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LEWISTON — SeniorsPlus has announced it will open a new dining site and cooking designed to cater to older members of the Somali community.
The site, in conjunction with the Seniors New Mainers Cooking project, is in the St. Mary’s Nutrition Center at 208 Bates St. Lunches are open to the public, and will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Mondays, except holidays, beginning March 6. A $3 donation is suggested.
The Senior New Mainers Cooking Project is designed to engage older members of the refugee community in Lewiston, according to a news release from SeniorsPlus. According to the New York Times, Lewiston has a population of 36,300, of which 6,000 are Somali — most of whom arrived in the last 15 years, the release said.
The program is supported by a grant from the Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare Foundation. Registered dieticians from the Nutrition Center at St. Mary’s Hospital in collaboration with Healthy Androscoggin at Central Maine Medical Center, will teach ethnically appropriate cooking classes to older adults in collaboration with SeniorsPlus at the new dining site, the release said. By the end of the project’s initial year, in addition to lunches, the expectation is that the dining site will have offered a minimum of one set of six cooking classes with translated materials, tips, and nutrition information. Information about SNAP, local farmers markets, Farm Share program, will also be shared.
“This program is unique and innovative,” said Betsy Sawyer-Manter, president and CEO of SeniorsPlus, in the release. “It’s exciting to offer something that reaches out to the New Mainer community combining socialization, education, and nutrition.”
Established in 1972 and headquartered in Lewiston, SeniorsPlus is the Western Maine designated agency on aging covering Franklin, Oxford and Androscoggin counties. The overall program goal of SeniorsPlus is to assist older adults and adults with disabilities in its tri-county area to remain safely at home for as long as possible, the release said.
