On the evening of July 6, 2022, Mickey Rochelle was relaxing at home on his sofa watching television when he noticed his office cell phone buzzing. It was a call from Wake Forest Town Manager Kip Padgett. Given the late hour, Rochelle suspected the news couldn’t be good.
“He told me he had just gotten off the phone with the police chief and that I needed to get down to the Senior Center as quickly as possible,” recalls Rochelle, Public Facilities Manager for the Town. Minutes later, Rochelle arrived to find the center completely flooded and major sections of the ceiling hanging in ruin. Lightning had struck the 18,000-sq.-ft. building, creating significant damage – enough to require more than six months of repair work.
The Northern Wake Senior Center is a community resource with relevance to families, workers, and businesses across Wake Forest. At 235 E. Holding Avenue, the centrally located facility is convenient for everyone. Its accessible design invites people of all ages and is especially welcoming to those with functional limitations and cognitive challenges. “The building was originally 8,000 square feet,” Rochelle says. In 2018, with the help of General Obligation bond funding, the Town launched a $3 million building expansion. The newly upgraded building re-opened in early 2020. “But we had to close it down seven weeks later due to COVID,” he says.
A comprehensive wellness asset for the community, Northern Wake Senior Center is a partnership between the Town and Resources for Seniors, a Raleigh-based non-profit that taps federal, state, county, and private funds to provide services and programs for Wake County’s older population. “The Town owns the building and maintains it and pays all the utilities,” Rochelle explains. “Resources for Seniors programs the building and staffs it.”
A report by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services projects that by 2028, one out of every five North Carolina residents will be 65 or older and that by 2031, there will be more senior citizens living in the state than people under 18 years old. Here in Wake County, demographic changes may be even more pronounced. Last month, Greater Raleigh was ranked the nation’s 7th best place to retire by Zumper, a digital information service focused on the rental housing market. The rating cited the city’s appealing climate, good air quality, outdoor recreational amenities, and “Southern charm” among the reasons retirees are moving here.
“Sadly, the word ‘senior’ has negative connotations to it,” explains Jennie Griggs, Program Director for Senior Centers at Resources for Seniors. She prefers the term “aging population” to describe an often-overlooked segment of youth-obsessed American society. “We’re seeing a huge number of people moving to this area who are living with their family members,” she says. Much of her advocacy is focused on building multi-generational awareness and how the challenges faced by older residents – as well as their knowledge and gifts – can become issues and opportunities for businesses. “We’re serving five generations of people right now,” says Griggs, a gerontologist who herself is 70 years old. “The need is huge.”
As a resource, the Center is a far cry from antiquated images of frail elders slumped over card tables playing Canasta. On a recent day, an exercise class had smiling participants moving vigorously from standing and seated positions. A wellness coordinator stood ready to provide an assessment of physical, social, and mental health needs of arriving clients. Beverages and snacks were available for visitors to enjoy. Volunteers were available to offer free tax preparation assistance.
Operating with a headset in front of a wide computer screen, Linda Monden-Thomas led 12 virtual participants through a fitness class via Zoom. Monden-Thomas, now just days from her 72nd birthday, recalls relocating to Wake Forest from New York City in 2016 to be near her son. “It’s actually my three grandchildren that brought me here,” she says with a laugh. A two-time heart attack survivor, Monden-Thomas has been teaching group fitness since 2008. Converting her in-person classes to a virtual format wasn’t a problem – seeing as it was the only option during the pandemic. At the height of the shutdowns, with the Center and other fitness facilities in North Carolina closed, it was not uncommon for her to have 75 participants on her screen. “And they came from all over the country,” she says.
Since the pandemic, the Center has moved many of its classes to a virtual format, in addition to in-person offerings now that gathering is permitted. But some residents remain leery of face-to-face events due to chronic health conditions. “We Zoom at least one class of every offering,” Griggs says. “A lot of the aging population will never come back to the senior center.” A long list of programs, including computer and foreign language classes, are offered through a partnership with Wake Tech Community College. Participants pay about one-third of what tuition would normally cost. There are also genealogy classes conducted jointly with the Wake County Public Library, just down the street.
After last summer’s fire, the Center’s programs moved temporarily to various locations around town. “The community of Wake Forest was amazing,” Griggs says. “We operated from Parks & Rec facilities, and private real estate owners came forward to offer access to their buildings.” Much of her work includes serving and supporting corporate HR offices as they piece together information and referrals regarding caregiving, nutritional services, medication management, assisted transportation, and other needs of employees who are caring for parents and grandparents. “It’s a big part of wellness engagement,” says Griggs.
Active adults are increasingly a presence – and an asset – to Wake Forest’s economy. Safe streets, abundant dining choices, and convenient access to primary and specialty healthcare services were among the features that led Del Webb, now a unit of Pulte Homes Inc., to build Traditions in Wake Forest, a low maintenance 452-home community designed for residents aged 55 and over.
“There’s something for everyone in Wake Forest – and that helps create a dynamic, diverse, and growing local economy,” says Jason Cannon, President of the Wake Forest Business & Industry Partnership. Residents of all ages are set to benefit as the Northern Wake Senior Center returns to full operation. “An authentic community, by definition, is multi-generational,” Cannon says, “and the fact that we have such engaged, forward-looking programs for our older population says all the right things about who we are and where we’re going.”
