CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The senior center in Cedar Rapids was destroyed by the Flood of 2008, and it has been without one ever since.
Plans to build a new senior center have been in talks for years, but now the project has $200,000 in (American Rescue Plan Act) ARPA funds to get it started.
The ARPA funds came from the Linn County Board of Supervisors.
“Two hundred thousand is what we had available, we’re getting close to the very end of our ARPA distribution as a county, and we wanted to be partners with this senior center,” Board Supervisor Kirsten Running-Marquardt said.
Running-Marquardt said she has heard from many seniors in the county who say they want a new senior center where they can meet and socialize.
While the ARPA funds are a big help to the project, about $2.5 million is needed to bring it to completion.
The senior center would be located at Horizons Family Services in its current space and would be called Our Place.
“Donors, foundations, the city [Cedar Rapids] has indicated their interest in supporting the project overall,” Paula Land with Horizons said.
Horizons already provides food at its location with its Meals on Wheels program. The addition of the senior center would allow for healthier meals as well as a fitness center and coffee shop.
Land said Horizons just received survey results that show that seniors want a senior center.
“There’s a 78-percent interest in a senior center right here at Horizons,” Land said.
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