After working with the Caldwell County Department of Social Services for 17 years, April Austin transitioned to the role of Director at Caldwell Senior Center in December of 2017. She was not in search of a change, but when the former Senior Center Director retired and the assistant found work at another nonprofit, Austin felt she would love to be a part of the organization.  Having worked closely with the Senior Center and with other adult services in her previous position, she transitioned easily into her new role.

Caldwell Senior Center is a small nonprofit organization, and with only three employees, Austin wears many hats in her role as Director. She handles administrative tasks, writes grants, and coordinates fundraising efforts, and she also teaches exercise and digital skills classes and is a Medicare counselor with the NC Seniors Health Insurance Information Program.

“The variety gives me a chance to interact everyday with participants,” Austin said. “I also do a lot of networking in the community, trying to make sure people in the community know what we’re about. When I came in, I wanted to make sure I was able to keep that one-on-one connection, because coming from a social work background, it was really important for me to be a part of what they’re doing every day.”

While senior centers across the region and the state are all different, Austin feels the Caldwell Senior Center is unique because of the very active group of retirees in the county. A wide variety of programs are offered, from exercise and dancing classes to pottery, arts, and crafts to counseling and resource sharing. Many retirees are regulars, attending classes week after week, and other participants drop in to learn about Medicare resources and information. 

Austin and other staff also work with caregivers and other local agencies that work with older adults, and she likens the Senior Center to being a one-stop shop for information about aging. The variety of tasks prevents monotony in her work, something Austin said keeps her job feeling exciting. She feels fulfilled by connecting participants to the resources they need, or simply engaging with them with fun activities and a lot of laughter.

“They’re such a lively group of people that come from all different backgrounds,” Austin said. “I love people’s stories, and just being able to hear those experiences keeps it different and exciting every day.”

Some of the largest challenges in her work center around ensuring the program maintains adequate funding, something Austin believes is the challenge for many nonprofit leaders in the region. Another of her challenges is rebuilding the base of volunteers that participate in things like teaching classes, as some of the program’s volunteers did not return after COVID.

While Austin herself performs much of the grant writing tasks in hopes of acquiring funding, she said the Center’s Board of Directors is helpful in coordinating additional fundraising efforts. Many of these efforts are successful with high community response, and the supportive community paired with Austin’s networking activities are slowly helping to bring more volunteers back into the Center’s programs.

“The community is unbelievably supportive of our organization,” Austin said. “From educational events taught by volunteers to local businesses who sponsor events to community members donating funds, Caldwell County is the reason we’re able to offer a program that’s as dynamic as what we’re able to offer. It’s all because of the support of the community.”

The most meaningful aspect of Austin’s work is hearing how the programs impact the daily lives of participants. Following COVID and learning about the detriment of social isolation, she is always pleased to be able to offer social outlets that improve the social and mental health of local retirees. Teaching the classes that help people feel strong, confident, and independent in their retirement is a large contributor to feeling fulfilled in her work. Her hope is to continue offering more services to more participants, and she is working on a new formal strategic plan to grow the Senior Center’s efforts.

“We would love to find a space where we’re able to grow our entire program and offer more classes, more resources, and bring in more people,” Austin said. “We’re in the very early stages of that process and looking for options right now. Directors of other organizations have willingly shared their expertise with me, so that’s really been great. We’re hoping to see more possibilities in the near future.”

April Austin is the Director of the Caldwell Senior Center. Learn more at CaldwellSeniorCenter.org.