DeKalb County
Community Foundation
partners with NIU
for Golden Years Plaza

The DeKalb County Community Foundation has funded two projects through the gerontology program in the NIU College of Health and Human Sciences that benefit seniors at Golden Years Plaza.

The foundation’s check for $1,235 will purchase exercise equipment for the plaza, located on Taylor Street, as well as books and tapes to train students who volunteer to befriend the seniors.

Pamela “Pommy” Macfarlane, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education in the College of Education, will coordinate an exercise program with her students beginning next spring. The books and tapes, on topics such as communicating with people who are hard of hearing and tips on being a caregiver, will help students participating in the “Senior Friends Program.”

Pictured (clockwise, from bottom left) are Margy Scarl, resident initiatives director for the DeKalb County Housing Authority; Mitch Hallgren, executive director of the DeKalb County Housing Authority; Gerald Bemis, chair of the grant selection committee of the DeKalb County Community Foundation; Alan Robinson, director of outreach for the College of Health and Human Sciences; and John Stolte, professor and program director for NIU’s gerontology program.

12-8-03