Westlake Dedicates New Community Services Department

WESTLAKE, OH — Westlake dedicated the new Community Services Center on Friday.

City officials gathered to commemorate the moment, mark the 40 year anniversary of the Community Services Department, and thank the many people who made the new facility possible.

The ceremony was held in the Eileen Humphrey Auditorium and featured speeches by Mayor Dennis Clough, Community Services Director Lydia Gadd, and Bob Humphrey, son of Eileen Humphrey, Westlake's first director of the Office on Aging (later renamed the Community Services Department).

Eileen Humphrey ran the department from 1981 to 1998, working tirelessly to make a difference in the community.

"This facility would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of Eileen Humphrey, our first director," Clough said. "She was a person always on task, very persistent in pursuing her goals for the department and very a compassionate individual. But also, she was never shy about the ever increasing needs of the senior population at that time and that it was our job to make sure that she could improve those services."

During the early days of the Community Services Department, staff focused only on senior transportation and home-delivered meals. There were only two employees in the department, bolstered by a handful of volunteers.

After four decades, the department now caters to people of all ages, relying on the work of 11 full-time workers and a dozen part-time staffers.

"We're so excited now, in 2021, to not only be reopening as a senior and community services center but to be reopening in this brand-new 28,000-square-foot facility, which is magnificent," Gadd said. "We have all of you (gesturing to the attendees) to thank for that. It's not just one person but Eileen was certainly the person who got this department going."