In June 2020, AFS purchased the former Keyser Pizza Hut property on Rt. 220 South, Keyser, WV. In August of this year this site became the Keyser Senior Center’s new home, replacing the existing center at 30 South Church Street, Keyser, WV. Generous gifts, including a bequest from Carl Saville, enabled AFS to secure the property.
The Keyser Senior Center already met a vital need, providing complete senior nutritional and health services that promote extended, more productive, and independent lives. The new facility will support efforts to broaden the range of programs and services in the face of the booming and aging community needs. By incorporating this new senior center location, AFS can serve a larger population, create better and safer access, improve current services, expand new services, and increase outreach to our senior citizens’ target population.
Additionally, the recent growth in congregate and Meals on Wheels home-delivered meals and special events such as our Senior Olympics, open to all WV counties, has shown that our former facility was not adequate to house a meals program. The new senior center with a larger kitchen will help us better provide for Mineral County seniors, increasing their emotional, social, and physical well-being.
On August 29, 2022, the first congregate meal was served at the new Keyser Senior Center. From there we have served meals to over three hundred new seniors. In addition, new activities are being added to our calendar every month. Some returning groups and new activities include the Alzheimer/Dementia Support Group, visits from Walmart Pharmacy & Vision Center, a Book Club, and monthly visits from WVU-PVH Preventive Medicine.
Did you notice the new Keyser Senior Center is equipped with an outside recreational facility? It looks great, and we are so excited to see it come to fruition. Our recreational facility includes pickleball, shuffleboard, bocce ball, and a walking trail. With those great options and the addition of our walking trail, we are sure that our senior citizens will find something to enjoy. This also gives our less active seniors a place to move freely instead of being stationary. In the future, we will be adding benches around our walking trail and a pavilion for our seniors to sit and enjoy lunch. These additions will be made as funding allows. As a private non-profit organization, we depend on donations and local resources. Aging & Family Services and the senior citizens in our community appreciate all the contributions made by the individuals and businesses. Without them, our new Keyser Senior Center and future projects would not be successful.
With all the great meals and opportunities, don’t miss out on visiting us!
