By Beth Wallach
Charrow, a Baldwin resident, turned out to be the logical selection because she fit the criteria perfectly. She is a woman who made big changes locally, someone whose work has had an impact in the lives of women, and someone who is considered to be a leader because of her contributions to the community. Celebrating 20 years as the center's director, Charrow was there from the beginning when it was a small "drop-in" center. As the head of the department of senior services, she is responsible for overseeing the needs of the village's 6.500 senior citizens. Under Charrow's leadership, the center has grown into a multi-purpose establishment that has more than 600 registered members.
"We're the only nationally accredited senior center on Long Island," said Charrow. Accredited in 2003, the director said that out of 16,000 centers nationwide, less than 100 are accredited. "I'm interested in promoting the best possible physical and emotional health of people as they grow older," said Charrow, who said that the attitudes seniors have toward aging run the gamut. She's seen some people with very few health issues have poor attitudes, while others who have severe physical limitations flourish due to their healthy outlooks.
As part of her cutting edge strategy when it comes to the aging process, last year Charrow instituted the Successful Proactive Aging, or SPA, program. A doctoral candidate at Adelphi University, Charrow believes that meeting the needs of seniors means looking out for their physical and mental well being. With people living longer than ever before, Charrow said, "What's the point if you're not healthy physically and emotionally?"
This year she's putting her focus into productive aging, hoping to change the face of aging in the community. She wants seniors to feel like they can make vital contributions to their communities as they get older, and wants younger people to see that just because as people age it doesn't automatically make them sick and needy.
Charrow attributes much of the center's success to her wonderful staff. "I come up with the grand ideas and then hand them off to a great team," said Charrow. With 120 active volunteers, she said, "Our whole is greater than the sum of its parts."
Under Charrow's leadership, the village's seniors are more integrated into the community than ever before. Among other things, seniors have contributed their gardening skills to beautify the village by planting flower beds that bloom all spring and summer. In- house, there is never a lack of activity at the center. Their packed calendar includes classes of all kinds including aerobics and pilates, social events, weekend concerts, and trips that are as close as New York City, as far away as Italy, and all points in between. "This is not a holding place for people," said Charrow, who added that they also have a very active men's club.
"Every March we all look forward to picking out a person," said Chris O'Leary, deputy director of senior services. "This year no one was blowing our socks off. The general consensus was, why look into the community when we have Cyd?"
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