50 years of PIONEERING

The Senior Center is the longest continually operating senior center in Virginia, and from our beginnings in 1960 under the aegis of the University League (now Junior League of Charlottesville) to our status today as a national role model for independent nonprofits, we’ve never stopped moving forward, getting better, and striving for excellence. In addition to earning national accreditation for maintaining the highest standards in program planning and evaluation, governance, administration, volunteer management, community collaboration, and more, the Center has picked up quite a few awards.

In August 2009, the Junior League of Charlottesville presented Center member and Board president Mary Reese with its 2008 Emily Couric Community Advocacy Award. This $2,000 award is presented each year to a local nonprofit organization in honor of an individual it nominates who most exemplifies the spirit of the late state Senator Emily Couric’s community advocacy. In accept- ing the award, Mary cited the example of her parents, “who believed that to whom much is given, much is required. I do what I do to give back to a community that has given so much to me.”

Further recognition of the Center’s service to our community came from the 2010 Community Service Award from the University of Virginia School of Nursing’s Beta Kappa chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International. In its letter of congratulations, the group commended the Center for “so many incredible and broad accomplishments. For 50 years, the Center has provided myriad services to enhance the cognitive, emotional and physical health of older

adults in our community. It has provided advocacy and influenced social change through creat- ing a positive view of aging. And it has influenced creation of services and has been a political force for change through well-attended candidate forums.”

We also received recognized the 2010 Mitch Van Yahres Family-Friendly Employer award from Children, Youth & Family Services (CYFS). This award recognizes efforts to balance family life with work life, and the organization cited the Center’s family-friendly work schedules and benefits program.

And, finally, Executive Director Peter Thompson received this year’s Excellence in Nonprofit Leader- ship Award from the Thomas Jefferson Area United Way in recognition of inspiring dedication and innovation that has helped strengthen the sustainability of the Center in the face of tough economic times.

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