Community for Positive Aging Is About Aging Gracefully With the Homies

To consider the Community for Positive Aging’s rebrand from its previous mantle, the Hollywood Senior Center, is to consider not just how the experience of aging has changed over the past half century (the place has been around since 1973), but how those changes have affected families, commerce and intergenerational friendships.

At base, the Community for Positive Aging, or The Center, as it’s known, is a robust community center serving isolated seniors and low-income adults across the metro area, from those just dipping their toes in their golden years to folks with established tenure. But simply hanging out at The Center begets a conversation about the very nature of aging and how we perceive it as a culture. The place works on a social compact supported by an intergenerational group of volunteers, approximately 180 of them, of whom most are younger than the formal “participants.” (The Center doesn’t do memberships, per se, asking instead that regulars register and make an annual $20 donation, though no one is turned away for lack of funds.)

“No one should age alone,” says program and communications manager Libby Landauer. “We are just trying to be a place where everyone can age in a joyous and positive way.”

Nearly 150 seniors come through The Center daily, 500 unique visitors monthly. But it skips the institutional day care vibes in favor of something akin to a clubhouse. Its event calendar rivals that of the finest Parks & Rec–managed center or rejuvenated public library. In addition to old folks–coded activities like chair yoga, arthritic exercise, senior law and caregiver clinics, there are also storytelling events, walking clubs that frequent parks across the city, knitting circles and writing groups. There are meditation groups, artist meetups, even live lunch concerts.

“We think about aging holistically,” Landauer says. “We try to create social situations that folks can be a part of, as well as try to be a place for wraparound services for seniors, like immunization work and tobacco cessation.”

Landauer is particularly proud of The Center’s food programs. It hosts an open food pantry for all community residents every Tuesday afternoon, and works with Meals on Wheels People and Stone Soup PDX to serve meals three times each week.

Though it’s only a few steps from one of Portland’s foundational antique malls, Antique Alley, The Center’s Golden Treasures Gift Shop feels like a panacea for the bright lights of Hollywood’s film district. That it’s primarily run by seniors only adds to its charisma. Come through for the handmade goods, but hang around for pro crochet tips from a crafting grandma or to giggle with a couple of stylish dowagers behind the counter.