guys cultivating community?
Cultivating community.
[Speaker 3]
Let’s see. One way, we’re getting people out of their normal experience and coming in and experiencing other people. So we’ve got instructors.
We’ve got amazing instructors. And these are paid and volunteer instructors. And they’re coming out of their regular jobs.
We have even art teachers who come out of their regular jobs during the day from the community to come in and volunteer their time with Silver Key. We’ve got, let’s see, other…
[Speaker 4]
One thing that I would bring up aside from the programming she mentioned in that sense of pulling people outside of their lazy boy chairs and their comfort zone into meeting new folks and new people is we have a digital experience hub within the activity center. So that’s been really great over the past three years to get some funding through AARP and the OATS program, the Senior Planet, as well as the City of Colorado Springs. So we got some grant funding for that.
And we’ve been able to expose the elders to classes about basic computing, elder scams. They’re able to touch the keyboard and be able to surf the internet, pay their bills online, make new friends. So I think in terms of community, we’ve been able to evolve with all these fun, engaging activities, but also tying in the technology into our community, because that’s a growing thing and that’s the future.
So we’ve been really proud about that.
[Speaker 3]
And even our tech help. So maybe they’re not ready to come into the center yet and actually do some other classes. They may just need to come in to get their Android phone looked at.
Something’s going on. I just need somebody to look at this. Please look at this.
Our instructors are amazing. They’re very patient. They sit with them.
They walk through all those steps with them. And then maybe after having that, they’re like, oh, maybe I’ll go to that class. And so that’s how we’re bringing community into Silver Key and expanding their experiences.
[Speaker 1]
Creating these little tentacles that are going out, but yet also in the heart of things too. And how about with PACE? How’s PACE creating community?
[Speaker 2]
We are a big community at PACE. We have over 1,100 participants that come in. So we have visits from the zoo are really awesome because we get those pretty regularly.
And we also have some support dogs that come through the center and participants just love it when they’re there and they get to cuddle with them and pet them and love on them. And it just really helps them to feel a part of the community.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah. Great. Bringing it to them.
Yes. Love it. So I’m going to take a minute and just comment on transportation.
You guys both PACE for sure mentioned you guys have transportation and you’re driving people and you’re getting them where they need to go as part of being a PACE recipient. A PACE, what is the terminology you use?
[Speaker 2]
They are PACE participants. Participants. That’s right.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah. Even though my mom was in it, I never quite always called it the right thing. Participants.
We call them participants because they participate in their care. They sure do. Yep.
Yep. All the way. And Silver Key didn’t comment a whole lot about transporting people because I know people definitely drive themselves to visit you guys, but you also have transportation.
[Speaker 5]
We do. Yeah.
[Speaker 1]
I’ll share at the Area Agency on Aging, we are in the works of doing our four-year plan. Silver Key definitely knows about it. I don’t know how much PACE knows about the four-year plan because I haven’t told anybody over there yet until today, but we are hearing from people on what the greatest needs are and looking at that so that when we write the plan, we’ll put things in there and make sure that the Older American Act and Older Colorado Act money keeps coming through our region, even though it’s never enough.
But already statewide, they’ve gotten feedback and the number one need coming through statewide is, you guessed it, transportation. And it’s so interesting that we don’t have to have this plan done until March of 2027, but we’ve been meeting, doing community conversations around the state and here in our region, and then we feed that information up and then people can also go online, older adults, and actually answer the two questions. And so the state’s been collating the data already, and it’s all about transportation.
And so, you know, kudos to both of you, Silver Key and PACE, for knowing that transportation is such a need. And I know that we just, as a nation and a state, have more work to do around transportation. You know, it’s a huge need.
So I don’t know if either group wants to make a comment about transportation or not.
[Speaker 4]
Transportation, we provide with both organizations, which is wonderful. It provides the independence and the dignity for the elders to get out and have safe round trip rides to things. With Silver Key, we need individuals to call two weeks ahead.
So they would call the 719-884-2300 is our elder line. And they can coordinate that through doctor’s appointments, grocery store, dialysis, whatever they need.
[Speaker 1]
I know going- Which includes coming to the center.
[Speaker 4]
Which, yes, including coming to the center.
[Speaker 1]
Yes. Thank you, Melissa, for that. I hear the priorities at the top there, but I also know that people can get rides to come for those purposes, too.
[Speaker 4]
And then we also even have folks that come out and visit their loved ones at grave sites. So we have the opportunity for them to have that outlet and visit their family members and have that special quality time. But it’s safe round trip, door-to-door transportation. We are preparing, potentially, for some cutbacks into next year. So we’ll see how that shakes out. But we want to rally together and make sure that we provide consistent service with transportation for the elders in the community.
[Speaker 1]
Yep, great.
[Speaker 2]
And one thing talking about transportation, Silver Key is able to also transport our people to other locations. So we’ve started recently doing field trips. Coming up in October, we want to do some fall leaf peeping.
