Grove City's Evans Senior Center didn't let uncertainties halt mission, even with closure
For the past two years, even while the Evans Senior Center itself was closed to the public, staff members looked for ways to continue to serve the senior population in Grove City and the surrounding area.
"We couldn't offer the programs and activities as we normally would, so we shifted more toward serving as a resource of information and assistance for our seniors," Evans Center director Tammy Jefferson said.
After the Evans Center was closed in March 2020 due to COVID-19 precautions, the building was used for several months to house a call center the city had created to help residents and business owners with their pandemic questions and concerns.
"So many of the people calling in were seniors," Jefferson said. "We weren't just taking calls."
Evans Center staff also spent time contacting local seniors to check on their well-being and ask if they needed help with anything, Jefferson said.
"We'd ask them if they knew of a neighbor or friend who needed assistance," she said.
Given the heightened risk from COVID for seniors, the Evans Center was the last city facility to reopen to the public.
"We closed our doors at 4 p.m. on March 13, 2020, and didn't reopen the center until July 6, 2021," Jefferson said. "We really missed seeing everybody."
By Aug. 9, 2021, the city restored the requirement that anyone visiting a city building wear a mask, per CDC guidelines, she said.
Even when the mask requirements were lifted again in February 2022 – after that visitors could decide for themselves whether they wanted to wear a mask while attending an activity or program at the senior center – it didn't mean everything was fully back to normal, she said.
"Some people have still been reluctant to come back to our center," she said. "They still may be a little gun shy after being away for a year and a half or more.
"We're still a little concerned ourselves about operating at full capacity. Take something like Wii bowling that involves a group of people passing the game remote back and forth. Some people might still feel uncomfortable about that.
"We phased things in," she said. "We didn't bring everything back all at the same time."
Getting seniors back into activity
The center sponsored its first day trip in more than two years April 29 with a visit to watch the Columbus Symphony Orchestra's working rehearsal.
"We're scheduling more trips – to the casino and to see a performance at LaComedia – and we have a lot of Lunch Bunch and Supper Club outings planned," Jefferson said.
What have not returned are the national and international trips the Evans Center would lead in pre-pandemic times, she said.
"We have arranged for our members to be able to get information from travel companies and set up individually to go on trips like that," Jefferson said.
The Evans Center does not keep a tally of the number of people who participate in programs or visit the center, she said, but anecdotally, it seems, more people are making their way back as the nation eases itself out of the pandemic.
"There's a lot of enthusiasm among the senior population, as with everyone, to want to get out and be active and start doing things again," Jefferson said.
Don and Billie Strader of Grove City have become avid Evans Center participants since the facility was reopened last summer.
"After owning our own business for 50-plus years and after retiring, we wanted to do something to keep our hearts pumping," Billie said. "We've talked to people who were Evans Center members before the pandemic, and what we've heard them say is that when the Evans Center was suddenly closed and they didn't have access to the activities, it led to a kind of depressive feeling."
People need an outlet for and a spur to their energy, Don said.
Chair volleyball, Sunshine Gang popularity
The Straders said they particularly enjoy participating in chair volleyball, which is held Mondays and Wednesdays, as well as card games and cornhole, at the Evans Center.
The chair volleyball matches "get pretty spirited," Billie Strader said. "Mainly, it's fun. Someone does something silly, and we all laugh."
The couple also are active in the Sunshine Gang, a group of Evans Center members who meet regularly to work on charitable efforts. Billie Strader helped cofound the group with Chris Sword.
"Both of us were sitting around one day and thinking about something we could do to help people in nursing homes feel less lonely during the holiday season," Billie Strader said.
That sparked the idea of making Christmas cards to distributed to residents at local nursing homes, she said.
"We made more than 600 cards; then we did another card project for Easter," she said.
The group created and filled goodie bags for golfers participating May 9 in the annual Mayor's Cup Golf Outing, which benefits LifeCare Alliance, and has conducted a letter-writing effort for veterans participating in Honor Flights this summer and fall.
"We're making sure that each veteran from our area who will take an Honor Flight this summer or fall will receive a letter they can read on the flight back from Washington, D.C.," Billie Strader said. "It's like a thank-you note for their service and sacrifice. Some of them may not have family members to greet them when they return from the Honor Fight."
The Sunshine Gang does a lot of good deeds, Don Strader said, and he added that he has a little secret to tell.
"In some ways, it's a really selfish act," he said. "You get such a good feeling and satisfaction from it."
"Whenever we get together to work on a project, we're laughing and telling stories," Billie Strader said. "Usually, a bunch of Sunshine Gang members will go out to eat afterwards."
Like all Evans Center activities, the Sunshine Gang serves to provide seniors with a resource for staying active, she said.
For more information about the Evans Center, call 614-277-1060 or go to grovecityohio.gov.
afroman@thisweeknews.com
@ThisWeekAfroman
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Grove City's Evans Senior Center didn't let pandemic halt mission, even during closure
