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| | | (SPECIAL/www.northfulton.com) (click for larger version) | |
January 23, 2008
ROSWELL -- Who said retirement is boring?
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| "What we do here keeps the mind active,"
Richard Higgins
Seniors Enriched Living |
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Local seniors are seizing the opportunity to "enrich" their lives through continuing education within the Seniors Enriched Living organization.
"Seniors still wanted to be active," said Richard Higgins, with Seniors Enriched Living.
Nothing could be truer.
The organization is geared to fill a local need for senior-friendly activities by offering college-type courses on everything from politics to defensive driving (55 Alive). Seniors Enriched Living (SEL) is the 19-year-old brainchild of Tom Nash and the late Mel Smiley. Both men, members of Roswell United Methodist Church, were drawn to the idea of continuing education while looking for something to do with their free time. The organization was born through a partnering of local churches, thanks to the work of Nash and Smiley. The churches offered space, lunch and volunteers, which was key to making the vision a reality.
"St. Thomas Aquinas was the first church to allow us to hold classes there," said Higgins. "After that other churches began to volunteer their facilities without a charge."
To date, 29 churches have come on board with the SEL mission and allowed the organization to hold classes on-site at no charge. The "no charge" factor is important in making sure that seniors, who often live on fixed incomes, are able to afford becoming members of SEL.
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For $40 per quarter, members can attend any of the over 30 diverse classes held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for eight weeks.
"We are really a non-profit organization," said Higgins, who notes that the cost to students drives the organization. "Our charge is for mailing, printing the brochure, a portion to the church[es] for electricity and the use of the phone. We're maxed out with money."
At $52,000 per year for the total cost of operating the program, which includes the use of two part-time employees, money is tight.
The firm budget necessitates volunteer taught courses.
"We get people who have taught for years at a college and now want to teach for fun, or people who just know a lot about a certain subject, or people who have worked in a certain field their whole lives and now want to pass that information on to others," Higgins said.
According to Higgins, the quarterly class schedule revolves around more academic-type courses on Tuesday, computer introduction classes on Wednesday and "Lunch 'N Learn" classes on Thursday. The "Lunch 'N Learn" courses are made up of current event classes, academic classes and fun elective classes, which are broken up in the afternoon by an optional catered lunch for an additional $6.
"It's very flexible," said Higgins. "You come when you want to come."
With 1,600 on the mailing list, it seems many local seniors want to come.
"What we do here keeps the mind active," said Higgins. "It's a social group. We take care of each other. When someone loses their spouse, it's like a family here. Those are some of the advantages."
To obtain a class schedule or sign up visit: www.sel-web.org or call 770-587-3750.
- www.northfulton.com
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