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Welcome to a special edition of the Friday Five! We proudly present: | | |
The Senior Community Services Inc.
2025 Annual Report:
“Bridging the Gap Between the Home and the Senior Center”
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This week, in place of our regular Friday Five newsletter, we are proud to share SCS’ 2025 Annual Report which highlights the impact we’ve had on our community from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.
For nearly 50 years, SCS has supported older adults with dignity, choice, and a commitment to overall well-being. Through our Aging at Home program, Long Term Care Management, Caregiver Support, Cognitive Stimulation Kits, Home-Delivered Meals, PA MEDI Medicare counseling, and four senior centers,
SCS reached approximately 20,000 individuals last year.
This report offers a brief look at how we continue bridging the gap between the home and the senior center, and how we keep older adults across Delaware County happy, healthy, and independent.
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A Message from Arthur and Tom
Dear Friends of SCS,
This past year at Senior Community Services, Inc., we focused on what it truly means to bridge the gap between the home and the senior center.
In recent years, many of us have grown more accustomed to staying home, whether due to illness, unpredictable weather, or simply the comfort of familiar surroundings. Our homes should absolutely be safe havens, offering security and peace of mind. Yet a thriving community invites us to step beyond those walls and share a meal, learn something new, engage in stimulating conversation, and experience the richness of life together. At SCS, we embrace both sides of that balance. We encourage older adults to venture out for connection and engagement through our centers and programs, while also ensuring that when they return to the comfort of home, they remain supported, nourished, and never alone.
A vital part of this work is carried out through our Long Term Care Department. Through personalized care management, caregiver support, Medicare counseling, and related services, we help older adults and their families navigate complex decisions and access the resources they need. Whether coordinating in-home supports, providing financial reimbursement and counseling to caregivers, or guiding individuals through their Medicare options, our team works alongside families to reduce stress and strengthen independence. The goal is simple and consistent: to help older adults remain safely and comfortably in the place they call home.
During Fiscal Year 2025, more than 6,400 older adults engaged with programming at one of our four senior centers, nearly 500 homebound seniors received 130,574 delivered meals, and thousands more found guidance and connection through our support services. Behind every number is someone choosing independence, dignity, and community.
Bridging the gap means more than providing services. It means ensuring that no older adult feels isolated simply because mobility, health, or circumstance has made it more difficult to leave home. It means transforming senior centers into vibrant hubs that extend their reach wherever they are needed. And it means strengthening the network of staff, volunteers, donors, and partners who make that connection possible.
We are deeply grateful to the 350 volunteers who gave more than 37,000 hours of service this year, to our dedicated staff, and to the supporters who believe in our mission. Because of you, thousands of older adults remain safe at home, engaged in their communities, and connected to one another.
As we look ahead, we remain committed to strengthening these bridges, expanding access, deepening impact, and ensuring that every older adult in our community has the opportunity to live independently and with purpose.
With gratitude,
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Arthur Weisfeld
Executive Director
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Tom Carroll
Board President
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2025 Financials
Senior Community Services provided comprehensive support to over 20,000 individuals in the past year, offering services such as Aging at Home support and Cognitive Stimulation programs. The organization’s commitment to dignity, choice, and overall well-being has made a significant impact on the community. With a focus on empowering seniors to lead fulfilling lives, SCS has established itself as a leader in senior care.
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Program Highlights: “Bridging the Gap
Between the Home and the Senior Center”
Aging does not look the same for everyone. Some older adults visit our senior centers each week for meals, classes, and companionship, while others remain at home due to health, mobility, or caregiving responsibilities. At SCS, we believe there should be no divide between those experiences. Through home-delivered meals, Care Management, PA MEDI counseling, Caregiver Support, Aging at Home services, and Center Without Walls programming, we ensure that connection, support, and opportunity extend far beyond the walls of our buildings. SCS senior centers are vibrant hubs of activity filled with information on valuable resources and inviting meeting places that reach outward into neighborhoods across Delaware County, meeting older adults wherever they are and helping them remain engaged, independent, and supported.
