Graham Activity Center reopening in June for seniors

After closing over a year ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Graham Activity Center, formerly known as the Graham Senior Citizen Center, will be reopening its doors to seniors with shortened hours.

The center closed its doors last year on March 17 and Center Director Charlette Watkins said while there was not a mandated closure, the local government along with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was pushing towards a way to host meals in a safe manner during the early months pandemic. Watkins said the governor wanted the facilities in the state to continue the Meals on Wheels program and also approved funding for a drive-thru and curb-side service for seniors.

“There was even a short period of time where we needed to stay with the menus, but if something wasn’t available or we could not get it definitely we feed them something. So we were very fortunate. We didn’t vary too many times. Some packaging may have changed, but we were in the general realm of the menu. So they still were receiving their USDA qualified meals,” Watkins said.

The Meals on Wheels local program contracts through the center for meals and distributes the meals through volunteers. Those on the Meals on Wheels program are different to those that come to the center and Watkins said it would not have been feasible to add another 60 seniors to the program due to a lack of volunteers. She said the drive-thru program allowed the center to still serve meals to most of their clients. She said they have continued to host the drive-thru program for the past year, but it will end with the reopening of the center on June 1 due to the state funding going away for the program.

For the rest of the story, see the May 26 edition of The Graham Leader.