One of the great things about college is the newfound independence it provides 18-year-olds. No longer do you need passes to walk through school hallways, no longer are parents constantly surveilling your whereabouts, and no longer do adults treat you as a child, part of a different class — at least for the most part.

Independence and autonomy are things to cherish and to fight for. Young people aren’t alone in this fight: It is also waged by the elderly. The independence and autonomy that they have enjoyed their whole lives is often threatened by those who would treat them again as children.

That is what is happening in Syracuse at the Ida Benderson Senior Center. Ida Benderson, in the heart of downtown on South Salina Street, provides a place for low-income senior citizens to get a healthy meal, to play cards or billiards and to talk with other seniors. Many of the seniors who use Ida Benderson don’t have other family members living in Syracuse — the users of Ida Benderson have become their family. That is, until Friday.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner unilaterally decided to close Ida Benderson. She didn’t ask the seniors, she didn’t ask the Common Council, and she didn’t ask Syracuse residents. She just sent her Parks and Recreation Commissioner to announce to the seniors that their home was no more.

Miner has argued that seniors can go to the Salvation Army. That is like telling college students to go back to junior high school. Yes, it provides more services, but it’s not more services that the seniors who use Ida Benderson want or need. They want their independence and their dignity. They do not want an assigned seat and a rigid schedule of activities and ‘intake forms’ and constant surveillance from staff. The Salvation Army may provide an important service for some seniors, but not for those who use Ida Benderson.

The Ida Benderson Senior Center is a special place. ‘It’s the most integrated place in Syracuse,’ said Howie Hawkins, a community organizer. Integration was a core principle of Ida Benderson herself, who volunteered in the Syracuse community into her 90s. At Ida Benderson you can find black, Native American, Asian, Latino and white seniors chatting and recreating together.

On Friday, that will end — unless the Syracuse community acts. There have already been a series of protests: a petition; a delegation to the mayor; a press conference with Republicans, Democrats and Green Party politicians all calling for the center to remain open; a rally and march to City Hall; a visit from Ida Benderson’s son; and $18,000 in donations from community supporters, which the mayor has refused. On Wednesday, two senior women who have been leading the protests shaved their heads to dramatize how much cuts to seniors hurt.

The Ida Benderson Center seniors have called for community supporters to gather at Plymouth Church, on 232 E. Onondaga St., on Friday at 12:30 p.m. From there, we will march to Ida Benderson and on to City Hall, where a delegation bearing a peace dove will ask to negotiate with the mayor — who has so far refused all attempts to find a compromise. I hope there will be a strong Syracuse University presence there on Friday so we can show the city of Syracuse what Scholarship in Action looks like.

Vincent Lloyd 

Assistant Professor of Religion

Published on September 28, 2011 at 12:00 pm