Cambridge Senior Center Celebrates 30th Anniversary
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
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My favorite part (of my role) is being able to work with a great team to create and implement programs, and to work directly with older adults to create a space where they can find community and connection.
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On October 31, 1995, the Cambridge Senior Center (806 Massachusetts Avenue) opened its doors to the Cambridge community. Since then, the Cambridge Senior Center has offered a variety of programs, activities, social and support groups, and special events to Cambridge residents age 60 and older. Staff at the Senior Center also provide Medicare consultations, referrals to local agencies, and technology support to older adults.
In honor of the Cambridge Senior Center’s 30th anniversary, Susan Pacheco, Executive Director of the Council on Aging, and Alicia Johnson, Director of the Cambridge Senior Center, reflect on the past three decades.
How long have you worked at the Cambridge Senior Center?
Susan: I have been at the Cambridge Senior Center since it opened! I started as an Information Referral Specialist at the Council on Aging in June 1995. That October, the Senior Center had its grand opening, with over 600 people attending the celebration! I transitioned to Director of Client Services a few years later and in November 2012, I became the Executive Director of the Council on Aging.
Alicia: I started 23 years ago in a Coordinator role and worked in that position for four years. After briefly leaving the Senior Center, I returned in 2009 as an Information and Referral Specialist. In 2013, I became the Director of the North Cambridge Senior Center, and in 2021, I was promoted to my current role, Director of the Cambridge Senior Center.
How would you describe the mission of the Cambridge Senior Centers and the Council on Aging?
Susan: The mission of the Council on Aging is to promote and safeguard the health and independence of older adults. We want to encourage people to embrace older adulthood and broaden their horizons on what is possible in this stage of their lives. Our Senior Centers support this mission by providing older adults with opportunities to engage in lifelong learning, practice healthy aging, and find connection.
Alicia: Our core mission has always been the same: to provide services and resources to empower older adults in Cambridge. We also respond to the emerging needs of our community. We listen to the feedback and concerns of our older adults and adapt our programming to meet their changing needs and circumstances.
What motivated you to pursue working with older adults?
Susan: My love of older adults began personally. I grew up in Cambridge as a first-generation Portuguese-American in a multigenerational household with a large extended family. Our family had many great-aunts and great-uncles. We never saw them as different just because they were older, we saw them as people to be respected.
I had not originally planned to work with older adults; my educational background was in child psychology. One Sunday at church [soon after graduating college], I noticed a job posting in the bulletin for a bilingual Portuguese-speaking case manager at Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services. I applied, got the job, and that is how I began my journey working with older adults!
It has been a great privilege to continue working with older adults. It is incredible to sit with someone, hear their life story, understand what they need to be independent, and give them a voice.
Alicia: I discovered my passion for working with older adults when I was in college. In the 1980s, my grandfather volunteered at a food pantry based in the former Senior Center located on Pearl St. in Central Square. One Christmas, I joined my mother as a volunteer to serve dinner. Since then, I have loved working with older adults.
Back then [in the 80s and 90s], aging was not embraced the way it is today. People feared becoming older. I wanted to change this perception: I wanted people to see aging as a gift and embrace older adulthood. My goal is to shift mindsets on aging, and I have reflected this in my work throughout my career.
What is your favorite part of your work at the Cambridge Senior Center?
Susan: It is a privilege to be in my role in this incredible organization. I have the opportunity — an open door — to hear directly from older adults in our community about their concerns, and work towards fulfilling their needs. It is a tremendous joy to do our work at the Senior Centers, to create that ‘third place’ for older adults: a community space where they find joy and enrichment.
Alicia: There are so many things I love about my role! My favorite part is being able to work with a great team to create and implement programs, and to work directly with older adults to create a space where they can find community and connection.
In the last 30 years, how has the Senior Center evolved to meet the needs of older adults in Cambridge?
Susan: As a society, we recognize the nuance and complexity in earlier stages of life like childhood and young adulthood. But for older adults, we sometimes place everyone from 60 to 100 years in the same bucket. This is a cohort of people who have more than 40 years of unique and varied life experiences as adults. They grew up with different music genres and cultural experiences; a one-size-fits-all approach will not work. Our programming needs to reflect the range and diversity of this community.
Alicia and her team actively examine how we can adapt our programming to meet the needs of our community. Which community members are not yet being served by our programs and what can we do to include them? How can our programming address the wide range of backgrounds, interests, and capabilities of our older adults in Cambridge?
Alicia: Historically, older adults in our community had close links to Cambridge. Many of them identified as lifelong Cantabrigians and found common ground in their shared experiences growing up in Cambridge.
Over the years, this has changed. We now also have a lot of community members who are not lifelong Cantabrigians or long-term residents. Many are new to Cambridge and moved here for different reasons. We want to create a place where everyone can find connection and a sense of belonging. We welcome everyone at our Senior Centers.
Has programming at the Senior Center changed?
Alicia: In recent years, there has been a lot of interest in classes like Dancing for Balance, Drawing, and Theater. There is a real desire for creative expression among older adults in our community. They want to learn, and showcase what have they have learned.
We can see our community members discovering the next chapter in their lives and finding ways to express themselves as they navigate this transition. Many of them are now exploring interests they always had but were unable to pursue earlier in their lives.
What are some of the Senior Center’s most popular classes?
Alicia: Introduction to Theatre has been a big hit with our community. And it’s not just women who are taking classes in the arts. Our theater class has many male participants who have found connection through the class. Participants have built a community that extends beyond the Senior Center; they often make plans to go to performances together at local theaters.
Susan: Ping-pong is also very popular at the Senior Center. The second floor of the Senior Center has a ping pong table and two billiards tables. Hundreds of community members check in each month to play a game. Many people play for fun, but the value isn’t just for recreation — sometimes physical therapists play with clients who have mobility issues to practice hand-eye coordination.
What do you wish older adults knew about the Senior Center?
Susan: If you are a Cambridge resident 60 or older, come through our doors and you will find something you enjoy! Our Senior Center isn’t only about knitting and playing bingo. (Yes, we do have bingo and knitting, but we offer so much more!)
Alicia: Last month [September 2025], we served more than 540 unique individuals and had over 6,000 visits to our Senior Center. Our community members often take part in multiple classes and activities. There is always something going on at the Senior Center, Monday through Friday, in every room in our building.
We are beginning to see a shift in attitudes about aging. Recently, we have been getting a lot of interest from community members in Cambridge who are not yet 60. In fact, they are looking forward to turning 60 so that they can participate in our programs! We are excited to play a role in helping community members embrace aging and find the excitement in it.
For more information about the Cambridge Senior Center and the Cambridge Council on Aging, visit www.cambridgema.gov/CouncilonAging.
