Senior Action’s new facility, classes helping promote healthy lifestyles

Seeing a need to help older adults stay involved and active, Andrea Smith created a new fine arts program that allows people to have a place to express themselves through various outlets of the arts.  Senior Action  has a new facility with more space and classes aimed at building a community and helping participants stay healthy.

“I really feel like we as a culture, invest a lot of energy and money around cultivating the arts with young people. And that’s kind of an area, for me personally that I have felt is missing. Once you get to a certain age you really don’t have a place to go for training for classes, and again just for building community with other friends who share the same interests that you do,” said Smith, who serves as executive director and CEO of Senior Action.

Senior Action started in 1967, when the Greenville community expressed the need for programs and services for seniors. 

In the 1990s, Senior Action partnered with other non-profit groups to expand its services and opened four outreach sites to serve seniors closer to their homes and neighborhoods. These sites grew to eight outreach locations today, according to the group’s website. 

Smith said the group was restricted due to the size of its previous facility, but with its new location, more opportunities are now available. 

“There was a lot more untapped potential that we really weren’t getting to. When we moved into this new building, we finally had the opportunity to expand our fine arts programs. My belief was I really wanted us to see what we can do to cultivate original works of art,” said Smith.