The director of the Florence Sylvester Senior Center, Aimee Roberts, has resigned after three years on the job. Her last official day at the Laguna Hills center was June 26.
“It’s time for me to move on,” Roberts said in a phone interview last week. “I have a lot of family that I need to take care of.”
Though Roberts said she’s had a “great experience” and “learned a lot” during her tenure at the center, she said that after spending time with family, she is looking forward to “new challenges and opportunities for growth.”
“I’ve had a wonderful, wonderful experience here,” Roberts said. “I think the community should be so proud that there’s such a sense of community and togetherness, and they’ve shown me nothing but that. They welcomed me with open arms.”
As yet, no new director has been hired for the senior center, said Steve Moyer, CEO of Age Well Senior Services, a nonprofit that provides programs and services at 10 senior centers across Orange County.
“Our search for the right candidate is actively underway, and we are committed to finding a person who will continue the legacy of excellence” at the center, Moyer said. “In the interim, we will engage a very competent professional who will manage the programs and activities until a new director is identified.”
All regular activities, including classes and card games, and other events at the senior center will go ahead as planned, Moyer said in an email.
The Meals on Wheels program and in-person lunches will also continue.
But the popular monthly Wine Club will cease to exist, with meetings scheduled for July and August canceled, Roberts said.
The club was the brainchild of Roberts, whose background includes working in the wine industry and earning the designation of certified sommelier. As of now, there is no one with the knowledge to take over the club, she said.
Roberts started as director of the Florence Sylvester Senior Center in June 2021, during the pandemic shutdown. She hails from Indiana and earned a post-graduate Aging Studies Certificate “after spending time with my grandmother and realizing this was the group I wanted to spend time and work with,” she said in an interview at the time.
She started the Wine Club in March 2022.
“The idea was to bring new, fresh activities to the senior center,” Roberts said. “This was something different to appeal to a new group of people, to bring different people to the center.”
Expanding the visibility of the senior center was part of Roberts’ plan from the beginning, she said.
“A lot of people did not know what we were – they thought day care, residential living,” she said. “People didn’t realize it was just like a community, but for seniors. And most of it was free or very-low cost.”
Roberts succeeded in her goal, said Jaclyn Svensson, vice president of communications and operations at Age Well.
“Aimee has done an exceptional job from the reopening of the Florence Sylvester Memorial Senior Center after COVID-19 to the introduction of new programs and activities,” Svensson said in an email. “She has also been instrumental in engaging with the community, including the Boomers and other clubs, bringing us to where we are today.”
Asked what she will miss most as she leaves the senior center, Roberts said without hesitation, “100% it’s the people.”
“I have met so many incredible people who have shared their stories with me and the joy they have in life, that I see a way to live that I want to live. Seniors – I just love them.”
Roberts said she has been getting emotional about the thought of leaving – “because of so many people I’ll miss. The connections I’ve made here have been very special,” she said.
“Having this position here and meeting so many people has been one of the great joys of my life,” she said.
“Aimee’s ability to connect with our seniors and her innovative approach to programming have made her a beloved figure at the center,” Moyer said. “We will miss her energy, her personal touch with the seniors, and her unwavering commitment to our mission.”
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