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June 26, 2023

In October, the Comal County Senior Citizens Foundation moved its senior citizen activity facilities to the former YMCA building from its prior location across the street.

Now called the 7Ten Activity Center, named for its new address – 710 Landa Street — efforts to transform the more than 20,000-square-foot building into a state-of-the-art activity center for the community’s senior residents continue, according to Ken Lowery, the center’s executive director.

“We are trying to button down all of the things left to do so we can have a grand opening,” Lowery said. “We had a little hiccup with the steam rooms – they’re not quite ready yet – just little things that need to be accomplished. We don’t want to have an open house halfway. We want it to be completely ready to go, so the community can see what we offer seniors, our veterans and disabled adults.”

The Foundation finalized the purchase of the building about a year ago.

The new building features administrative offices, three to four separate rooms in the central area, outdoor pools, locker rooms and exercise spaces.

The main area contains tile flooring and movable walls to optimize the space, making breakout rooms for meetings, family gatherings and special events.

The rooms provide an opportunity to earn income that would help fund the Foundation’s Meals on Wheels and wellness programs, Lowery said.

“It’s no secret that funding for nonprofits is decreasing,” Lowery said. “It’s harder to get grants and donations are lower than they were in the past. We’re focusing on how we can have an earned income and help support what we do. So far, that’s working very well for us.”

The center provides many programs, services and activities to stay active and entertained.

At the back of the center is a square room for activities such as arts and crafts. Daily activities include card games, bingo, bean bag tournaments, dominos and craft classes. The center also offers bus trips and tours to selected sites.

The building includes an exercise area looking out to the outdoor pool. In addition to treadmills, stationary bikes and elliptical equipment, the fitness room features Echelon Reflect home gym mirrors using technology to link the center’s senior clients to virtual personalized trainers.

Both men’s and women’s locker rooms include a sauna and whirlpool. The locker area leads to the aquatics area, with a five-lane Olympic pool, an aerobics pool and a walking pool. The aerobics and walking pools will be covered during the winter for year-round activities.

The center continues the Meals on Wheels program, which serves around 14,000 meals a month to senior residents in Comal, Guadalupe, Wilson and Karnes counties. Meals are provided at no cost to the clients.

“I think we’ve come a long way in a year,” Lowery said. “We moved from across the street over to here. We’ve got a lot of activities. We’ve got a lot of people coming for day-to-day activities. We’ve had parties here, and a lot of people are coming back wanting to use the facility. We’ve got bookings for Christmas parties already.”

The Foundation began in 1985, helping seniors and disabled people 18 years and older. Since then, it has added programs such as Meals on Wheels and a pet program covering veterinary care and food for home-bound clients.

For information about memberships, call 830-629-4547.

The McKenna Foundation is a partner with the Comal County Senior Citizens Foundation. McKenna recently awarded a $50,000 grant to the Foundation for its senior nutrition program in Comal County, which addresses food insecurity, hunger and social isolation in senior residents and includes the center’s Meals on Wheels and congregate meal programs.