GODDARD — The Goddard Senior Center is on a roll.
What had been a group of older residents getting together informally cut the ribbon on the new Goddard Senior Center last month, days after the Goddard City Council approved $46,000 in funding for it ($6,000 of which came from Sedgwick County). This month, the center will start serving Friendship Meals and Meals on Wheels out of the center, which is located in the Goddard Community Center at 122 N. Main St.
The Senior Center has use of the community center from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, offering exercise programs, cards and games, educational programs and more. A partnership with Genesis Health Club in Goddard allows center members to also take part in Silver Sneakers exercise and water exercise programs there and will offer pickleball in the coming months.
Senior center membership has grown to about 250 people in a few months. Last month’s grand opening was held at the same time as a Senior Expo and Resource Fair at the center.
“You can definitely tell it was long overdue,” said Amanda Treadwell, who’s been volunteering as the center’s director. “This month alone, we’ve grown 60 new members.”
The Senior Center has roots in Goddard Keen Klub, a group formed in the 1980s. The group met three mornings a week for exercise, held a monthly potluck lunch and other activities at the community center and other sites.
In December 2023, at a meeting of the Goddard Hub, a group of community leaders that met quarterly to share resources and address community needs, representatives of the senior group expressed a desire to bring a meals program to the community and expand services to meet the needs of older adults in the community.
With the newly remodeled Community Center opening in early 2024, it seemed the time and place was right. In March, representatives of the senior group and the city met with representatives of Aging Projects, Inc., of Hutchinson, which provides Friendship Meals to senior centers and home-delivered meals to home-bound residents in 13 counties in central and southcentral Kansas. Plans began to bring meals here. Start-up funds were secured from private donations and the City of Goddard.
Over the spring and summer, a grassroots effort spearheaded by Karen Keithley and Amanda Treadwell worked to build an active group with meaningful programs and services. The duo researched what was available in the community, visited other senior centers and started talking to seniors to find out what kind of programs they wanted.
Keithley has been a part of the senior group since 2019. After her husband’s death, Phyllis and David Curtis encouraged her to join the exercise group. Then she joined a group that played dominoes several times a month. After Covid, Phyllis Curtis decided she no longer wanted to lead the exercise group, so Keathley stepped into that role.
From there she has become the self-described “boots on the ground,” for the Senior Center, helping register new members, planning programs and activities, keeping participation records and becoming a cheerleader among her peers.
She values the friendships she has built, and she joked, “it gets me out of the house where my refrigerator is.” She enjoys meeting new people and seeing them involved in the center’s activities and supporting each other.
“It’s hard to be depressed when you come to even one or two events a week,” she said. “We’re sharing each other’s joys and challenges.”
Amanda Treadwell, left, and Karen Keithley helped start the Goddard Senior Center.
Treadwell, whose grandmother, Sandra, is a member, has devoted many hours to getting the center started, a role that grew from an offer to help with social media and grant administration. “Little did I know this journey would lead me to become the volunteer director of the Goddard Senior Center,” she said.
The start of Friendship Meals/Meal on Wheels this month is the culmination of nearly a year of research, meetings and groundwork by Treadwell. “Seniors have a dedicated place to enjoy healthy, hot meals, connect with others, participate in activities and access services and resources,” she said. “Our goal is to empower them to live healthy, active lives.”
Pam Dayhuff started participating in the exercise group a few years into retirement and is a member of the center today. “Too many seniors hole up and soon find themselves isolated,” Dayhuff said. When a widowed neighbor needed some support, she become involved in the effort to bring a meals program to Goddard. She’s become an advocate for the center, speaking before the City Council and helping to sign up new members.
Mayor George Liebe has also become a vocal supporter (and member) of the senior center. “It’s a vital, necessary service,” Liebe said. “It’s important to take care of the seniors in our community.”
He said the camaraderie among the group is evident during the activities. “You see people getting to know each other, helping each other, inviting other people. It’s building a sense of community.”
In the next few months, Goddard Senior Center plans to open an office and resource center in a downtown building next door to the Community Center and hire a part-time director. Because the community center is used by other groups at night, Treadwell said, she has arranged with Goddard Senior Homes, 501 Easy St., to use its community center to offer evening activities.
Ultimately, she hopes to help bring Goddard a stand-alone senior center and more senior housing. But for now, the new senior center is proving a major hit.
For information on the Goddard Senior Center, contact Keithley at (785) 398-1255 or Amanda Treadwell at 316-461-6962. The Goddard Senior Center is on Facebook, and regular updates about activities can be found there.
Becky Funke is a former editor of The Active Age. She can be reached at Rfunke3@cox.net.
