Gabor Reports Progress on Senior Housing Concerns

CREST HAVEN — A meeting with Diocese of Camden officials at Haven House on Townbank Road, North Cape May was termed “very productive” by freeholder Kristine Gabor.
She had voiced concerns about residents who believed they had nowhere to turn with problems and safety concerns at that senior housing facility as well as those in Victorian Towers, Cape May.
Gabor told the Herald she wanted seniors in any apartment complex in the county to know, failing other attempts with management to rectify safety concerns and other issues, she would lend the county’s support behind them.
She said there were “positive changes” pledged, and that she would be “staying on top” of those situations until satisfactory resolution took place.
She also met recently with the Department of Aging and Disability Services and Special Services School District officials regarding families with adult disabled children.
Of the session, she said it had been a “very productive and good learning experience.”
Discussed were “gaps in services for families with adult disabled children,” said Gabor. There are many programs for youths with disabilities, but “definite gaps” in service to those young adults.
While the resolution lies more with the state than county, “We advocate for the disabled, and see where gaps are and work with families and work with the state to find real solutions,” she added.
She lauded the work done by Paulann Pierson, who works in the Office of Aging and Disabilities to advocate for the disabled. Pierson “reaches out to families to assist” in any way possible, she added.
At the conclusion of her report, Gabor presented the Senior Citizen of the Year resolution, announced in May at the annual senior jamboree in Avalon, to Elizabeth “Betty” Collins of Wildwood.
Collins was unable to attend that May event. She moved to Wildwood in 1983, and has been active in many organizations since then, said Gabor.
Among organizations, Collins has been chair and vice chair of the Wildwood Civic Club, and served to make the Wildwood Baby Parade committee and in Wildwood AARP Chapter 5235.
“She is a perfect example of what it means to serve and not to be served,” said Gabor.