It's been over six months since Amy Salistean started delivering meals to the typical friendly faces she'd see at the Milford Senior Center. March 17, that was the day it all changed. Since then she's prepared and delivered over 1,200 meals.
Salistean said that in addition to the food purpose, her visits also serve as wellness checks.
“What I see is loneliness and boredom,” she said. “It's painful at times.”
Salistean said that the senior center has tried to slowly introduce options since March – mainly the exercise facility because she's worried about the potential health risk of people staying sedentary at home. Currently, the senior center's exercise room is open three hours a day and by appointment only.
Those working at the senior center have began brainstorming socialization activities. Salistean said it's been difficult to think of how they could host people for coffee as safe as possible. In addition to the twice-a-week coffee socialization, the senior center has also hosted card games and Wii bowling.
“We have spent this time in the last couple months redefining what social contact is,” she said. “It can be as simple as a phone call. It could be letters. Zoom or video chat. And the importance of that can't be downplayed.”
Salistean said that once coffee time returns to the senior center it'll involve a picnic table outside so people can spread out.
She said that she hopes families have been able to provide socialization that visitors would have otherwise received at the senior center.
The senior center, funded largely by the City of Milford, operates under different health guidelines than long-term care facilities. Salistean said she's thankful that her senior center, as well as the county's other senior centers in Seward and Utica, haven't been held to the same standards.
“That has to be an incredible responsibility,” she said. “I have kids, I can't stop living because of them. I have to go out to places and events but who knows if you get infected then you could spread it to the seniors.”
Recent outbreaks at long-term care facilities in Blair and Ashland reiterated to Salistean why those protocols are in place. She thanked the Milford community for how its cared for its seniors.
Salistean said that she's served seniors on both sides of the mask argument – and she's understanding to all. She acknowledged the personal freedoms argument, as well as the case for protecting others. As someone who works predominantly with high-risk seniors, she's made person concessions on face coverings to protect seniors. She was hopeful wearing face coverings would have ended the pandemic sooner, now she's delivering meals to seniors who she said aren't content waiting for the end.
“I don't know how to give them comfort because I don't think a virus will go away for a long time,” she said. “That is what makes it very challenging for senior centers. We're gathering high-risk people. How do we justify the risks? How do we get them to understand the risks? In the end, leaving your home is a risk right now.
“I bump around like a bumblebee in a jar and sometimes I want to protect them like a mama bear.”
She's worked closely with Four Corners Health District to ensure everything the senior center has done throughout the pandemic is done so safely. She said she fears that other community members aren't listening to local health officials and the number of cases in Seward County. The county experienced the highest single-week spike of coronavirus cases over the course of Sept. 19-25.
Salistean said Milford isolated and stayed vigilant in the beginning when Milford had no cases. That's not the case anymore, which is where she's weighed the numbers against the worst-case scenario.
“When you put those numbers to the people that serve here in Milford, that's terrifying to me,” she said. “I can't imagine attaching a name to that 0.7%. That's what you get in the small town. That's what I offer, is stuff to help keep them going. It's a lot of responsibility.”
