Senior Center
Trumbull’s over-65 population more than doubles
By GENEVIEVE REILLY
greilly@ctpost.com
TRUMBULL — After 40 years, Lee and Dan Donofrio knew that maintaining their home had become too much for them. They also knew they didn’t want to leave Trumbull.
So when Spring Meadows opened a little over a year ago, the Donofrios, both 86, were among the first to move to the Main Street housing complex for older adults.
"We sold our house because we were getting to that age where it was difficult to move around and cut the grass," Dan Donofrio said. "We decided we would rent and we moved to a condo across from Town Hall."
They lived there for six years, until their landlord decided to sell the unit.
"We had to find a new rent and then we read about this place," he said.
Spring Meadows is one of several housing options locally available for older people, whose population in town has more than doubled over the last three decades.
In 1970, the number of residents over 65 years old was 2,326. According to the 2000 Census, that number is now 5,914 out of a total of just over 34,000.
"We looked at 3030 Park [in Bridgeport], we looked in Milford," Dan Donofrio said of other housing facilities the couple investigated. "We checked them all out, but we wanted to be in Trumbull.
"We like the town very much. I’m on the Senior Citizen Commission; we’re active in town."
Housing options
Spring Meadows offers 106 one- and two-bedroom independent-living apartments ranging in price from $2,455 to $3,670 a month. These rates include breakfast and 20 additional meals monthly, most utilities, weekly housekeeping, and educational and cultural programs.
There are also 44 assisted-living units, where three daily meals are provided along with other amenities. Those residents also receive health monitoring. Rates for these units range from $3,340 a month to $3,915.
"People come to Trumbull and buy a single-family home in their 30s and 40s, and then by the time they’re in their 60s, they want to move into a condominium, or one of the other housing complexes in town, where they don’t have to provide the maintenance and they can stay right here in town," First Selectman Kenneth Halaby said.
Halaby said Trumbull isn’t much different than other suburban towns in the region. "A lot of us are facing the growing senior population," he said. "About 20 percent of our population [is] 55 or older and we have addressed these needs over the years."
In Trumbull, besides private housing projects for older adults such as Spring Meadows, or Rosedale of Trumbull, there is also Stern Village, the town-sponsored senior housing complex with 36 units of congregate housing along with 157 apartments.
There also is St. Joseph’s Manor, a nonprofit, 297-bed facility with three levels of care — independent living, intermediate care and skilled nursing. It also provides an adult day-care program five days a week.
"We are working with Mutual Housing Association to build 43-units of truly, 100 percent affordable housing for seniors" as a way to provide even more housing options for the elderly, Halaby said.
Several years ago, the Planning and Zoning Commission adopted new regulations allowing accessory apartments, which Halaby said allows homeowners to create a separate rental unit at their house, providing a two-fold benefit — more affordable housing units in town and extra income for the owner, which can be crucial in helping some seniors continue to live in their home.
There are now 143 accessory apartments in town.
When Robert Rose had a stroke 10 years ago, he moved into an addition that his son, James, built onto his Trumbull home.
"He was living with me for about eight years," James Rose said. But about a year ago, "We both agreed it was time for him to have a little bit more companionship and assistance."
The elder Rose, 84, moved into an apartment at Spring Meadows, and his son couldn’t be more pleased.
"It’s worked out very well, and the convenience is the biggest thing," said James Rose, owner of the Grille and Bar in Trumbull Center. "I can pick up whatever he needs."
Finding housing for seniors is a major concern for Jean Fereira, too.
Though only 43, the town’s senior center and social services director sees firsthand the impact of a population that is steadily aging.
"They no longer can take care of a house, but they can live alone, so housing is going to be an issue," Fereira said.
The independent- and assisted-living facilities are an option for some, but not all seniors, she said.
"Those are expensive," Fereira said. "What do you do if you’re one of the ‘middle class’ seniors?
"We’re all living longer," Fereira added. "And Social Services is seeing a little bit more frail elderly."
"It’s a juggling act, for sure" said Halaby, who is finishing his first term as first selectman.
Help for seniors
Halaby said the town has aggressively pursued increasing the tax benefits for senior citizens as a way to keep the town affordable for them.
And with people living longer, the label "senior" encompasses a pretty broad segment of the population, according to Fereira.
"Someone who is in their 60s doesn’t often have a lot in common with someone who is in their 80s," she said.
Because of the diversity among older adults, the town’s Senior Center has added some classes, such as weightlifting, that might seem a bit non-traditional.
"We’re trying to get some of the younger seniors involved," Fereira said.
Russell Schwartz, executive director of Spring Meadows, agrees. He said that in his facility’s independent-living apartments, the youngest tenant is 53 and the oldest is 101, going on 102.
