Council’s Corner — Recruiting Recreational Program Instructors

As most of the community knows, the Osceola Council on Aging (OCOA) hosts multiple programs in support of our senior residents, disabled adults, and disadvantage families in the Osceola community. Our support includes nutritional services, last year alone donating nearly two million pounds of food from our food pantries while delivering 200,000 Meals on Wheels, emergency assistance programs providing more than $3 million to the community, affordable housing opportunities, in home service work and home repair initiatives (funded at $1.4 million in 2022), and the OCOA Health Clinic, where we provide care to more than 2,000 patients annually.

We are extremely proud of the existing services we provide. However, like any team who is looking to raise the bar and surpass existing accomplishments, we are always looking to add more programs and services to help our community residents.

One of those goals has always been to increase offerings to clients and other seniors in the community by offering recreational and educational classes and events to better increase socialization opportunities.

With that said, we are expanding our recreational programs and services at the OCOA Kissimmee campus, while looking to add Recreational Program Instructors to our team. These candidates will include individuals in the community who have experience in instructing programs for seniors to give them more opportunities to participate in fun, educational, informational, and socially driven activities.

Planned programs include physical fitness classes such as Zumba and Silver Sneakers, an initiative to promote fitness for seniors through physical activity, along with knitting, painting, arts, sewing, crafts, and Spanish classes.

“The OCOA is looking for between five and 10 recreational instructors to help us create a myriad of classes which are not only educational and informative, but also with the goal for clients to socialize, which also fosters good emotional and mental health,” said Vice President of Marketing Belinda Olivera.

Potential instructor candidates will include those certified in fitness related disciplines, arts and craft teachers, and bilingual individuals who are willing to teach both English and Spanish curriculums. All instructors will be compensated through class tuition participation with candidates required to undergo a routine background check.

If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a recreational instructor at the OCOA, contact Olivera at oliverab@osceola-coa.com.

In closing, as we continue to grow our social service offerings, I would be remiss not to mention our loyal employees, community partners, and the hundreds of volunteers who perform volunteer hours on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis in support of OCOA’s mission.

Our nearly 500 volunteers contribute more than 30,000 hours for the OCOA on an annual basis, helping support the programs and outreach initiatives keeping us thriving. I thank each and every one of you who have supported our decades of achievements, and we look forward to even more successes with our new recreational outreach program initiatives.