NON PROFIT
A Place to Connect and Thrive Topsail Senior Center helps with advocacy, socialization, nutrition, exercise and more for the area’s older population. BY DALENE BICKEL | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHAY PERNA
Ellie Hess enjoys quilting at the Topsail Senior Center.
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Surrounded by lush foliage and stately trees, Topsail Senior Center is easily overlooked as you drive amid the cars and trucks barreling down Highway 17’s coastal corridor. Yet this facility, located beside the Pender Pines Garden Center in Hampstead, has been serving area residents age 60 and older since 1997. This includes the residents of Hampstead, Topsail Island, Holly Ridge and Scotts Hill. “Our goal is to provide a comfortable, safe place to promote independence, self-esteem, good health practices and socialization for all our area seniors,” says Donna Murphrey, coordinator of Topsail Senior Center. Indeed, through its affiliation with Pender Adult Services (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization), seniors are able to enjoy a vast array of activities and resources to meet four of their biggest needs: advocacy, exercise, nutrition and socialization.
Advocacy Heraclitus, the ancient Greek philosopher, is credited with saying, “There is nothing permanent except change.” That certainly applies to government programs, particularly health insurance and tax laws, which seemingly get more complex each year. To help seniors navigate these muddy waters, Topsail Senior Center offers two annual programs. The first is the Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP). Prior to open enrollment each fall (which runs from October 15 to December 7), seniors can reserve an
Fall 2021
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