A free flower cart, live piano music, and a rotating gallery of local art have made the Westlake Community Services café one of the most welcoming rooms in the city — and now, one of only 11 senior centers in the country to earn national recognition for it.
Walk into Westlake Community Services on a weekday afternoon and you might find a violinist playing near the baby grand, a new exhibit of local watercolors on the gallery wall, and a wooden cart full of fresh flowers — free for the taking — sitting by the café.
It's called Bloom, Brush & Bravo. And it just earned Westlake Community Services a national honor.
The National Council on Aging (NCOA), through its National Institute of Senior Centers, has named the program an Honorable Mention in the 2026 Programs of Excellence Awards in the Visibility and Communications category — one of only 11 honorable mentions selected from senior centers across the entire country.
What makes the program worth studying is that it isn't really a program at all. There's no signup sheet. No scheduled class. No agenda. Instead, Westlake Community Services treats the building itself as the welcome.
Local artists rotate exhibits on a dedicated gallery wall every month. Volunteer musicians play the donated baby grand during select café hours. And through a partnership with Trader Joe's, the center receives flowers and plants that would otherwise be discarded — which staff arrange on a hand-built cart (retrofitted from an old lemonade stand) and offer free to anyone who walks in.
The approach reaches people that traditional programming often misses — including adults who don't think of themselves as "joiners," and families navigating dementia who have found in the café one of the few public spaces in the area where they can spend an unhurried afternoon together.
"We didn't set out to build another program. We set out to build a feeling," said Lydia Gadd, Director of Westlake Community Services. "People who say they're lonely don't always sign up for a class. But they will sit in a café with good light, fresh flowers, and live music. That's where connection actually happens."
The numbers tell part of the story:
Café revenue is up 21% year over year
Five new volunteers — musicians and artists — have joined the center as a direct result of the program
Existing groups, including the WCS Photography Club and watercolor classes, now exhibit their work to a wider audience
New audiences, including individuals living with dementia and their care partners, have made the café a regular destination
Bloom, Brush & Bravo will be featured in NCOA's national Programs of Excellence Clearinghouse, recognized at the Age + Action Conference May 27–30, 2026, and highlighted in a national webinar on June 17, 2026.
Come see it for yourself. The piano is there. The art rotates monthly. The flowers are free.
Westlake Community Services is located at 28975 Hilliard Blvd., open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.