Senior Center Creates Smiles

ZANESVILLE, OH – The Muskingum County Center for Seniors is rolling out a new program that’s sure to make you smile.

Lauren Green, the Center’s Program Coordinator, created the Smile Marker Program back when she was an intern.

She said the goal of this program is to help bridge the gap between the seniors and the community.

“We see a lot of seniors that are very socially isolated, they’re homebound, they don’t get out and sometimes, even with our Meals on Wheels Program, that driver is the only person they see and talk to all day,” Green said. “So really our goal is just to give them connections within the community and give them someone to talk to and provide them with the companionship and just the reassurance that someone’s there for them, someone’s checking in on them.”

Green said currently they have seven people that they make a weekly, one-hour long phone call to. Your chat doesn’t have to take the whole hour, if you only need a quick, 5 minute check in, that’s perfectly fine.

“It’s been such a blessing to do this and really, these seniors have taught me more in the past couple months than I’ve learned in my entire four years of schooling so it’s been a great learning experience for me and for them,” Green said.

If you are interested in joining the Smile Makers Program or signing up a loved one, you can head to mccfs.org or call (740)-454-9761, extension is 107.

You can also email, lmsox@muskingumcounty.org, if you are interested in signing up to be a Smile Maker.