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SCS’ Community Impact and Special Highlights from 2025
Throughout 2025, Senior Community Services, Inc. offered a variety of programs and community-building events across Chester, Good Neighbor, Friendship Circle, Schoolhouse, and Center Without Walls locations. Older adults participated in abstract art classes, Chair Yoga, and educational workshops, while intergenerational partnerships with local high school and university students brought their energy and skils into our centers and surrounding neighborhoods through the Aging at Home program’s yardwork projects and nurse visitation days.
Our Long Term Care Department also expanded its impact in meaningful ways. The Caregiver Academy was reintroduced in a new hybrid format, offering online and in-person sessions. This approach allowed us to reach more caregivers across the county while requiring less weekly time commitment than our previous model. Caregivers still received the same valuable education and support, including onsite respite care during the in-person event and caregiver-specific take-home tools for the first 25 registrants. The updated format was warmly received, and we look forward to building on its success in the years ahead. We are grateful to Delaware County Link/ADRC for their generous support in funding this initiative.
Together, these efforts reflected a year grounded in creativity, innovation, and meaningful support, all in service of helping older adults and their caregivers live independently and stay connected throughout Delaware County.
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Delco Gives was a meaningful moment of generosity for SCS in 2025. Supporters gathered during Older Americans Month for a walk at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, helping launch the campaign with visibility and shared purpose. Matching gifts and giving challenges amplified the impact, demonstrating strong community support for older adults across Delaware County. We look forward to continuing to incorporate this county-wide day of giving into the life and rhythm of SCS in the years ahead. | | | | |
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The Value of Senior Community Services:
In Memory of Ann Marie
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“I received sad news a few weeks ago about the passing of a dear friend of 20 years. Her name is Ann Marie. I immediately connected with some fellow longtime artists who knew her as well.
I had met her and a few other gals at the very first session of Senior Community Services’ Center Without Walls Watercolor & Pencil drawing classes 20 years ago, at the Aston Community Center. I knew no one in the classes and had not much art experience, but had seen a flyer in the Aston Library and signed up right away. The classes were wonderful and the atmosphere very friendly and supportive. Our talented watercolor instructor was Helen and Pencil Drawing instructor was Van. Currently and for many years, our talented watercolor instructor has been Marie.
Some of my first friendships were with Ann Marie, Peg, Ruth, and Lorraine and later joined by Kathy, Patricia, Jackie, Dot, and many more. We always said these classes were “free therapy” as we would learn but while laughing, telling stories and doing lunch together, of course.
One of my favorite stories was while Ann Marie was on the 50th Year Anniversary Reunion Committee for her High School, of which she hired my son to create a slideshow for the event. There was lots of scanning and explaining old photos! My favorite story was when she explained you had to ring the convent and have Mother Superior “approve” of your dress before being permitted to attend the dances.
When I first met her, Ann Marie was younger than I am now. Despite the difference in our ages, it was the beginning of a longtime friendship. What an interesting and talented artist and life-long learner, in so many topics. She was an artwork mentor, we took art history classes in Swarthmore, went to Neumann lectures, gardening seminars, a trip to Hamilton Sculpture Gardens, shared travel advice, did lunch often and shared lots of family stories of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Although she had not taken classes in 4 years, since she moved from Aston, we continued to stay in touch by phone, email or an occasional lunch.
In these classes, I have met many wonderful talented artist friends and I contacted some to join me in celebrating Ann Marie and we attended her memorial service and enjoyed a group Breakfast together in her memory, this past Saturday, September 6th. Attending service were: Lorraine, Patricia, Jackie, Kathy, Van, Agnes, and myself.
The memorial had many of Ann Marie’s artworks displayed and brought back many years of memories.
I am making a donation to SCS in Ann Marie’s memory to show the value of these classes for students both for ongoing learning experiences and friendships.”
-Dianne Caggiano
| | | | The official registration and financial information for Senior Community Services, Inc. may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling, toll-free, within Pennsylvania 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement. | | |
The Bridge Continues
As we reflect on Fiscal Year 2025 and look ahead, Senior Community Services, Inc. remains committed to keeping older adults happy, healthy, and independent. While the needs of seniors may continue to evolve, our purpose remains the same. We will keep strengthening the connection between the comfort of home and the opportunities found in community life by delivering meals, offering trusted guidance, supporting caregivers, and providing welcoming spaces for engagement and friendship. Thank you for being part of this work and for helping ensure that older adults throughout our community remain safe, supported, and connected.
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