Senior Center, New Director Revitalized

As a teacher at Grant High School who taught a class on death and living, Joseph Feinstein never considered that he would be old himself one day.

“It crept up on me,” said Feinstein, now in his 60s and retired from his 30-year teaching career.

He is now director of mental health services at the Robert M. Wilkinson Multi-Purpose Senior Center in Northridge, where he oversees counseling programs to help the elderly deal with bereavement and other issues that come with age.

Feinstein was hired by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks to revitalize the mental health program at the center, which was closed for six months after last January’s earthquake.

“I had never been to a senior center before I walked into this,” said Feinstein, who retired from teaching five years ago.

“The reality is that we all grow to be older and we have to show sensitivity and compassion to those who are older,” Feinstein said. The word the ancient Romans used to describe the elderly also meant “senator,” a position of respect that has been lost in recent years, he said.

While at Grant High, Feinstein tried to instill in his students a respect for the elderly.

In his class, he had grandparents talk about what it is like to grow older and know they are in the twilight of their lives.

“They do need respect,” Feinstein said of senior citizens.

“We have become a Pepsi generation and youth is venerated. That is a mistake to me.”

At the senior center, Feinstein has expanded the number of volunteer counselors--typically students studying for their certification in marriage, family and child counseling. In addition to one-on-one counseling, Feinstein’s mental health program includes two bereavement groups for those who have lost a spouse or significant other. A new group for those who have lost someone within the past four months is starting this week.

“A lot of people are facing the death of a spouse and have no place to turn to,” said Feinstein.

Other support groups help men deal with the death of friends. There are also groups for men concerned about hair loss, and for those with spouses who are invalids.

In March, Feinstein hopes to start an earthquake stress support group. The stress and fear of the earthquake still linger for many, reinforced by the continuing aftershocks.

“A lot of the people here have been holding their pain inside and they haven’t had a chance to ventilate it,” Feinstein said. Without help, the pain and stress within a person can erupt like a volcano, he said. “They need someone to understand them, someone to talk to.”

He added that just having a senior center can help alleviate fear and loneliness.

“That gets licked when you get out and have a place to come to,” Feinstein said.

The counseling program helps about 75 people at the center, which can host as many as 400 people on a busy day.

His new position has presented Feinstein with a big change from his previous job, where he worked primarily with teen-agers.

But he learned “how many important and effective things happen here every day,” Feinstein said. Playing pool, learning a new craft, making new friends, walking on the center’s exercise track all go a long way to defeating the depression faced by senior citizens.

Senior volunteers at the center answer phones, serve coffee, run hobby classes and organize group trips, said Jill Kaplan, project director at the senior center.

To reach the center call 818-756-7741.

To reach Feinstein call 818-756-7744.