The Erie County Senior Center is to work with area senior citizens to develop a network of services for older Americans which acknowledges their dignity and self-worth, and promotes independence while accepting the fact of unavoidable limitations caused by the natural aging process. The Senior Center will provide an atmosphere which encourages the continued growth and development of older Americans, recognizes their creative abilities and utilizes their knowledge and incorporate in its programming that senior citizens, like all people, have certain basic rights and needs and, therefore the Senior Center shall maintain an atmosphere offering the opportunities for supportive relationships with other seniors, access to information helpful to problem-solving, and experiences for a sense of achievement. The Senior Center staff, Board, and Advisory Council Members, and the senior citizens shall at all times act as advocates for the rights of older Americans and educators in the community to explain the aging process.