This month we celebrated our two-year anniversary at the South County Senior Center! This is a BIG milestone for us—two years ago we took a leap of faith and have been steadily growing since. In the first half of 2026, we offered seniors (ages 55+) in the South County area wellness programs, art and music classes, game nights, more and attendance has exceeded 1600 people!
The majority of this programming is free, and all of it is low-cost. We work with our Senior Advisory Council to determine program offerings and with Vicksburg Arts to provide arts education classes. Our mission is to be a gathering place for older adults to live life to its fullest through education, companionship, and active living.
A Seed of Change
In May of 2024, community members, including our Senior Outreach Coordinator, Brian Penny, threw an Open House at Vicksburg United Methodist Church to gauge community interest in senior classes and programming in South County. We got an overwhelming response! In the subsequent months, we worked with Vicksburg United Methodist Church, Vicksburg Arts, and the Vicksburg Historic Village to put together a funding proposal to the Vicksburg Foundation, which they generously approved. With that funding (and some supplemental funding from the Kalamazoo Foundation and the county Senior Millage), we hired Sherri Martin to coordinate programming and to help guide the Senior Center in its growth.
New Growth
The Senior Center has grown tremendously over the two years that we have been operating. We learned what kind of programming is popular (spoiler alert: it’s Bingo) and how best to work with our Lunch and Learn presenters and guest teachers. We have worked with amazing partners like Dr. Katie Grossman, who is wrapping up a six-part Lunch and Learn series on the pillars of longevity, Vicksburg Arts, who provide high-quality arts education classes, and of course Vicksburg United Methodist Church, without whom we would have no home and no Senior Center.
We also have seen growth in individuals and groups as well—the Stitchers Group continues to welcome new members, attendance in general continues to increase, and many members report improved ability to connect with the community that they are a part of.
Building for the Future
We have a few things in the hopper for rest of this year and into 2027. We formed an ad hoc committee to develop a Strategic Plan for 2027, which includes fundraising, a volunteer program, and continuing to develop necessary governance structures like bylaws, committees, and distinct volunteer positions. We are also working hard to develop a Business Giving Program, which we plan to launch in 2027. At the moment, we are working with a consultant to determine benefits tiers for sponsors and some of the nuts and bolts of how the program will work. If you are a local business owner and you are interested in being a part of the Business Leaders for Area Seniors group, please reach out!
We envision South County Senior Center as a community hub where older adults feel supported, connected, and seen as a valuable part of the community. We aim to expand our offerings of activities and programs, be a facilitator of community connections, and empower others to create wider impact.
We look forward to many more years of providing these services for seniors and being an important part of senior living in the Vicksburg and South County area.
For more information on South County Community Services, please check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/southcountycs or our website: southcountycs.com.
