With the slumping economy and rising gas crisis, some area seniors have made adjustments yet others are doing fine.

Most seniors interviewed Monday at the Placer County Multi-Purpose Senior Center feel the pinch, but have good pensions and have prepared well for retirement by saving. In a report issued in May by AARP, 59 percent of the seniors 65 and older surveyed said they found it more difficult to pay for essential items such as food, gas and medicine. Nearly half said they found it more difficult to pay for utilities.

Barbara Morris, 69, of Auburn has resorted to Medi-Cal in order to get her teeth cleaned. Morris has braces and her teeth require regular cleaning.

“My dentist here wanted to clean my teeth every three months at $91. That’s quite a clip,” Morris said.

According to Morris, the closest Medi-Cal dental office is in Rocklin and she rides there via a Seniors First van, which costs her $10 round-trip.

In addition to Medi-Cal, Morris is covered by Medicare, but has not had to cut back on her prescriptions thus far due to price increases. Morris’ 92-year-old mother Dorothy is currently in a skilled nursing facility and between the two of them, they spend $200 or more monthly on prescription drugs, she said.

Healthcare costs can devastate a senior’s budget. Chris Holland, 55, of Grass Valley pays $2,000 monthly for 24-hour care for her husband Geoff Holland, 60, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease when he was 53.

“It’s not the changes in the economy, it’s the changes in my husband’s health,” Holland said. “He needed care very quickly. At night he’s up every 15 minutes and he can’t feed himself, but he’s still very strong.”

Geoff Holland worked as a development manager for PrintPack in Atlanta, Ga. When PrintPack discovered that Holland had Alzheimer’s they fired him. The Hollands did not want to live in Georgia and decided to move into their rental property in Grass Valley.

Disability insurance for Geoff Holland currently pays for his Medicare D coverage and for Blue Shield’s catastrophic insurance at $600 per month.

“Last year at the state Capitol, I met someone who spent $110,000 a year for her husband, who had dementia and COPD,” Chris Holland said. “She didn’t know where she would get the money to care for him. Seniors and the disabled community are in pretty dire straights.”

Auburn senior Nancy Kling has taken on the position of site supervisor at the Senior Café on Avenue E in order to help meet expenses. She was the only senior interviewed, who currently works.

Kling’s $650 per month retirement income does not meet all the expenses of maintaining a home, she said. She gets a modest salary for working at the Senior Café, where seniors can eat for $3. Most of the food is donated by local businesses.

Bob Mock, 88, a retired schoolteacher and principal, lives with his wife Ginny, 84, in Auburn. They will celebrate 66 years of marriage on Aug. 20. Mock and his wife have made some lifestyle changes, and appreciated the $3 meals at the Senior Café.

“Part of the reason we eat here is it’s only $3,” Bob Mock said. “It’s hard to find a meal for that. We’re driving less. I don’t go down to the valley as often as we like.”

The Mocks consider themselves fortunate to have a healthcare plan, yet are quite aware of the healthcare problems here, he said.

“In this day and age, if you get sick you can go bankrupt real easily,” Bob Mock said.

When asked how higher prices have changed his spending habits, Joe Alves, 81, admits it’s been challenging.

“It’s kind of a struggle, but we’re making it,” said Alves, who was born and raised in Penryn.

“I keep buying gas and keep on the same medicine I’ve been told to be on,” Alves said.

Alves pays about $20 monthly for his medications and his health insurance pays the difference. He worked for the Placer County Road Department for 25 years and also has some rental income from houses in Tahoe.

So far, Alves has been healthy and he praises the benefits of regular exercise at senior center classes. The classes last one hour, and usually 15 to 20 show up for the one-hour class.

“I exercise three days a week at the senior center exercise class,” Alves said.

Another area senior fortunate to have a good pension is Cal Kokila, 85, of Auburn.

“I get a good pension from the state,” Kokila said. “But I know a lot of people who are not in that system are having a struggle.”

Kokila, an engineer with the Department of Public Works has been retired for 20 years now.

For widow Jean Coyle, 80, of Auburn, rental income has saved the day, and she has one daughter in Auburn to look out for her.

“I’m still OK, because I have rentals,” Coyle said. “But I still have to be careful, but so far, so good. I’ve been a saver to take care of myself.”

For Dell Schmitz, 88, a retired photographer for the U.S. Navy, higher gas prices mean not staying as long on his annual fishing trip.

“I’ve gone 29 years to Crescent City for a fishing trip, but I cut it short this year,” Schmitz said.

He usually stays in Crescent City, Calif., near the Oregon border for three months, but decided to stay just one month this year.

Schmitz pays about $225 monthly in co-payments for his medications, and is happy his insurance pays for the rest. The slumping economy has caused Schmitz to make some minor adjustments.

“It makes me more selective in my grocery shopping,” Schmitz said.

Schmitz and his wife Garnet, 91, have lived in Meadow Vista since 1975. The former cattle rancher, who grew up in Nebraska and learned to train and shoe his own horses, enjoys reading Western novels in his spare time.

While Garnet Schmitz came to the senior center for the line-dancing class, her husband had several paperback novels to keep himself entertained.