Barnett is the executive director of Senior Services of Alexandria, a nonprofit dedicated to providing resources to the city’s elderly. She comes to the job with 30 years of experience in the Alexandria department of recreation, where she worked her way up to director. Senior Services of Alexandria runs a meals-on-wheels program and provides other services to help the elderly age in place.
Why did you move to Senior Services of Alexandria after your career with the city?
I have a passion for helping people. Seniors in the city are somewhat underserved. There’s a lot of focus on children and youth, but elders need our help.
With the country’s population aging, do you think SSA will have a bigger role to play in the future?
Day to day, elders need a place to get information so they can live a full and healthy life. Aging comes at you fast. Suddenly you find yourself needing information on health care, how you put up handrails in a shower. You need someone to help you navigate paying bills online. With the population aging, there will be more of a need to help people do these things, and we plan to fill it.
How?
We’re developing a resource center, a one-stop shop that anyone in the community can call to get information on aging. It will provide information on how to move through our increasingly technological society. Maybe in 30 years the elderly will be adept at that, but right now, many don’t have computers.
Do you think the aging of the population is different in Alexandria than other jurisdictions in Washington?
Aging is a national issue. Alexandria is a smaller jurisdiction than those that surround it and there are fewer support systems available for the elderly, so we have to reach out more, especially to those with no family. – Freeman Klopott
