Senior Center taking steps to reach Latinos

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- The Costa Mesa Senior Center has begun taking steps to

attract more Latino seniors.

“We are in the middle of a Hispanic community and this building is a

hidden treasure in the community,” said Aviva Goelman, executive director

of the center. “I want the center to grow, and in order for it to grow in

this community, we need to reach out to the rest of the community.”

According to a 1998 study by the Cal State Fullerton Census Bureau,

Costa Mesa has 27,013 senior citizens and 11,525 -- 42.67% -- of the

seniors are Latino.

This month’s center newsletter, The Chronicle, was the first to

include several pages of articles translated into Spanish, and the center

also has a new board member, Manfredo Lespier, who is Latino, Goelman

said.

The center also has applied for grants to hire a Latino receptionist

and full-time Latino nurse, who would be part of a diabetes program.

Goelman said she is also hoping to begin collaborative projects with

nonprofits, such as Families Costa Mesa and Share Our Selves, as well as

with area schools to infuse the center more into the community.

Three of the center’s employees are already fluent in Spanish and

English, and Goelman, who already speaks four languages, has signed up

for Spanish classes herself.

“I think we need to be visible in the community and people are not

going to reach out to us until we reach out to them,” she said. “We have

a very small percentage of Latinos at our center, but we have so much to

offer. It doesn’t matter who they are. If they are seniors, there is no

reason they can’t do aerobics together, take dance classes together and

mingle together.”