Borough Looks to Fund Senior Center Budget Cuts

Candace Braun

With the Princeton Senior Resource Center recently announcing that it was facing an $8,000 budget cut in 2005 from the Princeton Housing Authority, Borough Council is looking to use $5,000 of the funding that it receives from the Bonner Foundation to make up for the unexpected shortfall.

"This should be viewed as a one-time contribution to help them over an unforeseen hump," reads a letter to Council from Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi.

The Princeton Housing Authority's reduction in funding to the center to $12,000, from its current $20,000, is taking place due to budget constraints, said Leighton Newlin, chair of the board of the Housing Authority.

The last time the Housing Authority cut funds to the center was in 1999, when the senior center's budget was cut to $20,000, from $29,000.

Funding from the Housing Authority, which the center has now received for 30 years, provides case management and social services to residents of the senior community living in Reading and Spruce Circles, said Susan Hoskins, executive director of the senior center. Each site has approximately 60 residents who depend on the center's services.

During one month's time, the center handles 33 home visits, 148 phone calls, 96 walk-ins, and seven ongoing counseling and intensive care management cases, reported Ms. Hoskins.

If the center doesn't receive alternative funding, some areas of service will have to be cut back, including staff, office hours, transportation, file maintenance, and social programs. Services that help senior residents on a daily basis that could also be cut include hospital visits, home health assistance, and assistance to non-English speaking residents, said Ms. Hoskins.

Without these services, many senior residents who live alone may be confronted with depression, or be forced to move into a nursing home, she said.

The director said that while she is hopeful that the Borough will contribute additional funding for the senior center, she is continuing to look elsewhere for aid. The center recently sent a grant proposal to a private foundation.

Located on Mercer Street, The Bonner Foundation, which donates approximately $15,000 to the Borough each year, is a privately-funded service scholarship program. According to Mr. Bruschi, the Borough usually uses the money for matters of pubic purpose that crop up during the year, and that have not been accounted for in the Borough's budget.

"This certainly meets the intent and criteria for using some of the funding since it directly goes to programs that a certain portion of our population would not be able to access if they were cut," said Mr. Bruschi.

Borough Council will vote on the distribution of the foundation's funds to the senior center at a future Council meeting.