Director provides Senior Center update and millage status

A festive cake celebrated “new beginnings” for the Manchester area senior citizens. Photo courtesy of Pat Vailliencourt.

submitted by Pat Vailliencourt, Manchester Senior Center, Director

As many of us are aware, the voters of Washtenaw County approved a millage last November to fund services to county senior citizens. Your Manchester Senior Citizens Council has worked very hard for the last seven months to ensure that the Manchester Senior Center qualified to receive funding from this millage. At their July 2, 2025, meeting the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (BOC) passed two resolutions concerning the millage.

The first resolution was to establish an Office of Aging Services that will be responsible for the management of the annual almost $12 million. We do not know yet how this will affect our current service providers (OCED, AgeWays) or what the timing will be to have this new office up and functioning.

The BOC’s second resolution passed approved baseline funds of $200,000 to be available to 10 qualified senior centers. Manchester is one of the 10 and has submitted all the required documentation to receive the funds.

This is truly an exciting time for the Manchester community. Final items are being completed, including the health department inspection being scheduled for our Manchester Senior Center. For the first time in our history, we will have our own facility. We will be able to provide social activities, meals, nutritional and healthy lifestyle programs, transportation, and services that other communities have had for many years.

However, to ensure we continue to meet the “qualified” status, we have revised our membership form. It is critical that the new form is completed and returned either via email, U.S. Mail, at a Tuesday or Thursday Senior Luncheon (currently at MUMC), given to a senior board member, or dropped off at City Hall. Everyone over 55 is welcome to join. Only those over 60 are qualified to receive services paid for by the millage. As always, personal information will be used for statistics only and will not be shared. The revised membership form is available on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/manchesterseniors/permalink/7440175369374338

Eighteen months ago having a Manchester Senior Center was just a dream. Today, it is a reality. Words cannot express how grateful we are to all those who helped make this happen.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.