Encore Cafe returns to Marion Public Library for older adults

MARION — After a three-year period of moving and adapting to serve older adults through the pandemic and aftermath of the derecho, Encore Cafe received a round of applause at its grand reopening in the new Marion Public Library Friday.

The cost of Marion’s newest cafe is modest, though reservations are recommended.

Encore Cafe, which lets seniors pair fresh plates of food with fresh conversations, was interrupted from its in-person dining service at the Marion Public Library by the governor’s emergency disaster proclamation in March 2020. First it transitioned to carryout bags of food to serve seniors’ nutritional needs, before moving to Marion’s Hy-Vee parking lot, and later Lowe Park.

“It’s great to be back in a facility like this, where we can truly implement the entire program as it’s meant to be and serve people,” said Marion Mayor Nick AbouAssaly. “This facility is about access, serving the community in all types of ways. What better example is there than what we see here today — truly serving our community and helping give them a great quality of life.”

In the last three years, the needs for nutrition and socialization among older adults have become particularly acute. On average, the Marion Public Library’s cafe has received 40 to 50 diners for lunch each Friday since its soft reopening a few weeks ago. That’s in addition to Congregate Meals service at Lowe Park on Wednesday and Thursdays, which average 35 to 40 people per day.

Congregate Meal service, which first started in Marion in May 2018, will continue in Lowe Park, as well.

The participation rate for Congregate Meals in Marion, which is among the highest in the state, has more than doubled since COVID disruptions, according to the Heritage Area Agency on Aging — bucking a national trend.

“All our (participation) numbers completely shot through the roof,” said Tim Getty, regional nutrition coordinator for the Cedar Rapids organization. “We just need opportunities — to talk about kids, talk about grand kids, talk about their issues, but also things to look forward to.”

With a clearly demonstrated need, he hopes the permanency provided by the cafe’s new home will help the program grow even more.

With food provided by Hy-Vee and vetted by a registered dietitian, seniors get much more than a meal out. In the new space, program leaders hope Encore Cafe encourages hard-to-achieve intergenerational interactions and more participation in educational programming at the library for seniors.

“I think it symbolizes the reopening of what we can offer the citizens of Marion,” said James Teahen, deputy director of the Marion Public Library. “It’s been a long time coming from when the storm hit the (older) building.”

In a place that’s much more than a collection of books, collection strategies manager Sue Gerth said it speaks to the library’s status as an inclusive community space.

“We all know there are older adults who are alone. This is a way for them, even if just one day a week, to be part of the community and talk to people, and feel valued — because they are,” Gerth said.

The new Encore Cafe is not your ordinary Congregate Meals program, though. As some leaders in aging adult nutrition try to revise the program created by the Older Americans Act of 1972, they’re pointing to examples like the one in Marion.

For many eligible adults, even the program’s name evokes unsavory images, said Erin Hoisington, aging and nutrition content director for the National Resource Center on Nutrition and Aging, who is based with the Iowa Department on Aging in Des Moines.

“This is a great example of that cutting edge. On a national level, there’s a real push to think about the way the Congregate dining experience is taking place,” she said. “To my knowledge, not a lot of libraries are doing this program.”

As the program innovates little by little at the local level, participants don’t necessarily want or need the same things they did 10-15 years ago, she said. But the program still serves a purpose, particularly in reducing the health risks associated with isolation and loneliness, as well as growing food insecurity among older adults.

“These types of programs where we’re thinking outside the senior center are what we’re hoping to transition programs across the country to start thinking about,” she said.

It’s a fresh take that incorporates a place they’re already visiting.

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