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‘Our Place’ at First West

Outreach for seniors 50 and older launches May 16; open house is scheduled June 6

By JANICE KIASKI 10 min read

STEUBENVILLE -- The upstairs renovations initiated nearly two years ago at First Westminster Presbyterian Church at 235 N. Fourth St., Steubenville, aren't just about a building having updated, improved space.

It's as much about building relationships and meeting needs, according to Pastor Jason Elliott.

And that's behind the May 16 launch of Our Place, a community activity and resource center designed for adults 50 and older who want to have fun, be active and stay healthy and informed. It will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. each week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

An open house will be held June 6 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. that anyone is welcome to attend, according to Elliott and Judy Owings and Cynthia R. Morris, the two women who are developing and coordinating the outreach.

How it came about and what it entails were topics discussed when the trio were recently interviewed at the church, where Elliott explained renovations started in the fall of 2021.

"It was primarily led by a group of 10 to 12 volunteers from the congregation," Elliott began. "We are very fortunate and blessed to have contractors from the community take care of the utilities and the things that we could not do, but they were friends in the community that helped the congregation. The volunteers have saved more than $300,000 with their work, and it's a rough figure of 6,000 square feet of total renovation of classrooms, community space and the Christian education wing," he said.

"And I think the bottom line is we run the church as a community center," Elliott continued as he pointed out various groups that use the church facilities at no cost, among them the Cancer Dietary Initiative, Al-Anon, a chess club, a Girl Scouts troop and the Academy of Lifelong Learning, for example.

"The whole goal is to build relationships and build community," Elliott said. "With the renovation was how do we continue to hold hands and to help people, to follow the mission of 'Love God and Love Others,' and I think we were very intentional to realize in our area sometimes that turf issues can become very prominent, but we try to do everything in our power to do the opposite -- to build connections, and you win economically, socially, when you are willing to hold hands and work together, so that's been the emphasis of the project," he added.

"So we've got this beautiful space the church can use but during the week when there are other ministries and opportunities, hey, it's here, and it's just been really outstanding," added Elliott, who has served as the church's pastor for 13 years.

The renovation work is ongoing but nearly done, he said. A ribbon-cutting is anticipated in August.

"As a part of this renovation, we were looking at demographics -- the church was -- to launch a senior ministry with this renovation to get this space going, to have it for our congregation but to open it up to anybody in the community," Elliott said. "We were in a position of praying for several months, and after a funeral, Judy happened to be in attendance and said, 'Hey, would there be any chance the church would be interested in doing any kind of senior ministry or outreach?' My eyes lit up, and it was just like a God thing -- it's like the Holy Spirit bringing it all together."

That was around June 2022.

"We have been at this in a process of discernment and prayer as to what shape is this ministry going to take," he said. "This is a fully First Westminster thing, just like we have a youth group and have a children's ministry, Our Place is the senior arm of that to reach out to seniors. It's going to be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m."

The ministry leaders/coordinators see themselves having specific roles. Owings is the health and education person for Our Place; Morris is the administrator who is establishing a website and Facebook presence, for example.

"We'll be doing a newsletter and organizing a lot of the projects we're doing and I'll be doing some of the programs," Owings said. "I'll be doing some of the exercise and health programs and some of the support groups."

The mission statement of Our Place, a 501(c)(3) is to "offer a unique health and wellness experience for older adults by providing education and socialization during the journey of agin."

It is for adults 50 and older to be "supported, included, safe and informed. It will be well known as the hub of resources, education and wellness. It also connect older adults to community agencies and events to maintain an independent and fulfilling lifestyle while helping others."

Our Place is self-funded and relies on donations, memberships, drawings and grants. Membership is $25 for the year. Lunches are available for $3, but day-before reservations are required.

It will provide a social atmosphere where members can enjoy socializing, nutritional lunches, exercise classes, line dancing classes, craft classes, a cafe, bingo, chair volleyball, entertainment, holiday celebrations and information on local services for older adults.

