What was once a lively gathering place for seniors to enjoy food on the patio, socialize with friends and explore new hobbies is now just a bittersweet memory.
The ongoing closure of the McGovern Park Senior Center has left many seniors feeling emotional and isolated. Only some have been able to go out of their way to commute to other nearby senior centers.
“I haven’t seen some of the seniors from the center since it flooded,” said Minnie Harmon, a McGovern Park regular. “I don’t know where they are, if they’re isolated in their homes or if they’re still living.”
The McGovern Park Senior Center closed in August after a severe flood caused mold and poor air quality. Flooding has been a recurring problem at the center for years.
In early March, Milwaukee County’s Department of Administrative Services’ Facilities Management Division and Department of Health & Human Services requested $100,000 to help create a long-term plan for the future of the center. One option being discussed is building a new center, which would take about five years to complete.
“We made the difficult decision to no longer invest in the existing McGovern Senior Center and will put all our resources, time and effort into working to figure out a long-term strategy rather than creating a stop-gap,” said Aaron Hertzberg, director of Milwaukee County’s Department of Administrative Services.
Residents struggle with closure
Before the center closed, Harmon, 79, volunteered in the gift shop and kitchen, cleaned and participated in exercise activities that helped with her arthritis.
“The McGovern Park Senior Center was very important to me because I could see other seniors come out of their homes and come to the center to socialize with others their age,” she said. “That was better than sitting at home all day, staring at a wall or watching TV.”
Now she spends most of her time at home finding small tasks like organizing a closet or cleaning a drawer.
Harmon said she’d like to do more around her home like tidy up the basement and do yard work, but her arthritis makes it difficult to use the stairs and be out in certain weather conditions.
“I have rheumatoid arthritis, which is really bad, but the more you move, the more it helps,” Harmon said. “I liked that the center had exercises for limited people like me.”
She periodically drives to the Washington Park Senior Center as an alternative, but with the cost of gas increasing, she’d rather not make the commute.
She said some McGovern seniors stopped attending the other centers because transportation is $8 each day to get there.
“That’s a lot of money for some seniors when you’re on a limited budget or only get Social Security,” Harmon said.
‘I feel like they took my other home away’
Roxie Touchstone, 64, had been attending the McGovern Park Senior Center since retiring from the Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office four years ago.
She started going after her best friend died and she needed a place of comfort. She participated in the center’s line dancing class.
“I feel like they took my other home away,” Touchstone said. “We went there to relieve stress, anxiety and get in the zone.”
Lately, Touchstone has been visiting the Clinton Rose Senior Center once a week to line dance and to play pool. She said that center is too far and doesn’t feel like home.
“The other people at the other centers treat you like you’re visiting, and the city keeps sending us to these centers with long drives,” Touchstone said. “Don’t dismiss us like we never mattered.”
Touchstone said seniors should be treated with respect and admiration. But when certain city officials fail to show up for meetings regarding the center, she feels the respect is lacking.
“They abandoned us and left us to dry,” she said.
Feeling isolated since the closing
Susan Simensky Bietila, 78, is a retired Milwaukee Public Schools nurse who attended the McGovern Park Senior Center for about two years. She participated in the center’s lapidary group.
While in the lapidary group, Simensky Bietila polished Lake Michigan fossils that she found along the shore.
“I made a lot of new friends when I was at the McGovern Senior Park Center and it really did help with the isolation I’ve been experiencing,” Simensky Bietila said.
Simensky Bietila has been a widow for 11 years and lives alone.
“Despite being very active as an artist by going to art shows, a lot of my activities keep me alone and I really look forward to having scheduled events in my life every week,” she said.
She still enjoys collecting rocks and creating art about water protection because it motivates her to get out of the house, go walking and to be physically be active.
However, she said, she misses the lapidary group and hopes that the McGovern Park Senior Center moves its equipment to another senior center not far away.
“It seems like it shouldn’t be hard to do and there should be a room somewhere else to set it up,” Simensky Bietila said. “Everybody in the group would be willing to help.”
No longer wanting to wait
Harmon and Simensky Bietila are eager to start activities with other seniors again. For them, it’s hard to fathom waiting for the county to complete its long-term plan, which may take five years.
“We need something now,” Harmon said.
Simensky Bietila agreed.
“Some of us won’t even be around in five years,” she said.
Touchstone said she wants to keep pushing for a better temporary alternative to be placed on Milwaukee’s Northwest Side.
“They put money into the South Side senior centers but don’t want to help the Black people on the Northwest Side,” she said.
Touchstone and Harmon described the McGovern Park Senior Center as being a transformative place where memories and milestones are held.
“People felt like they could breathe again when coming to this center,” Touchstone said.
Harmon remembers helping a lady step outside of her comfort zone at the senior center. Eventually, the woman started coming in more confident and outgoing.
“I saw another senior who would come in very quietly because she had a disorder and was afraid of other people,” Harmon said. “Me and some others kept trying to connect with her and finally she started to come in smiling and talking.”
Harmon and Simensky Bietila hope that the McGovern Park seniors can resume social activities, so they can reconnect with friends and return to doing the things they loved to do at the center.
Touchstone wants officials to know that she and others don’t plan to stay quiet on the issue.
“We’re here, we’re staying and will not take no as an answer,” Touchstone said. “We’re not discouraged.”
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
