In San Antonio, Texas, Lucy attends her weekly art class at the Alicia Lopez Trevino Senior Center.

Lucy grew up in San Antonio before earning degrees in art from Texas A&M Corpus Christi and a master’s in communication at St. Mary’s University. She worked in marketing and communications for over 30 years until a health scare motivated her to retire and focus on her personal wellness.

She often drove down Culebra Road and would see the Lopez center nestled in the strip mall. She later visited the website online and thought she would check it out, but still hesitated.

“Nothing really motivated me to come here until I realized that I was feeling lonely.”

Lucy considers herself an introvert and says being alone usually does not bother her. However, having been newly retired, and at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the feeling of social isolation took its toll. She decided to give the Lopez senior center a try.

Lucy quickly learned everything the center has to offer. A fitness area, movie theater, lunchroom and a wide range of classes and activities including art classes.

“That was scary when I first signed up for a drawing class. I didn’t really feel like I had a style. I have the style now. I want to do art.”

Classes at the center helped Lucy to uncover her inner artist. She went and bought herself supplies to use in her classes and at home. 

“I have that urge now to be creative at home. We have a creative writing group here. It was all coming back to me. This is who I was when I was in high school, this is who I was when I was in college,” said Lucy.

Lucy is now an avid attendee at the Lopez center and has built a community of friends with whom she attends art classes and shares lunch.

“If I don’t come here, I feel like I’m missing out because I miss seeing them. I live by myself. My kids are grown up and out of here. So, this is a way for me to talk to somebody over a meal.”

Lucy knows outside the center there’s a stigma about older adults. Where society can consider them to be hard of hearing, and slow among other things. She thinks if people attend the centers, they’ll have a different perspective.

“It’ll change the way you think about old people. Because if you come here, if you’re feeling old, you see people who are older than you, and they’re still doing all of these things, and they’re still excited about life, and they’re still excited about trying something new. So, it gives you something to look forward to. It’s a safe place.”

The Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior Center is located in San Antonio and is operated in partnership with the City of San Antonio.  The WellMed Charitable Foundation has 14 senior center locations  across Texas and Florida that offer free memberships and meals to older adults aged 60 and over.

Click here to learn more about WCF Senior Centers.