Senior Center is now under its own management

||| FROM LYNETTE WOOD, ORCAS SENIOR CENTER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR |||

Orcas Senior Center is under new management! A new nonprofit, Friends of Orcas Senior Center, took over operations on January 1. Along with the transition, the new nonprofit is acquiring the trade name “Orcas Senior Center (OSC).” We hope that this simple change will help bring clarity to the role of the nonprofit, and more clearly distinguish it from other entities that also offer services to seniors and adults with disabilities.

In order to ensure uninterrupted services during this transition, the OSC nonprofit has entered into a new agreement with the Whatcom Council on Aging, allowing us to continue the lunch program. We will also continue our collaboration with the San Juan County government’s Senior Services Department with respect to building co-ownership and co-management, and we work closely with the County for referrals of services.

We are very pleased to continue with all our partnerships: With the Lions Club to provide mobility equipment, with SHIBA (Medicare and Medicaid consulting), with Footcare With a Heart, and with our audiology and speech pathology professionals. Our health and wellness classes; art and textile classes; book, card and stamp clubs; Afternoon Tea and other regular activities have continued, uninterrupted, as have Home Maintenance and Repair pilot program and Companion Services (Hearts and Hands and Buddy Check-In). Most of our classes and activities are open to everyone, not only to seniors and adults with disabilities.

We are again offering field trips and are excited to be starting up Meetings of the Minds again in February with Shona Aitken from Wolf Hollow on February 15. We’ll be hosting another silent auction soon, and we’ve started planning for Grannie’s Attic 2.0 to take place in April. Perhaps most exciting of all, we will be hosting the Orcas Island Cider and Mead Festival on July 15. Find announcements for these and many other events this coming year on our website at www.orcasseniors.org and on Facebook.

Of course, none of this could happen without the dedicated assistance of volunteers, so if you think you might be interested in helping the Orcas Senior Center non-profit with any of these activities or events, please contact Programs and Activities Manager, Steven Ziegler, at 206-413-6156.