NISC Programs of Excellence 

• Year Awarded: 2023
• Programs of Excellence Name: Wellness on Wheels—Mobile Senior Center
• Hosting Organization: Center 50+, Salem, Oregon
• Salem Population: 164,000
• 60+ Population: 65,000
• Senior Center Members: 21,000

About Wellness on Wheels

The idea of senior centers being a philosophy rather than a "place" or "building centric" is innovative. Knowing that there are a number of reasons why people may not attend a senior center, Center 50+ is removing those barriers by taking services to where people live and feel most comfortable.

The WOW (Wellness on Wheels) Van, or Mobile Senior Center, recognizes that community is built where people live and thrive. Also, Center 50+ has nearly reached capacity in its 30,000 square foot facility located in northeast Salem.

The mobile senior center takes advantage of beautiful parks in every area of town, unused clubhouses, empty alleyways, and neighborhood hubs where services can be delivered. Taking services into the neighborhoods allows the neighborhood to design the culture and environment. Center 50+ facilitates the activity, but the group and folks who live in that neighborhood lead the way (what language will we speak, what food will we serve, what activities will we enjoy?).

Branching out to other locations allows the center to serve more people and address the equity concerns that have existed when a single location was not centrally located and required accessing transportation. 

The center next plans to expand their commitment to intergenerational programming and continuing to elevate the issues of isolation and loneliness through positive interventions of connection and play.

Key takeaways from Wellness on Wheels:

• The mobile senior center reaches an entirely new group that previously were served by a daily meal but did not benefit from other services.
• From July 1, 2022-June 31, 2023, 143 volunteers logged 1,770 hours to reach 4,743 homebound older adults and 75 Friendly Call recipients, deliver 290 Friendship Boxes and holiday gifts, and send 5,244 handmade cards.
• Wellness on Wheels reached more than 8,000 older adults.

About the Center 50+

Center 50+ is a center without walls! All programs and services (on-site or remotely) are designed to help older adults live their best life now. The center looks at aging through a holistic lens using Ball University's 7-Dimensions of Wellness, a framework that allows individuals to explore their physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, occupational, and environmental health and well-being with curiosity and purpose.