The new Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center located on Golden Valley Road has seen an average of 100 more seniors participating in their weekday lunch program than at their previous Newhall location, according to officials.

The new senior center, dubbed Bella Vida, which is Italian for “beautiful life,” first opened its doors on April 29.

“With Bella Vida, I get here and it’s just like I’m home,” said Tommie Ward, ambassador for the SCV Senior Center. “This is my home away from home — all my friends, all these lovely people, all these classes. We have a beautiful staff, a good director.”

Bella Vida offers a complimentary lunch every weekday to those aged 60 or older through a county-funded program, which has grown increasingly popular at the new senior center location.

“We’ve expanded our service. More than 100 more people are joining us for lunch every single day,” said Executive Director Kevin MacDonald. “So the word is out that the food is good and the accommodations are special, and the service from our volunteers is just incredible.”

In addition to their lunch program, Bella Vida offers a number of different activities and amenities to the senior community.

“We have something called activity row,” MacDonald said. “It’s everything from card playing to aerobics to art classes to billiards to computer technology classes to a fitness center, more dance studios, and just so much more for our community.”

While the senior center is naturally targeted towards seniors, Bella Vida and its activities are open to the community at large for no cost, with only the free lunch being restricted to seniors.

“Bella Vida is for seniors, anyone black, white, red, blue, purple, educated or uneducated, homeless. It’s for everybody that needs to have a good life,” Ward said. “This is a place for seniors to grow.”

The focus and mission of the SCV Senior Center is to enhance the quality of life for seniors, according to officials, but they also recognize that the center is more than a building.

“We can open the doors and we can build the buildings, but if the people bring their positiveness and they can share time with each other and the camaraderie is built and the family is built,” MacDonald said. “And that’s what’s being built over here on Golden Valley Road, is a new family.”

For more information about Bella Vida, visit the SCV Senior Center’s official website here.

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.