And this is a great opportunity for those who don’t have the access to go out and leaf peep on their own. Hey, why don’t you come on the bus? We’re going to go and stop either for ice cream or a little cafe somewhere and be able to spend time with and meeting new friends, having new experiences, and get people together.
[Speaker 4]
Last December, we had some transportation drivers that drove some members around to look at the lights, the holiday lights. Yes, we’ll do that again this year. So it’s fun for them to get out and sort of reminisce about maybe their childhood or their upbringing and just holiday memories.
[Speaker 3]
And creating new memories. Yes. At Pace, we also have day trips.
And we’ve had groups going to the Garden of the Gods and watching the leaves change, which I think they’re happening too early this year. And then, of course, the Christmas lights. It’s always exciting.
[Speaker 1]
Oh, good. So glad to hear that. Final question.
What’s your favorite thing about your organization and who you work for?
[Speaker 3]
At Rocky Mountain Pace, my favorite thing is the associates. I have worked in a lot of different places, but I just finished my eighth year at Rocky Mountain Pace. And it’s because we have the most amazing team members and executive directors and leadership.
That’s the best thing about Pace for me and what we do for our participants.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah. And that really does make a difference with consistency and relationships with the participants.
[Speaker 3]
Absolutely.
[Speaker 1]
And knowing that you’re with people for the long haul. And I experienced that with my mom. So I appreciate that a lot.
Yeah. Thank you.
[Speaker 3]
I just want to say, if you are interested in the Pace program, please call 719-314-2327. Super. And how about Silver Key?
[Speaker 2]
For Silver Key, one of my favorite things is how dynamic we are. We are not scared to try anything. We have a handy person program that we have for home safety.
We have our transportation. We have calls of reassurance. We have 16 connection cafes across the city.
We have our activity centers, both locations. We’re looking at some point, maybe getting some more. And we have apartment buildings.
We’ve got what else? I don’t know. Our thrift stores.
And so we have so many facets to Silver Key. Our goal is to help people on their journey. And if we are able to help them and open some doors for them that they may not have even realized were closed.
And I think that’s really the most important piece for us at Silver Key. I love it.
[Speaker 4]
I would echo that, too. I would say the impact across multi-generations and multicultural. We’re actually bringing in a lot of German and Spanish classes and the guitar lessons and a lot of creative, fun outlets.
But we’re seeing a lot of opportunity for community members that are Korean, German, Spanish, and obviously English speaking to come together and play and have fun and receive our services. So that particular impact that we have through our staff, our volunteers, and the impact we have on the community. So it’s been fun to see Cindy really evolve the activity centers over the years and just once again, the impact that it’s made.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah, great. Thanks. And for people who are listening, we have these two great activity center programs in the room with us today sharing.
But we did have an earlier recording about Fountain Valley Senior Center. And back in episode 48, we interviewed the Colorado Springs Senior Center. So there are definitely programs out there.
Everyone has their unique face, all doing wonderful work to build connection, purpose, support, and community. And then also an extra shout out just to those kind of neighborhoods that are in our region that are the 50 plus or 60 plus neighborhoods that have been built. And they often have their own little gathering spots now.
And there have been a few of them out there that have been trying to say that we want to create our own senior center and what that might look like. And of course, they always want just a little extra pat on the back that what they’re doing is the right thing. And kudos and a shout out to all of those groups too.
So there’s not enough yet, but definitely some great opportunities in the region. And again, Jamie, remind people of how they can get in touch and find Silver Key.
[Speaker 4]
Individuals can call the Elder Line at 719-884-2300. They can also go to our website, www.SilverKey.org.
[Speaker 1]
Thanks. And again, Carolyn with PACE, the phone number and how to find you guys. Yep.
[Speaker 3]
If you’re interested in PACE for you or a loved one, the number is 719-314-2327. Or our website is rmpace.org.
[Speaker 1]
All right. Thank you, ladies. Thanks for all you do.
And until next time. Thank you. That’s the show.
Thanks to all of you for being with us today. Aging with Altitude is created by the Pikes Peak Area Council of Government’s Area Agency on Aging. Visit us at ppacg.org and click on Aging Services for more information about the programs of the Area Agency on Aging.
[Speaker 5]
Want to give you a quick note about an important event that’s coming up that I don’t think you’ll want to miss. September 27th, right here in Colorado Springs. Our Voice, Our Future 2026.
That’s a Get Out the Vote podcast marathon, where a number of great Studio 809 podcasts will take the stage at Kauai, the wonderful food hall and tap house on South Town. Downtown Colorado Springs. You’ll learn something at this event about our local election process, some of the issues, candidates, what’s going on in this very, very important November election.
So I hope to see you there. Noon to 6, September 27th. It’s free to attend.
Come have lunch or dinner, have a drink, an afternoon refreshment. Check the show notes of this episode for a link to get your free tickets.