Heidi Whear has worked within the realm of aging services for a while. She has a background in public health and had previously run a health agency in Upstate New York as well as an adult day health program for people with dementia in Lynn.

So when the position of Senior Center director opened in her hometown of Swampscott in 2020, Whear knew she had to apply.

“My whole life I’ve worked with seniors,” Whear said. “I was walking on Fisherman’s Beach with my friend and I said ‘I think I want to do something more in Swampscott.’ I applied to get on the Council on Aging Board maybe 12 years ago and then I worked with another board member, Bob Powell to start Swampscott for All Ages, and while we were out with COVID, this position became available, and I applied for it.”

Now, after six years as Swampscott’s director of aging services, Whear is retiring. A farewell party will be held at the Senior Center on Monday, June 22.

“We’ve grown so much, and we’ve had such a positive impact on our seniors,” Whear said. “It’s been so wonderful.” 

Whear lived in Swampscott until fourth grade, when her family moved overseas and spent several years in India and Iran. She went to college in Washington, D.C. and then joined the Peace Corps.

After living throughout the Northeast, Whear said she eventually brought her children back to Swampscott and “came home again.”

“We were a dream team,” Whear said of herself, Assistant Director Sabrina Clopton and former Program and Volunteer Manager Sonja Nathan. 

Looking back on her tenure, Whear said she is most proud of the needs assessment conducted through Swampscott for All Ages, which helped identify community priorities and guide future planning.

“When we were able to actually put together a PowerPoint and get the town to pay for the needs assessment for our new community life center, that was really exciting,” Whear said. “Seeing us collect that data now, it looks like the results coming back on the surveys is indeed that we do need to have a community life center.”

At the 2024 Town Meeting, residents approved $100,000 for a feasibility study examining options for a potential community life center. The feasibility study task force was commissioned by the Select Board, and it is made up of 11 Swampscott residents, with representation of different committees around town to help manage the process.

Whear and Powell have joked that “we’ll never see it built while we’re still working.”

“But at least we’re laying the groundwork,” Whear said.

The survey asks residents whether they support the project and what services, programs, and amenities they would like the center to offer. It went live in the middle of April and will remain open until around the end of June. The survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/swampscottclc1.

The survey features 11 questions, with some on demographics and others around what residents would like included in the life center, from outdoor amenities to casual dining offerings and large event space for banquets or a walking track and swimming pool.

Other questions ask if townspeople are aware that the Senior Center has had to turn people away from programming due to a lack of space or if they know the Recreation Department doesn’t have a permanent space.

“The most exciting thing is really starting to move forward on this whole community life center because hopefully something will happen in Swampscott,” Whear said. 

Whear said one of the town’s biggest accomplishments over the past six years has been fostering greater understanding and acceptance of people living with dementia.

“We started the Forget Me Not initiative, and we’ve been doing education and training for town members as well as different businesses in town too,” Whear said. “It’s not a huge training, but it’s an hour just to make people a little bit more understanding of what’s going on. When I first started looking at this dementia stuff, even before I worked here there were so many people that said ‘Oh no, that doesn’t happen in our town.’”

Whear said dementia was once a topic many residents were uncomfortable discussing, but public awareness and understanding have improved significantly.

The team was able to receive grants for the Forget Me Not program as well as other keystone Senior Center programming like the annual conference and the need for an electric van. 

Although Whear plans to return as a participant in some Senior Center programs, she said she hopes to continue advocating for older adults, potentially through work on state policy issues.

“My biggest thing is to try and change legislation in Massachusetts so we can accept death with dignity,” Whear said. “I feel really passionate about it. I’ve never done anything like this, but every time everyone I talk to says ‘yes, we need this.’ It’s a right we should have.”

She also plans to travel extensively and volunteer with Habitat for Humanity during retirement.

“I’m happy about leaving things where they are,” Whear said.