On Wednesday, Oct. 7, the Woodland Senior Enrichment Group received a grant from United Way of Cowlitz and Wahkiakum Counties to fund the nonprofit’s activities and social events.
“We’re thrilled at the fact that we can support the project that Jim and his board put together to keep seniors in the Woodland area engaged and connected with community,” said Lois Smith, director of United Way of Cowlitz and Wahkiakum Counties.
To qualify for and receive a grant from United Way, applicants need to meet certain criteria and their work must address basic needs, including housing security, food security and utility assistance or community resilience and social interaction.
“We’re a volunteer, nonprofit, and our goal is to put on programs for seniors,” said Jim Bays, president of Woodland Senior Enrichment Group. “Educational enrichment, exercise, whatever we can. Because for seniors, the number one need is to get out of the house and do some social activities.”
Despite high competition for the grant, the Woodland Senior Enrichment Group was awarded the maximum grant amount of $5,000.
“We’ll be using this grant to do some free meals and social activities for seniors,” Bays said.
Around three years ago, Bays and his friend Tom Hammer were browsing Facebook and discussing the possibility of putting together a senior citizens group event.
They put out a notice on the social media platform and the event brought 15 seniors together for what would become the first meeting.
“We have bunko twice a week. We have fun and games twice a week. We have a very active widows and widowers group. We put on various educational classes like senior estate planning and educational classes on Medicare,” Bays said.
The group meets four to five times a week, with three of those days being hosted in a space they rent at Woodland Community Center.
Students from the middle school across the street come to the center and spend time helping set up the space for the group.
Events put on for the seniors range from beginning Spanish classes to rocking chair exercise.
“The connections and having conversations with their neighbors, it fills our spirit and our hearts full, because this is what we need to again build our communities up,” Smith said.
For Bays, this group isn’t just about getting together weekly with fellow seniors, it serves as a reminder of what life was like not too long ago and some of the challenges seniors face now.
“We just hope it inspires people to continue this kind of thing,” Bays said. “The senior community is really underserved but it’s important because everybody’s going to get there, so we need to recognize that and do things to make their life better.”
