King Senior Center offers variety of services

For the past six years, the Martin Luther King Senior Center, 2420 N. Martin Luther King Blvd., has been offering programs that help older adults maintain their physical and mental health.

A diet program, driving classes, computer literacy classes, a food pantry and a housing repair program are among the many services offered to seniors at the nonprofit center, which is part of the Las Vegas-Clark County Urban League, said Ida Davis, the center's manager.

"I think it's really important to offer these types of services to older adults, because we want for them to continue to sustain a healthy lifestyle," Davis said. "So many things happen to older adults. They lose some of their mental and physical capabilities. They're on fixed incomes."

The senior housing repair program provides home repairs to seniors who need them, whether they have a leaky roof or bad plumbing, Davis said. Once a year, an individual is chosen from the center to receive a $5,000 home makeover.

The center also operates a food pantry, provides transportation and tax services, all free to seniors who need it, Davis said. A case manager also works at the center to help connect seniors to other agencies in the community.

The driving program, 55 Alive, helps senior drivers refresh safe driving practices, Davis said.

"It refreshes them on the rules of the road. I think that's really important to older adults," she added.

The Healthy Diet program teaches seniors how to modify their diets, while the center routinely teaches classes on scams targeting seniors. The Internal Revenue Service was scheduled to talk about how seniors can get their federal stimulus rebate, Davis said.

The center serves dozens of seniors daily. About 60 routinely eat lunch at the center, while 70 were scheduled to receive home repair services during March, Davis said. Some programs have a suggested donation but that's not enforced, she added. For instance, lunch is available for a $1.50 donation.

"If they have it, they can pay. If they don't have it, they still can eat," Davis said.

Many of the seniors who come to the center are 150 percent below federal poverty guidelines, Davis said. Without the free services offered, many of them would go without the necessary services to sustain their lifestyle, she added.

"An individual making less that $1,300 a month is classified as below poverty. So you can see how essentially important it is to have these types of resources for older adults," Davis said.

For more information, call 636-0064.

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-4564.