Basilio Huertas Senior Center helps Hispanic community age with grace

In the downstairs bedroom of her daughter’s house, Elsie Berrios fought silently.

Her days as a valued cook were behind her, replaced by long stretches spent alone in her room. After retiring, her physical and mental health declined. 

The battle against sickness and depression made living a constant struggle for Berrios, a 75-year-old Puerto Rican and lifelong resident of Bethlehem’s South Side, and she knew it was time for a change. 

Five months ago, she pushed her walker through the doors of Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley.

“The light came back to me,” she said.

Bethlehem has a prominent Puerto Rican population, and organizations like the Hispanic Center’s Basilio Huertas Senior Center provide access to support services for senior Spanish-speaking community members. 

Aging Hispanic populations across the U.S face disproportionately greater challenges due to economic instability, disparities in health access, language barriers and social isolation. According to a study published in the Journal of Applied Gerontology, while Hispanic people tend to live longer than white people, they do so with a “marked decline in quality of life and serious functional limitations.” The same study concluded that individuals within this group often lack access to “culturally sensitive services to help them age well.”

Challenges rooted in disparity

Bethlehem’s South Side experienced an influx of Hispanic residents due to Bethlehem Steel’s international recruitment in the mid-20th century. Many workers came from Puerto Rico, arriving with a rudimentary education and little understanding of English.

Mariana De Maio, director of the Latin American and Latinx Studies program at Lehigh, said these factors make them especially vulnerable.

She said their U.S. citizenship made the recruitment process simple for Puerto Ricans, and many sought to escape economic hardships by coming to work in the U.S..

Decades later, the children of this generation make up much of the South Side’s older Hispanic community. But despite living here for all or most of their lives, their socioeconomic hardships persist today.

Raymond Santiago, executive director of Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley, said the biggest challenges faced by older Hispanics residents can be traced back to financial disparity. 

He said many older residents rely on fixed incomes and often worked in jobs that didn’t offer pensions, leaving them with little savings after retirement.

According to a 2022 report published by the AARP, approximately 64% of Hispanic workers in the U.S. “lack access to an employer-provided retirement plan,” followed by Black workers at 53% and Asian American workers at 45%.

“That’s probably the biggest hurdle,” Santiago said.

According to a study published in 2022 by the National Library of Medicine, the median income for Hispanic seniors in the U.S. is $22,000 below that of non-Hispanic white seniors. The study identifies them as the group with the highest percentage below the poverty level, with 4.5% uninsured.

Such disparities place Hispanic seniors at “high risk of adverse health outcomes” and lead to higher costs of care. The study also reports higher rates of obesity, diabetes, liver disease, dementia and depression.

The study also identified language barriers as a primary issue for Spanish-speaking individuals seeking health care. 

Ana Salazar, coordinator of the Basilio Huertas Senior Center, said Spanish-speaking members often ask her to take their medical phone calls and schedule appointments. She said translators are usually not an option locally, making the process confusing and frustrating — especially for older people.

“Sometimes, our seniors do feel unwanted by the community,” Salazar said. “People get upset more with the elderly, like if they’re in the store and they’re walking slowly. You have to understand that one day, you will be in their position. And you have to be respectful to everyone.”

Additionally, Salazar said barriers in both language and technology literacy can make tasks like catching a bus, setting up an account or submitting an online application feel overwhelming. Discrimination toward this population often comes from the intersection of age and ethnicity. 

A mission that empowers

Since its founding in 1968, Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley has aimed to empower and promote self-sufficiency for Hispanic individuals in Bethlehem’s South Side. For over 30 years, the Basilio Huertas Senior Center has made older community members the focal point of its mission.

“We were created because of the influx of the Hispanic community due to Bethlehem Steel,” Santiago said. “As that community aged, they needed a place where they could age gracefully and stay connected.”

The senior center hosts programs including English as a Second Language classes, technology training, financial literacy workshops and health screenings. Each day, members can engage socially through recreational activities and are provided with three nutritious meals — often a health-conscious take on a familiar cultural dish.

While the senior center welcomes people of all ethnicities, Santiago said a culturally appropriate approach to community-building sets it apart. 

Each month, the center’s impact is measured through a survey adopted from the UCLA Loneliness Scale, a 20-question, self-reported survey that evaluates feelings of social isolation. 

This allows members to provide regular feedback on how effectively the center reduces isolation and builds community. They can also share ideas through a suggestion box. 

Leonides Solivan, 73, has been attending the senior center since 2019. After retiring and battling cancer, she said it’s given her a daily sense of fulfillment and described it as her extended family.”

“I like the program where they have the nurses from St. Luke’s come to talk about different topics — it could be arthritis, cancer or any other topic,” she said. “We have to face these illnesses. It’s best to know what avenues we can take to get help and more information.”

Santiago said funding for the senior-focused programs can be difficult to secure. 

“Obviously, people love to invest in our youth, education or food pantry,” Santiago said. “For these things, it’s very easy to raise money. But saying that our seniors need help is a much more difficult task.”

In the past year, the senior center has seen decreases in financial support. Santiago said when older adults are seen as unable to give anything back, people are less likely to feel a responsibility to support them.

Looking ahead, Santiago said he hopes the senior center continues to survive as a program and gain support.

“They’re willing to serve on your boards, they’re willing to volunteer for your organizations, they’re willing to give so much, but they need to be asked,” Santiago said. “They need to be involved in the conversations, not forgotten as soon as they retire.”

Berrios, who once struggled with mobility issues and depression, can now be found in the center of the floor during daily exercise dance sessions.

She sports purple hair and a sun hat. She no longer uses a walker.

“They call me the ballerina,” Berrios said.

Salazar said Berrios now feels like she belongs in a way she didn’t before.

She said Berrios was welcomed immediately and now regularly receives hugs from staff and fellow members.

Each one is a reminder that she isn’t forgotten.