Today we’d like to introduce you to Lucy Woodhouse.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Lifelong Learning at Wofford provides classes and events and trips for senior adults in the community. Why is that important? As the body and mind age keeping them stimulated and active defers the aging process. Study after study shows that as we age, we must stay physically active, and continue learning and socializing. Keeping the brain and body active fights all kinds and mental and physical degeneration. For some, retirement is lonely. Folks are no longer working and interacting with coworkers, children are grown and moved away, spouses may be ill or passed away, and grandchildren live hundreds of miles away. How do you make new friends? How do you find that purpose to wake in the morning? What drives you to get involved and to use all you have learned in your lifetime? Lifelong Learning programs all over the country give senior adults new purpose helping to make retirement even more fun and beneficial than ever. We are lucky to have one in Spartanburg.
I have been in non-profit administration since college touching every role from volunteer to CEO, founder and board member, grant writer, fundraiser, and executive director. I love taking small or struggling nonprofits and strengthening their foundation and making them more effective. Years ago, I was working at Furman University as the Director of their Lifelong Learning program. During my time there, we grew from 700 to 1800 students, took the program to an online registration system and completed a $6 million capital campaign to build a new building for the program. While there, I called my alma mater, Wofford, and asked why they did not have a Lifelong Learning program. From that question, Charlie Gray started the program at Wofford with materials and guidance from Furman and others. Flash forward 7 years and after a stint on the coast as CEO of the Black River United Way, which served Georgetown and Williamsburg Counties during an ice storm, 2 major floods, and 3 hurricanes, I was ready to move inland.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As with any growing program, there are challenges. When the program initially started, classes were held on Wofford’s campus and the hope was to find a permanent spot on campus to offer all the classes. But reality set in as the number of Lifelong Learning students grew and classroom and parking spaces became more challenging to find. Step in Central United Methodist Church just a few blocks south of campus with a long history with Wofford which offered its classrooms and great parking facilities! The next challenge that is ongoing is to help the program grow with a diverse population of students. Predominately attended by longtime Spartanburg residents and Wofford alumni, the challenge is to reach the growing number of retirees moving here and to also attract a diverse population to represent the diversity of our community. A conversation about Politics or religion is going to be much more engaging and interesting with a diverse group of backgrounds and people! Taking Pickleball with people you never met will open your world up with each new person you meet. That is what we want to do for our retirees! One way we are meeting that challenge is by working to pool the resources of the 7 colleges in Spartanburg to offer up this amazing learning and socializing program for all retirees throughout the region. Another way is by talking about LLL and all its values to any and everyone we meet!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Lifelong Learning at Wofford?
This program is open to all senior adults in the community! We are lucky that Wofford has invested resources to support this program and look to get other colleges in the community involved to help us expand our mission throughout the region.
Our fees are minimal. We charge a $50 annual fee to participate. That fee pays for general admin costs and helps us keep our class fees low while also allowing us to provide classroom spaces and presentation tools that enable us to offer high-quality programming. Our instructors are volunteers who are teaching for the pure love of teaching and sharing their passion with others. We do offer a small honorarium that is covered by class fees. Classes cost anywhere from $10-$100 depending on the number of hours a student is in class. We have four terms a year with two of them running eight weeks and two running four weeks. Scholarships are available for class fees once a student pays the annual fee. We also offer many one-time special events, trips, and tours along with many social events. With only one full-time staff member and a part-time, 9-month employee, much of the work of the program is coordinated by the students themselves. We have 5 different committees that help us keep the program running and growing. Our website can be accessed at wofford.edu/lll.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Hanging out in the barn with friends, horses and all the smells associated with barn life. I have a pillow a friend gave me years ago that says, “As a matter of fact, I was raised in a barn”. That sums it up perfectly!
Pricing:
- $50 annual membership fee
- Classes run from $10-$100
- 4 terms a year, Fall (8 weeks), Winter (4), Spring (8), Summer (4)
Contact Info:
- Website: wofford.edu/lll
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LLLatWofford
Image Credits
Outdoor photos and the one with the Chihuly light fixture by Lucy Woodhouse.
Indoor classroom photos by Mark Olencki.
