‘A place people want to come’

SENIOR CENTER DIRECTOR SETS GOALS FOR PROGRAMMING, REACHING MORE PEOPLE

By Sarah Stultz sarah.stultz@albertleatribune.com

As the leader of the Albert Lea Senior Center, April Jeppson has high hopes this year. With the Albert Lea YMCA taking over the programming at the center from the city in 2021 after it was closed for more than a year due to the pandemic, there has already been a shift in some activities — but Jeppson hopes to do more.

The goals come as the YMCA continues taking on more of the responsibilities at the Senior Center as part of a partnership with the city. The city continues to financially support the operations and in 2023 will contribute $50,100 a year for operations plus $48,000 in rent costs, said Cathy Malakowsky, community engagement and enrichment director for the city.

Jeppson said in 2022, the YMCA ran the programming that took place during the day at the Senior Center and collected money from members for coffee and treats. Membership fees were turned in to the city, and the city in turn paid the rent at Skyline Plaza, along with utilities and other bills. The city also handled evening and weekend rentals of the facility and the trips.

In a new contract that started in January, the city is continuing to pay the rent and will be giving the YMCA $4,175 a month to run the center, which in turn the YMCA will use to pay for supplies, telephone, internet and other fees, as well as staffing. The YMCA is also taking over evening and weekend rentals, as well as the day trips.

“Instead of us just making sure the doors are open and that there’s coffee in the morning and programs happening, we’re a little more involved now,” Jeppson said.

Malakowsky said the city is giving the YMCA staff the freedom and responsibility for all programming, marketing, setting membership fees and even how the center looks inside.

“We are very excited to see what the Family Y can do with the Senior Center, especially with how strong the center and its programs have rebounded since COVID,” she said. Jeppson works with four other part-time employees at the Senior Center, and she said now that they have access to the building in the evenings and on the weekends, they hope to add on additional programming outside of traditional hours for seniors who may not be able to attend classes during the day.

“The Senior Center is for 55-plus,” she said. “A lot of people who are 55 are still working, and so they’re not even able to come here during the daytime because they’re working. My hope is that sooner rather than later we’ll be able to offer different things here.”

The Senior Center continues to offer many of the same activities that people have always enjoyed, including bingo, cards, pool, crafting and knitting. Recently they added a painting class and hope to be able to implement more artistic opportunities.

Jeppson said she is also excited about the upcoming trips planned and said they have taken input from members about places they would like to go and things they would like to see. She would like to consider possible Saturday trips to accommodate more people.

Included in the weekly schedule is everything from cribbage and coffee to aerobics, a building bones class, crafts and bridge, among other card games.

In addition to the regular schedule, the January and February calendars included Coffee with a Cop, Memory Cafe, a Bring a Friend Week in honor of Valentine’s Day, and a class on emergency response basics, among others. The center hosts a birthday party every month to celebrate the members who have birthdays during the month.

Jeppson encouraged people to reach out if there’s something they would like to see added to the calendar and to come check it out if they have never been — or haven’t been recently.

“The big message I want to get out is, yes, there’s some programming we’ve had before, but we also have new things,” she said.

She joked that the Senior Center is probably the most inexpensive social club out there.

Bingo only costs 15 cents a card to play, and if people want refreshments the treats are only 75 cents and coffee is 75 cents, too.

Otherwise, it is free with a membership to come to play pool and cards or just to socialize with a membership.

Malakowsky said she has been out to the Senior Center a few times to take photos and she enjoys seeing all of the seniors there having a good time.

She referenced one time she went and met a group of women who meet together to work on crochet projects. She also met a woman who moved to Albert Lea from Willmar to be with family and starting coming to the Senior Center and met several new friends.

“It seems like they are having a lot of fun out there,” she said.

Malakowsky said she loves that the city can partner with the Y and offer more value to people.

Many seniors can use their insurance to pay for their membership at the YMCA, which in turn also includes membership to the Senior Center.

For people who do not have insurance to cover their YMCA membership and who want a Senior Center membership alone, the annual fee is $30. Jeppson said scholarships are available for people who need financial assistance, and if transportation is an issue, people should reach out about that as well.

“I want this to be a place people want to come,” she said.

In late December, Jeppson said the Senior Center had about 300 members and continues to grow. She knows she has only scratched the surface on the seniors who live in the city, and she hopes to continue to attract more in the future.

She also hopes to continue to partner with other organizations in the community and get the word out more about the center through the city and other organizations such as Albert Lea Community Education.

Both Jeppson and Malakowsky stressed the social impact the Senior Center can have for residents.

“There’s no need to be lonely or feel depressed,” Malakowsky said. “I think the Senior Center can be a really important place to feeling like they belong.”