Title
Vote to approve and present a Resolution Honoring the Siler City Center for Active Living for Receiving the 2025 Ann Johnson Senior Center of the Year Award
Abstract
Introduction & Background: The North Carolina Senior Center Alliance (NCSCA) annually recognizes one exceptional senior center across the state with the Ann Johnson Senior Center of the Year Award for Excellence in the Field of Aging. In 2025, that honor has been awarded to the Siler City Center for Active Living, a facility that has undergone an extraordinary transformation over the past two years and now stands as a model of community-centered innovation, inclusion, and excellence in aging services.
Discussion & Analysis: When a senior center is rooted in the heart of its hometown, it becomes more than just a facility, it becomes a reflection of the community it serves. Since assuming the role of Center Manager in July 2022, Kathryn Walters, a lifelong Siler City resident and former educator, has led a remarkable cultural and operational turnaround. Upon her arrival, alongside Activity Coordinator Olivia Hayden, the Center was emerging from the shadows of the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff and participants alike faced uncertainty about when and how to resume the full breadth of programming. Early efforts focused on rebuilding trust, providing essential services like daily meals, and simply offering a safe place to gather.
But for Walters and Hayden, returning to "normal" wasn't enough. They saw an opportunity to create something better.
The Center reinstated long-missed programs, including the Center's beloved Gospel Choir, added new activities based on participant interest (like line dancing and basket weaving), and empowered Hayden to revamp and expand the Center's fitness programming. The motto they adopted during difficult moments was "we're not stopping for a broken leg on a keyboard" symbolizes the tenacity with which they have rebuilt the Center.
That relentless spirit has yielded rea...
Click here for full text