Though the COVID-19 pandemic caused the facility to close, the Waterloo Senior Center has been back open for some time and, with new leadership, is looking to grow bigger and better into the future.

Director Sarah Giglotto joined the senior center at 207 W. Fourth Street just about four months ago. Previously, the Waterloo local had started out her career in senior care by working at the now closed convent in Ruma.

From there, she began working at Garden Place about six years ago, strengthening her affinity for working with older members of the community all the while.

Giglotto said a big part of her passion comes from her personal experiences with family. While she expressed regret about not taking her grandmother’s dementia seriously when she was younger, it has helped her understand the importance of senior care as she’s made it her career.

“I just fell in love with the senior community,” Giglotto said. “A lot of that has to do with my own grandmother who suffered with dementia… Now that I’m in my 40s and I have a way bigger appreciation for and education on dementia and the senior citizen community in general, I kinda just started pouring my heart into it.”

Thus, Giglotto found herself at the Waterloo Senior Center, which is operated by the Western Egyptian Economic Opportunity Council and chiefly funded by AgeSmart Community Resources along with donations from the community.

She explained the primary demographic for the senior center is older retired individuals in the community who are simply looking for something to do day-to-day.

“Anyone that’s 60 or older,” Giglotto said. “Anyone can come into the senior center, but it’s typically for the ones that are retired and home, want something to do, somewhere to go, congregate with people and socialize.”

The senior center offers a number of amenities, perhaps the most obvious being food as the center serves an 11:30 a.m. meal Monday through Thursday each week. The menus for the following week will be printed in the Republic-Times. 

Giglotto pointed out that the center – with just four individuals working the kitchen – cooks nearly 1,000 meals each week for folks who either stop by or are signed up for the Meals on Wheels program.

She also noted a recently-started restaurant tours program that will see folks with the center visit a new location for a meal each month.

There are also a number of regular programs the center hosts for guests.

Giglotto specifically mentioned monthly bingo games as well as weekly exercise and Bible study.

She also mentioned there are several programs and activities currently being planned that could be coming down the line, with the senior center’s Facebook page making mention of a coming crafting session each month as well as a series of crochet classes.

Giglotto also mentioned that the senior center offers local transportation services – particularly for medical appointments, grocery shopping and other needs.

She spoke about the importance the senior center has in this community, stressing how many senior citizens make use of one or another service provided by the facility.

“It’s a major need for our seniors to be able to get around in the town and be able to come and go as they please to the senior center because that’s the only thing they have most days,” Giglotto said. “Half the people who come in here, this is the only thing they look forward to every day because some of their families don’t check in on them or don’t live around here. It’s a major need for their loneliness alone.”

Giglotto said that, while the senior center was running smoothly when she took the reins, she recognized that the biggest problem for the organization was awareness.

She again emphasized the benefits that the center provides to older individuals in the community, noting how many more could benefit if they knew about the center and how much better the center could be if it received greater support from members of the community.

“From talking to the seniors that do come here, they realize that we’re not as known as we should be, and they love to spread the word that we’re here,” Giglotto said. “It’s very important to the community. There’s so much more that – just from our focus groups – that I’ve learned that we could even do more on.”

She also expressed some concern about staffing at the center, pointing out that most of the volunteers and cooks at the facility are themselves of retirement age.

Looking ahead, Giglotto again spoke about some of the potential additions to the senior center, describing that a big focus will be placed on raising awareness of the facility and garnering new support.

“There’s a lot of things in the works, nothing definitely on paper yet, but there is a lot going on,” Giglotto said. “I plan on doing three big fundraisers in 2024, a barbecue and a couple other things in the works. Basically getting more people in here and pumping out more meals. I’d love a new building, a bigger building because I have a feeling that by 2025 or 2026, we’re gonna be too big for this building.”

For more information, visit the Waterloo Senior Center on Facebook or call 618-737-0100.