Senior Services Inc. Named North Carolina Community Partner of the Year forTransformative Collaboration with Wake Forest University
Five-year partnership redefines community engagement through reciprocity, research, and intergenerational learning
Winston-Salem, NC (February 11, 2026) – Senior Services Inc.’s Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness has been named Community Partner of the Year by the North Carolina Campus Engagement network, recognizing its groundbreaking collaboration with Wake Forest University that has transformed how students, faculty, and community members learn from and with older adults.
“This partnership represents the very best of what university-community collaboration can be,” said Allison Walker, Director of Community Partnerships and Experiential Learning in Wake Forest’s Office of Civic and Community Engagement. “Senior Services doesn’t just host our students, they co-educate them, challenge them, and fundamentally reshape how they understand aging,
community, and what it means to learn alongside rather than serve.”
Over five years, the partnership has grown from a single course connection to a multi-disciplinary collaboration spanning arts, health sciences, business, and first-year studies. What sets it apart is its foundation of true reciprocity: Senior Services staff share deep expertise in gerontology and person-centered care, while older adult participants are recognized as teachers, storytellers, artists, and
community experts who shape what and how students learn.
Research with Real-World Impact
The collaboration has generated significant scholarship, including multi-million-dollar NIH-funded studies—IMPROVment and IGROOVE—investigating how improvisational dance affects cognitive and physical health in older adults. Preliminary findings show improvements in balance, gait, mood, and cognitive function, with potential to influence healthcare recommendations nationwide.
Wake Forest business students have provided data analysis supporting Senior Services’ strategic planning and fundraising, while arts students collaborate with participants to design creative programming that expands the Center’s offerings.
Transforming Students and Communities
Student impact assessments reveal measurable increases in empathy, cultural humility, and understanding of social determinants of health. Many students continue involvement beyond course requirements, with some pursuing careers in aging services and health equity.
“Our students arrive thinking they’re going to help older adults,” Allison Walker noted. “They leave understanding that older adults have been teaching them all along about resilience, creativity, what makes a meaningful life. That shift from charity to solidarity is transformative.”
The partnership has also positioned Winston-Salem as a national leader in age-friendly community development, with the Intergenerational Center’s model drawing attention from researchers and practitioners across the country.
A Model for Authentic Partnership
The award recognizes not just outcomes, but process: clear sustainability mechanisms, including dedicated liaisons, structured orientations, ongoing evaluation, and documented onboarding, ensure continuity across academic years. This infrastructure supports long-term relationship-building rather
than transactional service.
“Senior Services and Wake Forest demonstrate what’s possible when universities and communities commit to learning together,” Walker said. “This isn’t about Wake Forest doing something for the community, it’s about what we can create together.”
About Senior Services Inc.
Senior Services Inc. provides comprehensive services for older adults in Forsyth County, including the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness, which offers creative enrichment programming bridging generations through arts, movement, and community connection.
To learn more about the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness, click here.
To learn more about the IGROOVE and IMPROVment research studies, click here.