Keeping People on Their Feet and Building Community

Long before Linda Hollier ever stepped into the Lake Chelan Community Center, she had already spent a lifetime helping people stay on their feet. A physical therapist and dancer by training, a teacher by instinct, and a natural connector at heart, Linda has quietly become one of The Community Center’s most impactful partners — simply by doing what she loves most: keeping people moving, laughing, learning, and not falling.

Her classes began modestly. One rented room. A handful of seniors. A belief that exercise shouldn’t be a luxury, and that no one should have to give it up because of cost or age or fear. Today? Linda’s functional fitness classes regularly fill two multipurpose rooms, draw people from as far as Orondo and McNeil Canyon, and have a waitlist long enough that she personally calls people to keep it fair.

And behind it all is a deeper truth: Linda isn’t just teaching exercises. She’s building community. She’s changing health trajectories. She’s giving older adults a place to belong.

Linda has spent her physical therapy career fighting the quiet epidemic that many people never talk about — falls. One bad fall, she says, can start “the beginning of the end” for a senior. It’s why her classes blend warm-ups, balance work, chair exercises, and agility training—simple moves that help people stay strong in their 60s, 70s, and 80s.

But the heart of her program goes beyond physiotherapy. It’s connection.

“I see friendships forming,” Linda says. “They linger after class. They get coffee. They check on each other. That’s healthy aging, too — community and socialization.”

‍

At her previous location, there was no real place to gather. Here, the magic happens after class as much as during it. The lobby becomes an extension of her session — a safe, warm space where new relationships take root.

People think there are barriers, but I want to remove them. Come out and experience the class and discover The Center."

— Linda Hollier

Linda charges just $10 a class primarily because she doesn’t want money to be a barrier to participating in her classes.  As demand grew, she added a second and third room, and even found a grant from the Lake Chelan Health and Wellness Foundation to ensure costs stayed low. She also makes a point to talk with every new participant beforehand, wanting each person to feel comfortable from the very beginning.

She does all this not to build a business, but to build access. Many seniors in her classes are there because their doctor encouraged them. Some are recovering from weakness or injury. Some are preventative and want to stay ahead of future risks. Every one of them, Linda says, deserves to feel strong, capable, and confident.

Linda knows some people still hold old opinions or misunderstandings about how The Community Center came to be. She hears it in conversations with hesitant friends, or people who assume the place “isn’t for them.”

But she’s also watched those opinions shift — usually the moment someone actually walks through the doors.

“The people who come here like it,” she says. “You just have to get them here.”

Her message to the community — and to potential supporters — is simple:

Experience it. See what gathers here.

See how people are moving, connecting, and getting healthier together.

And once you see it, you’ll understand why it matters.

A Center that keeps people on their feet — and brings them together.

The story is working — and now it’s time to finish the next chapter.

Linda’s classes are a daily reminder of what this building is truly for: to help people live healthier, more connected lives. To prevent isolation. To keep older adults strong. To give people a place to gather, move, laugh, and linger.

Finishing the gymnasium and performance space means even more room for gatherings and classes like Linda’s. It means more seniors helped, more community connections formed, and more people walking through the doors who once thought this place wasn’t for them.

To make a tax-deductible contribution, visit our fundraising page or contact Executive Director Maribel Cruz at maribel@chelancommunity.org.