Wilmarie Gonzalez, Director and Long Term Care Ombudsman of the Bureau of Advocacy, Protection and Education for the PA Department of Aging, recently presented a citation recognizing Center in the Park for its successful delivery of the Healthy Steps falls prevention program to over 1,000 participants, in six months, to members of the Healthy Steps team from CIP. The presentation was made in Bellefonte, PA at a wrap-up meeting attended by state officials and representatives of the three regional coordinators of the demonstration project.

Pictured Left to Right: Wilmarie Gonzalez, Director & State LTC Ombudsman Bureau for Advocacy, Protection & Education, PA Department of Aging; Diane Tucker, CIP Volunteer ; Lynn Harris, CIP; Matthew McLaughlin, Center for Urban Health Policy and Research of the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (AEHN); Nicole Bradford, CIP; and, Dr. Tina Harralson, Center for Urban Health Policy and Research (AEHN).

Center in the Park (CIP), SE Regional Coordinator for the Healthy Steps demonstration project, will evaluate the results of the program in partnership with researchers from the Center for Urban Health Policy and Research of the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (AEHN) and share information with the PA Department of Aging (PDA), as PDA rolls out the statewide implementation of the falls prevention program. From last Spring through the end of October, CIP staff and volunteers were trained as facilitators and, led by Don Baxter, FitEssentials, delivered the falls prevention program to more than 1,000 older adults, aged 50+, in Philadelphia, Berks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Montgomery and Schuylkill Counties.

Center in the Park is a community center that promotes positive aging and fosters community connections for older adults in Northwest Philadelphia, whose voices are critical instruments in shaping its activities and direction. CIP is accredited by the National Institute of Senior Centers, a unit of the National Council on Aging as a provider of excellent programs, activities and services for its active membership of more than 5,000 and its 1,000 homebound clients.