Right at home, Walters hits the ground running at Western Center

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SILER CITY — There is no relocation, no lengthy acclimation period to undertake for the new manager of the Western Chatham Senior Center, Kathryn Walters.

Instead, this product of Siler City is right at home in her new role — and she’s coming in swinging, having seen more than enough of pandemic fatigue.

“What I’ve found in the last week is that our seniors are just done,” Walters said. “They’re done with being alone. They’re safe; they wash their hands. Some of them still wear masks, which is great. But most of them just want the activity that we had before.”

Walters has made a career out of forging connections and relationships in Siler City and the greater Chatham community. A teacher at Chatham Central High School, Silk Hope School, J.S. Waters School and Bonlee School, Walters found the time to run a music ministry with her family.

It was there that the bonds with Chatham’s seniors began to flourish.

“I worked with so many seniors in our ministry that it became something dear to my heart,” Walters said. “When I found out that this job was available, I thought that would be absolutely fantastic. I feel like seniors are getting a whole new chapter. It’s not the end, it’s just a different season for them and I want to help them live their best life in those senior years.”

She’s already leveraged the familiar sights and sounds of home. Walking into the Western Center will reveal her 7th-grade social studies teacher who has been a client of the Chatham County Council on Aging for many years. Others heard of her adventures through her father, a dentist in Siler City for over four decades.

“I feel like I’m already home,” Walters assured. “I’ve been there one week, and I feel like I’m right where I need to be. It’s just going to be a great partnership with the people that are using the facility. I feel like I get to use my gifts to help them do their best.”

What are those gifts? Chief among them is the heart of a listener.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of learning a leadership position, Walters encountered a new Western Center client just days into the job. With new routines and processes swirling nonstop, the temptation could have existed to rush him through the registration process and quickly move onto the next pressing assignment.

However, quite the opposite happened. Walters instead invested more than an hour in getting to know the client — one she had never met before. Given the opportunity, his story was told.

“And we’re connected now,” Walters said. “I think that’s going to be the greatest blessing and also one of the most important parts of my job at the senior center is building those relationships with each person. Because that’s how you’re going to encourage them. That’s how you’re going to impact their lives, is by valuing their story.”

The stories also involve what activities should return to everyday life at the Western Center. As a testament to her can-do spirit, Walters has quickly moved to reinstate the center’s gospel choir. There was a leg broken on a keyboard, but that was quickly fixed.

“We’re not stopping for a broken leg on a keyboard,” Walters assured.

One client came in and inquired about basket weaving. Walters’ mind immediately began conjuring up ways to get her started. A line dancing instructor is already prepared to come and logistics are being prepared.

Granted, Walters has plenty of energy. But she doesn’t consider herself a revolutionary.

“Those are easy fixes,” she said. “You have people in place that know what they’re doing, and you already have a few reams of card stock — let’s do a craft. Those are the things I’m already starting. Especially the things that don’t require money, I don’t even have to jump hurdles on how we’re going to pay for it! Those things, I’m getting going right away.”

Ultimately, Walters wants clients to notice no difference between the comforts of their own homes and those they will find at the Western Center.

“It needs to feel like theirs,” Walters said. “It needs to be their senior center, and they need to be invested. But more than anything, just to be valued for their experience and their knowledge and their worth to feel like they’re an integral part. I don’t want anybody feeling like they’re at the tail end of a chapter. I want them to feel like, you woke up this morning, you got a whole new day and I want that enthusiasm in their life. I want them to feel like we’ll miss them if they didn’t show up today.”