50+ Lifestyles

CASI’s 50th Anniversary

… taking time to look back on the mark
our mission has left on our community.

By Laura L. Kopp, MS
CASI President/CEO

“If you are going to live, leave a legacy.
Make a mark on the world that can’t be erased.”
– Maya Angelou

This year mark’s CASI’s 50th anniversary. And as we look forward to celebrating this milestone, we are taking time to look back on the mark our mission has left on our community.

From our humble beginnings in the old Lend-A-Hand building in Downtown Davenport in 1973:

To the CASI we know and love today:

CASI has proudly helped close to 250,000 older adults and their families navigate their aging journey. Providing opportunities for socialization, activities that improve health/wellness and easing access to supportive services along the way.

Over the last 50 years, CASI has been instrumental in creating a community where adults can age successfully.

This includes:

• Working with the City of Davenport to develop the city’s first affordable senior housing complex. Edgewater on Third still serves some of Davenport’s most vulnerable older adults and CASI employs a full time Social Worker onsite daily.
• Working collaboratively with area partners to develop the community’s first senior transit program. Now Riverbend Transit, this program provides access to transportation support to thousands of seniors and those with barriers to independence.
• Hosted 17 congregate meal site programs which ensured seniors had access to at least one nutritious meal daily.  CASI still hosts the community’s largest meal site at the center daily.
• Becoming 1 of just 2 Senior Centers in the state of Iowa to achieve National Accreditation.
• In partnership with Scott County Health Department, CASI assisted more than 4,000 seniors in accessing the COVID vaccine.
• Assisting more than 60,000 older adults to remain independent in their homes.
• Providing support and respite care to individuals and their families living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

It is with a full heart that we take time this year to recognize and celebrate the mark our mission has left on the Quad Cities. And it is with a spirit more determined than ever that we look forward to the next 50 years!

Laura L. Kopp, MS is President/CEO of CASI, located at 1035 W. Kimberly Road, Davenport, IA  52806. For information call (563) 386.7477 or email info@CASIseniors.org.