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Claude Pepper Center Marks Year Of Service

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 27, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Lee Fenton dressed like a real Bozo to celebrate the city recreation complex's first anniversary.

Disguised by white greasepaint, a red bulb of a nose, and a wildly curled and colored wig, Fenton recently led tours of the Community Aging and Retirement Services Claude Pepper Center on Van Buren Street. She's director of the center, which is adjacent to the $14.1 million recreation and aquatics facility.

The new complex, which replaced the old city recreation center and pool, has gymnasiums, a fitness center and meeting rooms. In the aquatics center are several pools: a shallow one for children; one for swimming laps; one for driving; and a plunge pool with a water slide and space to play volleyball or basketball.

The diving pool is used by high school teams, lifeguards in training and water polo players who need deeper water for their sport. The full-sized plunge pool provides space for teens to enjoy the water without crowding out young children or adults swimming laps.

For information on the facility, visit the city's Web site at cityofnpr.govoffice2.com.

The CARES Claude Pepper Center, meanwhile, houses a health clinic that provides low-income and uninsured seniors 55 and older with limited medical care, such as physical exams, primary treatment, chronic illness monitoring, counseling and referrals. The volunteer staff members are both active and retired health professionals.

The Claude Pepper center also offers a day-long program for seniors who are functionally and/or cognitively impaired. They receive the support and socialization they need to improve their quality of life, self-esteem and dignity. And their caregivers get an often desperately needed break.

For details on CARES and the Claude Pepper Center, go to www.caresfl.org/Pages/claude.html.

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