SOUTH DEERFIELD — For the first time since July, the South County Senior Center has a director leading operations.
Jennifer Remillard, a Deerfield resident involved in the town’s 350th Anniversary Committee and an alternate on the Zoning Board of Appeals, was hired by the town of Deerfield at the end of January and now has three weeks of work under her belt.
“It’s been great — everybody has been so welcoming,” Remillard said. “The past two weeks, I have been learning and I have been observing.”
Remillard’s hiring caps nearly seven months of Senior Center director woes for the towns of Deerfield, Whately and Sunderland. Former Director Christina Johnson resigned July 21 after weeks of executive sessions held by the Senior Center Board of Oversight. The Board then worked through a job description and hiring process for several months and eventually pared its selection down to three candidates.
Initially, it moved to hire Carolyn Ford, but negotiations with Deerfield — the center’s hiring authority — fell through in early January. From the end of July to when Remillard began working, Senior Center Program Coordinator Sue Corey ran the center’s day-to-day operations.
Remillard is a Bay Path University alumna with a background in human services as well as consulting. She had her own dessert catering business before the pandemic and also worked in business and political consulting. She also is the president of the Friends of Deerfield, a nonprofit focused on working with town officials in raising money for events.
Remillard will help guide the Senior Center through the transition into a long-term temporary location, as the center’s old building, the South Deerfield Grammar School on North Main Street, has been closed since the pandemic began after mold and asbestos were found within the 90-year-old building.
The Senior Center is currently leasing out parts of the Holy Family Roman Catholic Church on Sugarloaf Street in Deerfield until June, as town officials plan to renovate the South Deerfield Congregational Church to house the seniors for a few years while a new Senior Center is planned.
With her experience and her deep connections to Deerfield, Remillard is confident she can help seniors get the Senior Center they deserve.
“I saw all the things that were needed, and by volunteering I heard a lot of concerns from residents about the way the senior program was going, and obviously the building (being closed),” Remillard said. “I felt with my background and knowledge base, I could really do a good job to help the seniors get their vision to come to fruition and that’s my goal..”
As she finds her footing, Remillard’s main focus is “continuity of programming” while she works on adding additional activities, including bird watching and art programs, as well as finding grant money.
“One of the pieces we’re looking at to continue is doing outdoor events … we’ll have indoor programs that will still be going on, but we’d like to add additional ones,” Remillard said. “We’ll be looking at potential grants to help seniors who don’t have access to technology.”
Remillard said the Senior Center will be hosting an official meet-and-greet for her on Feb. 25 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Light refreshments will be served.
A community survey will help the three towns plan the future of the South County Senior Center. The survey, which was administered by the University of Massachusetts Boston, can be found at bit.ly/3Ju4hGd. Residents with questions or who need assistance answering the survey can contact UMass Boston’s Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging at 617-287-7467.