NEWBURYPORT — Having recently celebrated her first anniversary on the job, Newburyport Council on Aging Director Sara Landry is sending out a survey to local seniors for their thoughts on how the Senior/Community Center can best serve the city moving forward.
“We have over 7,000 households with people 55 or over,” Landry said. “So, we want to know just what their needs and concerns are living in Newburyport.”
The survey should be in the mail by the end of the month. The results, she believes, will help give she and her staff ideas for new programs as well as how to improve current offerings.
“We’re hoping to use that data to help guide and direct where we put our efforts in, in the future,” she said.
Landry, who succeeded retired COA director Paula Burke in November 2023, said she is just now making her own mark on the department.
“I believe I have a full grasp of all the programs, the environment and staff,” she said. “So I feel good.”
Although she knows she can’t please everyone all of the time, Landry said most of the feedback from seniors has been positive.
“I think we do a good job here at the COA,” she said. “People seem to be happy with us. They seem to like the increase in programming and most of the feedback I’m getting is relatively positive. You do what you think is best and hope that people resonate with that.”
Running the COA, Landry said, is a big job with plenty of moving parts. But she credited her success to her staff of six full-time employees, as well as one part-time worker and numerous volunteers.
“My staff is amazing,” she said. “When I got here, I think they were all working more individually. But I see my role as a director to be the person that brings the staff in together and gets them working as a team. I think that’s something I’ve accomplished.”
Working alongside activities coordinator Mary Kelly, Landry said she has been able to add a number of events to the COA’s calendar.
“We had a live music program over the summer where every week, we had a musician come in and that was really quite successful,” she said. “Our recent Christmas party was also a big one.”
Picking up momentum since her tenure began is the COA’s senior tax work off program which allows seniors to help off-set their property tax bills by volunteering at municipal building such as City Hall, the public library and the senior center. As of Wednesday, 52 seniors are taking advantage of the program.
“We also have people working as parks ambassadors at the Parks Department where they provide walks in good weather,” Landry said. “It’s a real win-win situation.”
Landry added she has also been working with the Francis T. Bresnahan Elementary School to provide senior tax work off positions there in the future.
Recently, the COA has been offering more intergenerational programming for local seniors. A book study group that sees seniors reading with students at the Rupert A. Nock Middle School, Landry said has already proven to be very successful.
“We also started a pen pal program in the third grade at the Bresnahan in the fall that I’m really excited about,” she said. “In May, we’re going to do a meet-and-greet event where the kids can come and meet their pen pal.”
Landry said she also worked last year with outreach specialist Ann Freeman to bring some of the COA’s programming to the city’s senior housing projects.
“She’s also spending one day a month at the library to provide some connection for the folks who might not be ready to come to the senior center,” Landry said of Freeman.
Mayor Sean Reardon, who hired Landry, said she has been a “breath of fresh air” at the Council on Aging.
“She has really got the place running on all cylinders,” he said. “She has brought great programs into place and I think she is getting the most out of her staff.”
The mayor added he’s heard from city seniors who are happy with Landry’s work.
“She has really brought a lot to the job,” he said.