New Executive Director Lisa Norton is bringing her specialty in activities and program expansion to the Mountlake Terrace Community Senior Center.

Norton was hired in August, replacing the previous executive director, Marlene Maier, who resigned.

“This is a dream job. I love working with seniors. I love building programs,” said Norton.

Noting that senior center director positions don’t open very often, Norton said she jumped at the opportunity when she saw the open position.

Before, Norton was the health and wellness director at the Mukilteo YMCA. Prior to that, she spent nearly 11 years in orthopedic rehabilitation.

The Mountlake Terrace Community Senior Center now offers health and wellness programs that include acupuncture and foot care. In January, the center will start behavior health programs and later in 2019, they’ll be welcoming Bastyr University to provide wellness clinics.

Norton also plans to offer nutrition, fitness classes and depression screening. “My goal is to expand senior programming,” she said.

The senior center now offers three days a week, but this will soon be expanded to five

Norton said she looks forward to bringing back popular events for the seniors such as a holiday bazaar, holiday dinners, bingo and dances,

“I want this calendar to be full, with different choices for different people,” Norton said.

The Mountlake Terrace Community Senior Center now has 325 members, and Norton would like to grow that number to 400 by January. The center wants to reach out to the whole community, not just seniors.

“Mountlake Terrace is such a great community, and this is such a beautiful facility, we would like for it to be open for all kinds of activities and programming for the neighborhood,” Norton said.

While the Mountlake Terrace Senior Center is not an assisted living center, it does attract residents from nearby assisted living facilities for meals and programming.

“The center is open for extra activities in their life,” Norton said. “Where they come for lunch or to do yoga or they come and get foot care and acupuncture.”

Norton aims to make members’ lives better and more fulfilling, and she said that seniors are the most appreciative of that mission.

“We’re able to improve the quality of life for every member of our center,” Norton said.

— Story and photo by Hannah Horiatis