City: Santa Fe, NM

Category: Retirement

Telephone: (505) 955-4721, (866) 824-8714

Address: 1121 Alto St.

Description: Part of the city’s Community Services Department, the Division of Senior Services is a “one-stop shop” for a wide variety of programs and services at minimal cost for adults age 60 and older throughout the city and county. The division provides transportation for a suggested donation of 50 cents per trip with 24 hours notice, before 4 p.m. the previous day; $1 meals at designated senior centers or delivered to a person’s home via Meals on Wheels; preventive health education and services including blood pressure testing, blood sugar and cholesterol screening, hearing and eye tests, breast cancer screening, and flu shots; recreation and activities such as Senior Olympics, dancing, travel, ceramics, sculpture, woodcarving, and weaving; case management; outreach, information, and referrals. The Senior Services Division sponsors numerous volunteer programs, including Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), where seniors act as Medicare-Medigap counselors, peer counselors, nutrition counselors, ombudsmen, craft instructors, etc.; Safe Kids/Safe Seniors to prevent accidental injuries; and the USDA Commodities Distribution, which gets food to low-income seniors and disabled clients. It also offers several paying programs for low-income seniors in conjunction with the State Agency on Aging (see subsequent entry), including Foster Grandparents, which provides a stipend for serving as classroom “grandparents,” and Senior Companions, in which individuals age 60 and older can supplement their income by providing companionship to frail, homebound elderly clients. The division’s Respite Program provides R&R for primary caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.The division has 11 senior centers within the surrounding area, eight of them in or near Santa Fe: Casa Rufina Community Center, 2323 Casa Rufina Rd., (505) 988-1116; Eldorado Senior Center, 16 Avenida Torreon, (505) 466-1039; Mary Esther Gonzales Center, 1121 Alto St., (505) 984-6731; Pasatiempo Center, 668 Alta Vista St., (505) 984-9859; Luisa Center, 1510 Luisa St., (505) 984-8091; Villa Consuelo Center, 1200 Camino Consuelo, (505) 474-5431; Ventana de Vida Senior Center, 1500 Pacheco St., (505) 955-6731; El Rancho Senior Center, 334 County Rd. 84, El Rancho, (505) 455-2195. Check the Web site for more information.