A year after the Senior Center reopened, Sparta-White County Activity Center Director Jayne Guy said the new and improved facility is on an upward trend.
Guy said the center was serving around 20-30 meals a day when it first reopened, but now the center is serving around 40-70 meals a day. Guy said she encourages people who have not been back to the activity center since it reopened to give it another chance.
“Come back in and I think that the instant you walk through the door you’ll see a difference not only in the way that things look, but the atmosphere, and the culture of it all, and people are laughing, and joyous, and involved,” Guy said. “And I think that is pretty evident when people walk through the door.”
Guy said the activity center has a participant council that meets once a month, where people can present different ideas or address complaints. Guy said these meetings have been valuable to the center’s newfound success over the past year.
“One of the last things that was suggested in that meeting was is we came up with the idea of having our meals served instead of people standing in line and picking up their own trays,” Guy said. “So now everyone just sits down, and we have volunteers that take those trays and just deliver it to them like a restaurant-style kind of situation, and it’s really changed the atmosphere of it all. It’s really decreased any kind of aggregation or trouble with bumping into other people, that kind of thing, because we are getting more crowded day by day, so that was one of our solutions that happened through the participant council to be able to implement, and it really has made a big difference.”
Guy said she has had a good working relationship with the center’s new board of directors.
“They have the same visions and same goals, and desire for the same outcomes of just supporting our senior community, and getting them fed, and making things exciting, and available for them, and so it’s been a blessing working with them,” Guy said. “I really couldn’t ask for a better board.”
Guy said the activity center offers a variety of activities, including exercise classes, crochet groups, and the most popular, Bingo. Guy said having a successful activity center is important, as many senior citizens rely on the center for different types of support.
“I think the obvious is the nutritional support that we support,” Guy said. “I think more than that, maybe even the lonely factor, you know, it’s tough being alone and lonely, and a lot of our seniors are, and so they come to make new friends, hang out with their old friends, and get involved in playing cards or different activities. I think that’s a bigger picture most people don’t really think of.”
