Help Bring the Hornell Senior Center to Life!

Building Home Together: Creating a Safe, Accessible, and Welcoming Space for All

The Hornell Senior Center is more than a building — it’s a promise to our community. It’s a place where older adults can gather, share meals, make friends, and receive the support they need to live independently and thrive.

This year, Steuben Senior Services Fund (SSSF) is raising $28,000 through FLX Gives to help bring that promise to life. Your gift will support essential features that make the new Hornell Senior Center a safe, accessible, and welcoming space for everyone. Why? Because everyone deserves to belong!

Accessibility Is Dignity

Aging should never mean losing access to the places that bring us joy. The new Hornell Senior Center is being built to ensure that every older adult, regardless of ability, can move freely, comfortably, and with confidence.

Your support will help fund four necessary upgrades that put accessibility and inclusion first:

• $10,500 – Handicapped Door Panels: Two new bathrooms will be equipped with handicapped-accessible door panels, allowing older adults and individuals with mobility challenges to enter and exit safely and independently. This simple upgrade restores dignity, comfort, and privacy for all who use the facility.

• $10,000 – Creating New Handicapped Parking Spots: For many older adults, accessibility starts in the parking lot. By adding new designated handicapped parking spaces, we make it easier for those using walkers, canes, or wheelchairs to arrive safely and confidently. These spots will help ensure no one has to struggle just to participate in community life.

• $1,000 – Restriping the Municipal Parking Lot for Handicapped Parking: Fresh striping ensures that those with mobility needs can easily locate and safely use accessible parking spaces near the building. It’s a small improvement with a significant impact. Clear, visible spaces that say, "you are welcome here."

• $6,500 – New Solid Surface Countertops: The Hornell Senior Center will serve as a hub for both congregate and home-delivered meals, supporting the nutrition and well-being of older adults across Steuben County. Durable, solid-surface countertops will help volunteers and staff prepare meals safely and efficiently, ensuring that every senior receives a meal made with care and served with love.

Through the generosity of our community, all funds raised through FLX Gives will be donated to the Steuben County Office for the Aging to help make these vital improvements a reality, ensuring the Hornell Senior Center is accessible, welcoming, and ready to serve all.

Why It Matters

The Hornell Senior Center represents the heart of what makes Steuben County special. Neighbors helping neighbors, generations supporting one another, and community coming together for a shared purpose.

By 2035, one in four Steuben County residents will be over 65, and the number of adults aged 85 and older will increase by more than 40 percent. The need for safe, accessible spaces where older adults can connect, exercise, eat, and learn has never been greater.

Your contribution through SSSF guarantees that the new Hornell Senior Center will be accessible to everyone, not only today’s seniors, but also for future generations.

Together, We Build Home

When we make a space accessible, we make it possible for everyone to participate fully in community life. These upgrades aren’t just improvements to a building; they are also enhancements to the surrounding environment. They are investments in dignity, independence, and belonging.

By giving through Steuben Senior Services Fund, you’re helping to build more than a center. You’re helping to build home.

Every contribution, no matter the size, helps open doors — literally and figuratively — for the older adults who have given so much to our community.

Together, we can create a senior center that truly reflects the spirit of Steuben County: one that is caring, inclusive, and strong.

Your gift through SSSF helps bring the Hornell Senior Center to life, making it a place where everyone belongs.