"We’re trying to do more programs with the town’s Senior Center," Schwartz said. "We want them to feel a part of the overall community. We don’t want them to feel isolated."
The younger set
But as the town strives to meet the needs of its aging population, it must also address the concerns of another growing segment of its population — younger families with children.
While the number of Trumbull children under the age of 19 took a dip in the 1980s, it is back on the upswing, growing from 7,912 in 1990 to 9,407 in 2000, a 19 percent increase.
"I think this is the last town that is still a somewhat comfortable commuting distance from New York," Halaby said, but the population also appears less transient than in some southwestern Fairfield County suburbs.
"I think they look at this as more a place where they’d like to settle," he said. "The school system is excellent, and we have a lot to offer for every segment of the population."
Of the town’s 11,911 occupied housing units, 10,828 are owner-occupied. The majority of those households — 8,544 — are headed by married couples.
Linda and Carl Hayo were lured to Trumbull in 1987 by the reputation of the town’s school system and a desire to stretch their housing dollar.
At the time, they had one son, Matt, now 15. His sister Amanda is 12.
"We came from Norwalk," said Linda Hayo, 45. "We liked the schools and we felt we could get more house for our money, which we did."
Carl, 46, commutes each day to his job in Danbury with GE Capital.
With Matt starting his junior year in high school and Amanda in the seventh grade at Hillcrest Middle School, their mother says the family is still satisfied with the school system.
"Both my kids have done well," she said, but added, "It would be nice if class sizes could be smaller."
In fact, to help deal with the town’s growing student population and control class sizes, the town is planning to construct a new elementary school.
Since moving here, the Hayos have been able to "upgrade" to a larger home. They recently moved from Cypress Lane over to Barnswallow Road.
"Our house sold in two days to a young couple," Linda Hayo said. "I think people still want to come to Trumbull."
She added that she likes the recreational facilities Trumbull has. There are two municipal pools, a golf course, tennis courts and quite a few parks.
A community center to serve the various interests of the entire population is also in the planning stages.
"I’d really like to see that built," Linda Hayo said.
Plans are under way to build the town’s sixth elementary school to house the growing student population, expected to increase by 374 students by the 2003-04 school year. There were 3,080 elementary school students during the 2000-01 school year.
"Over the last 10 or 15 years, our enrollment increased by 1,500 students," Supt. of Schools Ralph Iassogna said. "Over the next 10 or 15 years it is expected to increase by another 1,500."
The new elementary school, he said, will just take care of increased enrollment, but won’t allow for expansion of programs such as foreign language instruction in the lower grades.
"A community such as Trumbull has to be very cognizant of the escalating enrollment in student population," Iassogna said. "It’s a very attractive community with an excellent school system. The town offers a myriad of opportunities for families."
But the school system, he said, also has to realize the expense of meeting educational demands.
"That’s why we’re just building one new school," Iassogna said. "Five years down the road we may have to look at some additions to some of the [other] schools."
"It’s a juggling act," Halaby said about trying to fund such projects while keeping taxes in line. "Tax relief for the seniors puts a heavier burden on people with kids because they’ll have to pay that share."
But while griping about taxes might be a popular pastime, Linda Hayo said, "I think most people are pretty happy with what they get" in exchange for their taxes.
Minority opinions
Although the number of minorities has grown since 1990, Trumbull remains, for the most part, an overwhelmingly white community — 94.8 percent.
Blacks total 726, or 2.1 percent of the population, while Hispanics account for 2.7 percent.
The town in 1998 found itself the subject of a year-long FBI probe into allegations of racial profiling by police — stopping motorists based solely on race.
Although the U.S. Attorney’s office determined there was not enough evidence to support the allegations, the town entered into an agreement with the Justice Department.
One of the agreement’s hallmarks was the goal of hiring minority officers for the police force.
Since then, a Hispanic and a black officer have joined the ranks of the formerly all-white Police Department.
Laurie Giles, who is black, served on the Community Task Force that helped craft the Justice Department agreement.
An attorney with a practice in town, Giles has lived in Trumbull since she was 2 years old.
"I don’t really see any more diversity," said Giles, the mother of 11-year-old Brittany. "In my daughter’s sixth-grade class at Madison Middle School, in a class of about 200, she was one of two African-Americans."
That was pretty much the way it was when Giles herself attended Trumbull schools, she recalled.
But, Giles said, neither she nor her daughter is treated differently because of their skin color.
"I don’t see it as an issue in the schools or with my clients," she said.
Genevieve Reilly, who covers Trumbull, can be reached at 330-6256.
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