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Senior Services
Approximately 190,000 senior citizens utilize the many programs and services offered by the Department of Senior Enrichment. The Town of Hempstead has 100 senior citizen clubs and 14 centers, which are open five days a week to serve residents ages 55 and over. Social, recreational, and educational opportunities are provided. Membership is free.
Activities and Services Include:
- Arts and Crafts
- Billiards
- Bingo
- Bocce
- Bowling
- Calligraphy
- Cards
- Ceramics
- Creative Writing
- Current Events
- Dance
- History
- Humenities Discussions
- Intergenerational Programs
- Luncheons
- Macramé
- Music
- Needlecraft
- Painting
- Parties
- Physical Fitness Classes
- Poetry
- Sculpture
- Sewing
- Showtime
- Shuffleboard
- Trips
A variety of cultural and educational programs, films, and speakers are also available. The centers offer blood pressure screenings, health programs, income tax assistance, and Vial of Life programs.
- Creative Writers Workshop
- Flu Immunization Program
- Nutrition
- Summer Beach Program
- Special Events
- Transportation
- Vial of Life
- Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)
The Creative Writers Workshop helps to inspire and develop the artistic abilities of seniors who wish to fulfill a lifelong ambition to write. Workshop participants compose original poems, short stories, and memoirs and have an opportunity to share their writings with the community at the conclusion of the 16-week workshop. Call the Department of Senior Enrichment for further information at 516-485-8100.
Hempstead Town, in cooperation with area hospitals, provides an annual Flu immunization program for resident seniors, age 55 or older, at various senior centers. Flu vaccines will be provided at no out-of-pocket cost to the seniors. The administrating hospital will bill insurance companies; however, there will be no co-payments for those receiving vaccines. You must pre-register at any of the town's senior centers beginning at least one week in advance. For further information, please call the Department of Senior Enrichment at 516-485-8100.
Senior Enrichment offers a comprehensive range of nutritional services, including the opportunity for senior center members to purchase a healthy lunch, prepared by the town's nutrition team, at an affordable price. For information please call 516-485-8100.
The 10-week Senior Summer Beach program is free to Town residents ages 55 and over and runs Monday through Friday at The Sands at Lido Beach, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Organized activities such as line dancing, games, and presentations are offered. The highlight of each day is special live entertainment under an outdoor tent.
The 2023 Senior Summer Beach program begins Monday, June 26, 2023, and runs weekdays through Friday, September 1, 2023, from 10 am to 3 pm. The Town provides free parking passes (entrance at Lido Beach Town Park, 630 Lido Boulevard, Lido Beach). Participants may bring their own lunch, or purchase refreshments at affordable prices.
Various holiday parties, bazaars, installation lunches, movies, and variety shows are scheduled throughout the year.
An integral part of the senior program are the mini-buses which provide seniors with needed transportation between their homes and senior centers within their geographic zone. Additional services provided to senior center members include shopping, banking, swimming, and inter-center shuffleboard tournaments. Transportation to the summer beach program and other special events is provided.
The Vial of Life provides rescue units and emergency service personnel with easy and quick access to vital personal and medical information. Often when medical personnel responds to an emergency at a senior citizen's residence they are unable to act immediately because they do not know what medications the person is taking or other vital information. This program addresses that problem.
A Vial of Life decal posted on the inside of the participant's front door alerts emergency medical personnel that the resident is a program participant. An emergency medical information form is placed inside The Vial of Life container which is kept inside the participant's refrigerator. Participants may also place a Health Care Proxy form in the Vial of Life container. The health care proxy form allows seniors to choose a person or persons to make medical decisions on their behalf should they become unable to make their own medical decisions.
For a free Vial of Life kit, call the Department of Senior Enrichment at 516-485-8100.
Hempstead Town's VITA Program helps senior residents and residents with limited incomes prepare their federal and state income tax returns and secure every penny of the refunds to which they are entitled. It's time to take advantage of the free service presented by our Department of Senior Enrichment's volunteer tax assistants.