Asked about her inspiration for a senior outreach, Owings explained, "It's something that had been on my mind since now I'm part of the retired group of people, and then having gone through COVID, and isolation for seniors was such a difficult thing even before COVID. After COVID, a lot of people I was running into were having the same problems, making their connections again, knowing what community programs were out there to help them or their parents, or how to navigate Medicare, just all those issues, and so I really felt a need to be part of that and to help connect people to the community services and that's why I had said that to Jason, and he had been having some of the same thoughts."

Owings retired in 2020 as director of Prime Time after nearly 10 years "but prior to that, I did cardiac and pulmonary rehab and I worked with Prime Time and did the mobile medical van, I did Heartland, started community labs, did outreach for immunizations that hadn't been done in the public before so I was kind of used to tuning in to what the public needed."

"I went to school with Judy's kids, and they have been family friends, and it makes it nice when you have that familiarity and when there's a need," Elliott said. "The bottom line in this is there are a lot of people who view this in different ways. I have had numerous people question -- is this to take the place of Prime Time -- absolutely not. This is our local congregation and church looking at a need and looking at the opportunity to build relationships, and there is so much that can be done and to continue to build those relationships and we want to lead with that.

"This is a mission that we feel God has brought us all together, and we're going to see where God takes it and leads it and blesses it," Elliott said. "We're super excited about the relationships. People are starting to get little murmurings here and there -- we're announcing it to our congregation on April 30. The session has voted on this. There are just so many people hungry for those relationships," he added.

Morris and Owings worked together at the Prime Time Center. She left there in December 2021, she explained, becoming the caregiver for her father before his death.

"I was blessed to have both of my parents until recently. My dad passed away. I had seen first hand the struggle that our older population goes through -- they need someone to help them and guide them to different resources and activities," Morris said. "I became very passionate about this years ago, helping people and just since we started putting this together and meeting with different organizations, I've learned more that's out there so our goal is to bring all this information to the members and just enrich their lives, make them comfortable and feel self-sufficient so they can stay in their homes and continue to lead a happy life," Morris commented.

"I'm sure a lot of the ideas will come from them because that's usually how it works -- what about this or that -- so we can work with them and make it part of Our Place," Owings said.

"We will have a suggestion box so if we're not touching on your interests or if there's a support group you'd like to see developed or anything that they want, we'll see what we can do," Morris added. "I am excited to see where this is going to go."

Elliott said, "You win by holding hands, and I see it time and time and time again in our community -- 'I'm afraid you're going to take my people, I'm afraid you're going to take my resources,' so there's a reluctance then to hold hands, and we think that we're going to preserve our little ... and it does just the opposite. It keeps us from envisioning together and working together. Everybody I have talked to I underscore that -- we are excited about this, it's a blessing from God that we have veterans that have said we want to come and lead this ministry, and then the congregation unanimously, the session, to welcome this, and I just look forward to see how God is going to bless this, because in the end, it's going to be people's lives that are touched and changed and how do you put a value on encouragement, or a value on somebody feeling self worth and acceptance, and so that's what it's about.

"I thought it was just a good thing that while we're moving into this space, this is one of the new creative ministries for the community that we're launching," he added.

"Actually we'll be referring to Prime Time for the services that they provide. We don't provide services here like they do, so I am sure we will be forward them to there," Morris noted.

Jefferson County has a higher percentage of older adults than the state of Ohio average.

"Forty-five to 50 percent of the people in Jefferson County are age 50 and above and either they have parents who are having difficulty maneuvering the system and they're trying to help them or they have some needs," Owings observed. "If you look back, when we're younger, we have kindergarten, pre-school, school and sports events to help us adapt and adjust and be a part of society. but as we get older there are not guidelines to kind of help you maneuver your way in life so you can get the most out of it."

The May launch of Our Place will be a come-and-see, work-out-the-kinks time in preparation for the June open house.

For information, call (740) 520-0120; e-mail to OurPlace@OurPlaceJeffersonCounty.com; visit Facebook for OurPlaceJefferson County; or the website at OurPlaceJeffersonCounty.com.

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