It takes a village: Rochester Council on Aging funds expansion with community donations

ROCHESTER — The expansion of the Rochester Council on Aging center has been discussed for over two decades, but with rising attendance and lack of space, renovations are now underway.

Senior center attendance has grown significantly since Executive Director Eric Poulin was hired in 2021, creating a need for space to properly host activities and provide resources.

The original building, located at 67 Dexter Lane in Rochester, was constructed in 2002.

“We have tried to repurpose spaces to really be able to accommodate extra people for different activities and things, but we’re at a point now where it’d be great to have extra space,” said Poulin.

Poulin said the staff prioritized adding new programming and improving attendance since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in 2021, creating an influx of new participants and community members visiting the center.

The Council on Aging and the Friends of the Senior Center have raised over $300,000 with donations from the community to construct a new addition, creating a new room to house activities and classes for seniors.

They are currently seeking an additional $100,000 to cover the full cost of construction.

Rochester is home to a large senior population. About 1,800 residents are aged 60 years old or older out of a total population of around 6,000 people, according to information from Poulin and the United States census.

The center provides vital resources to the senior residents of Rochester, hosting medical screenings, exercise classes, meals and informational sessions to benefit older residents.

In addition to activities hosted at the center, the Council on Aging provides seniors with transportation to medical appointments with a fleet of vehicles.

“As they get older, they might need a little bit of help and we’re here to help them,” said Poulin.

He emphasized that socialization for older residents is essential to mental health and well-being.

President of the Friends of the Rochester Senior Center Michael Cambra explained that the expansion is solely funded by donations from the community, and that volunteers at the center are the driving force behind fundraising.

“I’m just amazed at the amount of volunteerism here and what people do here to make this place successful,” said Cambra.

Volunteers come to the center to help cook dinner for fundraising events, and also contribute to teaching classes and providing resources for the center.

“It’s been a long almost two decades of volunteers. It’s all volunteers that raise money. There’s nobody in the kitchen making money or anything,” said Cambra.

Students from Old Colony Regional Technical Vocational High School and Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School will do the bulk of the construction for the new addition.

“It’s going to be a great win-win. It's an experience for the kids that are in the vocational programs, [seeing] how things get built, working with the instructors in the schools,” said Poulin.

Receiving help from the vocational schools allows for more funding to go towards supplies and equipment rather than labor costs.

Construction is expected to begin at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year and conclude by June 2026.

Cambra emphasized that working toward the expansion is part of a decades-long effort to support seniors in the community.

“There are people in the past who started this, and this is just a continuation of that,” said Cambra.