St. Thekla Senior Center celebrates 10 years: A place of living and learning!

St. Thekla Senior Center celebrates 10 years: A place of living and learning!

A significant milestone was celebrated in the Holzwinkel in Welden: the St. Thekla senior center celebrated its tenth anniversary. During the anniversary celebration, Mayor Florian Mair and Vitalis managing director Philipp Reichmann recognized the outstanding work of the current facility manager, Michaela Schuster, and her team. The celebration was organized as a thank you for the numerous support from the population, including volunteers, home advisory boards, local associations and family doctors. However, the first steps towards opening were not easy, as the first facility manager Sabrina Grunenberg reports. She described that there were numerous difficulties that led to delays, but that the time was used sensibly for training and shadowing in other facilities.

The senior center currently employs over 80 people, making it one of the largest employers in Welden. A notable aspect of the facility is that almost all trainees are taken on after their final exams. This indicates a strong commitment to the professional development of young people, which may also have something to do with the variety of volunteers and voluntary activities that take place in the institution.

Voluntary activities and their importance

Voluntary work plays a crucial role in the nursing sector. As the Care Future platform describes, 46% of the population in Austria are involved in some form of voluntary work. These volunteers often work in non-profit organizations and help improve the quality of life of those in need of care. The characteristics of volunteer work are diverse: it is voluntary, unpaid and oriented towards the common good. Often motivated by altruistic goals, the helpers also experience personal enrichment and contribute to strengthening the sense of community.

In the nursing sector, volunteering includes a range of activities, including leading conversations, accompanying people on walks and helping to organize events. Volunteer helpers support nursing staff by establishing social contacts with the residents and thus lightening up the otherwise often lonely everyday life in the senior center. This is particularly important as demographic change means that the number of older people who need to use professional care structures is increasing.

The way into the future

The challenges facing the St. Thekla Senior Center, such as the simultaneous failure of both elevators, make it clear that constant adjustments will also be necessary in the coming years. At the anniversary celebration, Michaela Schuster spoke about these challenges that the team must overcome together. It remains to be seen how the center will respond to future developments, but the solid base of committed staff and supporters offers optimism for the years to come.