Unaka – In a heartfelt celebration of heritage and community spirit, the Unaka Community Center hosted a Golden Years Gala to celebrate the community’s senior members and honor those that have passed.
Murphy Mayor Tim Radford hosted the gala on Dec. 18. He thanked Nancy Helms for all of her help in planning and organizing the event.
“She’s made me a better mayor,” Radford said.
The gala began with fellowship time, where members spent time another catching up on each other’s personal and professional lives, talking about things going on in the community, and sharing photos and videos of children and grandchildren. Rose Tree Service provided lunch.
The gala included speakers who have made efforts in the local and state governments to help support and represent senior citizens.
- Lake Silver, field representative for U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) spoke on the efforts being made to support seniors, especially those in western North Carolina affected by Hurricane Helene. Edwards and his staff are working to obtain a supplement providing funds to various organizations, individuals and the state to aid recovery efforts.
In addition, Silver said Edwards supports amending the Older Americans Act of 1965, which would allow funding to continue to support senior centers, assisted living, in-home care and other needs of the older population through 2028. Edwards’ also fights for timely access to health care and prior authorization reductions, especially for seniors.
- Alan Bryant, newly elected Cherokee County commissioner for District 5, spoke about the importance of community and valuing the role seniors play in that community. He recalled helping his papaw deliver milk when he was younger, and he always enjoyed hearing the stories and lessons older members of the community had to share during those trips.
“We all want to see things grow, but without changing people’s way of life and we need to ensure our seniors are taken care of and not forgotten,” Bryant said.
- Sarajane Melton from the Southwestern Commission Area Agency on Aging and Denise Cross, director of Cherokee County Senior Services, spoke together, showing just how closely these two agencies work to support local seniors. The Southwestern Commission Area Agency on Aging leads efforts to encourage the well-being and independence of seniors, while the focus of Cherokee County Senior Services is to help support the social and emotional well-being of local seniors.
“We all work in collaboration to do what’s best to help our seniors,” Cross said.
Melton said the Southwestern Commission Area Agency on Aging strives to support the independence of seniors at home and aid family caregivers. They are also a great resource for those who need help putting together or getting funding support for living wills and end-of-life plans.
“Aging is a privilege and an opportunity. We all know someone who didn’t age. It’s important to take care of ourselves and others and overall improve the quality of life for our seniors,” Melton said.
Cross spoke about the ways the agencies have supported Cherokee County seniors. Cherokee County’s senior centers serve meals and also deliver meals to homes Monday through Friday if the seniors can’t make it to their nearest center.
For the 2024 fiscal year, more than 19,000 meals were delivered and nearly 7,500 served in senior centers. The agencies also helped repair homes and build ramps for seniors at a value around $5,400.
- Susan Garrett, executive director of Western North Carolina Communities, spoke about the devastation brought on by Hurricane Helene. Her nonprofit organization has been operating since 1949, when it helped establish community centers with the help of N.C. Cooperative Extension.
WNC Communities continues to help train those involved with the running of community centers and provide funding to those centers. The most recent efforts are focused on creating emergency readiness plans, as many of the supply distribution hubs were community centers in western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene.
The nonprofit has 16 community centers involved and invite Cherokee County’s centers to join their emergency response network. The goal is to create a network of community centers and train them on how to respond in the case of an emergency or natural disaster, including plans to check on and care for those who are most vulnerable, including seniors.
“You never expect something like this to happen to your community, but it can,” Garrett said. “There are no two more important things than getting to know each other and spreading love.”
- The final speaker was Kathy Farmer, director of the Unaka Community Center, who shared a list of the 35 members who have passed away since 2014. Photos and scrapbooks of these members were also displayed on a table for those in attendance to look at. Today, there are 103 living members of the center.
“All of these people have helped shape the community,” Farmer said.