Orting Senior Center plans move to bigger digs but needs your help to make it happen
The Orting Senior Center has nearly tripled its service through the coronavirus pandemic, but now it is asking donors for help to continue serving seniors for years to come.
Since 1989, the center has rented space in an Orting School District building on Washington Avenue North.
The current center fits about 40 seniors shoulder to shoulder in a single room with a half wall dividing the kitchen and dining area. A few closets down the hall store dry food and former school hallway lockers store canned goods.
“We’re OK right now because all we’re doing is to-go meals. But once we get to reopen, there’s no way we can accommodate the seniors that we have right now,” executive director Staci Guirsch said recently.
The Orting Christan Church has gifted the senior center its building, but there’s a price tag to renovate the building to hold up to 80 seniors for meals and bingo night.
A few blocks away from the current handful of rooms the nonprofit rents, the church will provide more space for crafts, pinochle and lectures on Medicare and housing.
The church’s board approved the transition in October.
Guirsch said it felt like home when she first stepped inside the white church on Varner Ave.
While the church building is in good condition, she said, they need to expand the kitchen, add commercial cooking equipment, a pantry, restrooms, a shower and laundry room.
Generators also are necessary due to frequent power outages in Orting. The congregation hopes the church can be used as an emergency shelter during severe weather, said Kathi Dow, the Orting Christan Church’s secretary.
The center receives annual funding from the City of Orting and Pierce County Human Services for an operational budget of $104,000, Guirsch said.
The county doubled their funding with CARES Act dollars to respond to the growing need during the pandemic.
A contractor estimated the new Orting Senior Center needs about $1 million. Guirsch said she is applying for competitive grants and hopes the public will contribute up to half through GoFundMe, a crowdsourcing website. Her two-week old campaign has raised about $750, but she is optimistic that more will give in the coming weeks.
The church congregations feels relieved and excited about the new chapter.
With about nine members left in its congregation, Dow said she was maintaining the building and grounds by herself.
“We can’t physically take care of it,” she said. “I’m getting old. I can’t do it anymore.”
The congregation will continue to worship on Sundays, so Dow sees it as a win-win.
“What’s important to us is that it continues to serve the people of Orting,” she said.
Orting is one of the fastest growing areas in the nation, and some people are choosing to retire there. According to the U.S. Census data, about 14 percent of Orting’s population is 65 or older. Guirsch expects the senior population to increase, and wants a space just for them.
She hopes they can move into the church in about a year.
Pandemic relief
The senior center has been vital to older residents throughout the pandemic.
By October, the center served more than 6,400 free meals to seniors. The pandemic has changed the noontime meal from a cafeteria to curbside pickup. Between 35 to 50 seniors wait in their cars four times a week to pick up a warm meal, produce and groceries.
On popular days like the Thanksgiving meal, Guirsch said, the center sees up to 80 seniors. The pandemic has drawn in new visitors.
“I know it sounds terrible, but as horrible as COVID is, we’ve made so many more friends and seniors from it. They didn’t know they could even come here,” she said. “The majority of our people who come through lunch are all new people that just started when COVID started.”
Dana Davis runs the grocery store, which is stocked with donations. Seniors circle items on a grocery list, and Davis creates a bag.
“When they get what they want, we know that food isn’t getting wasted,” Davis said. “We do about 20 a week.”
More than the basics, Guirsch and Dow said, the center can be the only form of socialization some receive these days.
“This is their only social interaction,” Guirsch said. “They can’t go visit their friends, they can’t go visit their family. So they come to see us every day.”
