Welcome to National Senior Center Month hosted by NCOA and our National Institute of Senior Centers (NISC).

This Senior Center Month we explore 'Powering Possibilities: Flip the Script'

The 2025 theme, Powering Possibilities: Flip the Script, invites us to challenge outdated perceptions of aging and senior centers. It celebrates the dynamic role that centers play in fostering creativity, connection, purpose, and resilience in later life. 

More than 10,000 senior centers across the country are leading this charge—flipping the script on aging by creating inclusive, engaging spaces where older adults thrive. From their beginnings in the 1940s to their recognition in the Older Americans Act in 1973 to today, senior centers have continually evolved to meet the changing needs of older adults and their communities. 

Senior centers power possibilities through: 

• Social connection that combats loneliness and isolation
• Health and wellness programs that promote vitality
• Economic security resources that offer stability
• Creative and cultural engagement that brings joy and purpose
• Access to services that support independence and well-being

Now more than ever, we understand the critical importance of belonging and connection. The Surgeon General has identified loneliness as a national epidemic—but senior centers have long been the antidote. They are places where people gather, support one another, and build community.

To bring this year’s theme to life, consider hosting events and activities that highlight the possibilities your center powers every day—whether through health classes, intergenerational programming, digital inclusion workshops, or creative arts showcases. Engage your participants in shaping the celebration and invite your broader community to join in. 

Let’s make National Senior Center Month 2025 a celebration of purpose, possibility, and the powerful role senior centers play every day. Let’s flip the script—together. 

Your Senior Center Month To-Do List

1. Strategize — Use the Senior Center Program Guide to reflect on your own experiences of the past year and build a roadmap for the future.
2. Customize the 2025 Poster — Bring recognition of National Senior Center Month to your center by customizing our 2025 poster. You can type a message or contact information as well as place a logo for your senior center in the boxes at the bottom of the poster.  If you customize your poster, please save it as a PDF and share it with us at membership@ncoa.org.
3. Educate your elected officials — Help raise awareness about how public dollars support services and benefits for older adults, caregivers, family members, and the community at large. Senior center staff and participants are well-positioned to explain how limited public investment, along with growing demand, is having a domino effect on programs and services that help older adults remain healthy and independent in their own homes and communities. It’s important that Congress understand how older adults and caregivers are being affected by funding and policy decisions.
4. Mix it up — Consider planning a different event each week, or choose one week out of the month to hold several activities.
5. Enlist senior center members — Your members know best what appeals to their cohort. Enlist them to help you create and implement activities.
6. Use the Publicity Guide — Capture awareness and promote community involvement and support for your celebration by creating a plan using our Publicity Guide. Your local media are always looking for a good story about how your community is supporting older adults. This is a great time to engage them with happy, empowering stories of how your center is the key to aging well with exciting virtual and in-person programs and a focus on healthy living. Our Publicity Guide offers a step-by-step media plan with timelines and tactics, making reaching out to local reporters easy.

2025 National Senior Center Month Resources and Downloads