Old Enough. Secure Enough. Mature Enough.

Brooke and Scott Isaak never set out to be the couple whose generosity helped launch one of the most important community projects in the Chelan Valley. In truth, their story begins in two small towns, shaped long before titles, leadership roles, or public recognition ever entered the picture.

Brooke Steveson grew up in Manson, her mother a secretary, her father a teacher and coach. She jokes that she was “raised inside the school,” spending countless hours in gyms and on fields where the community showed up for every game. “People poured into me,” she says — teachers, neighbors, parents in the stands. Their encouragement shaped her more than she understood at the time.

She excelled in sports, served as Manson’s Apple Blossom Queen her senior year, and later helped lead Thrive Chelan Valley’s mentoring program. Belonging came early. Service came naturally. 

Scott’s story grew in parallel, sixty miles away in Coulee City. He grew up on a generational farm, surrounded by wheat, canola, cattle, and the rhythm of work that started before sunrise and didn’t end until long after dark. He remembers motorbikes, dirt roads, and the independence that comes with growing up on thousands of acres of open land. “It was the all-American dream,” he says. He helped run the family farm and later built a niche business selling straw to mushroom farmers in Canada.

Two small towns. Two sets of values. One future neither of them could have predicted.

They first crossed paths as teenagers at a basketball game — a spark lit from across the gym, then separate paths, and life unfolding miles apart. They married other people. They raised children. They grew into themselves. And then, years later, basketball brought them back into a gym together for the second time. Scott remembers hearing someone call his name, then turning around to see Brooke with her mother. She remembers noticing him before he saw her. Both recall feeling something unmistakable: life circling back for a reason.

Their blended family would include seven children. For years, they lived across two towns and two school districts, juggling schedules, driving long distances, swapping weeks between Chelan and the west side, and doing whatever was necessary to give each child stability and confidence. “Community mattered in how we raised our kids,” Brooke says. “Probably because of how we were raised ourselves.”

They loved the valley. They made it work. And they chose Chelan as their home.

Blessed to be a blessing.

Their involvement with The Community Center didn’t begin with a board role or an official invitation. It began when RealLife Church purchased the original seven acres — the step that made the entire project possible. That moment also quietly pulled Brooke and Scott into the vision long before the valley understood what the land could someday become.

As the project evolved, so did their sense of calling. Both felt a nudge — subtle at first, then unmistakable. They describe it as obedience. As listening. As stepping into something larger than themselves. “We felt called to do it,” Scott says. “You’re blessed to be a blessing.”

Scott spoke about this season of life with a clarity that eventually inspired the title of this story. “At some point, you get old enough, secure enough, mature enough,” he said. “Maybe all three. And you realize it’s time to do something that matters.”

It wasn’t a sound bite — it was a quiet truth earned over decades of work, parenting, and reflection. A sense that purpose wasn’t something you chase, but something you finally recognize when the season is right.

That mindset became the foundation of their giving. It wasn’t an act of charity. It was an act of faith. 

And faith, to them, is not passive. When God calls you to do something, you move. You show up. You put your faith in action. Their gift wasn’t simply generosity — it was obedience to a calling they both felt deeply.

They helped early in the land phase, offering guidance and monetary support. And when the project reached a pivotal moment, they stepped forward again — this time with a transformative $1 million gift to help construct The Community Center.

At first, they wanted anonymity.

“We just didn’t want anything to change,” Brooke says. “We’re low-key people in a low-key community. We like being low-key.”

But ultimately, they realized something important: visible generosity doesn’t elevate the giver — it inspires and emboldens the community.

Their gift came from gratitude, from stewardship, from faith, and from a desire to shine a light on what was possible. “Our job isn’t to sit on what we’ve been given,” Scott says. “It’s to pay it forward.”

A bridge that connects a community.

For both Brooke and Scott, The Community Center is far more than a building. It is a bridge — connecting Chelan and Manson, linking generations, and bringing together people who might never otherwise share the same space.

Brooke describes it this way: “I love being part of something with real purpose. And the purpose of this place stretches across generations.” She imagines seniors finding community during the quiet winter months, nonprofits launching ideas without worrying about room rental barriers, families having space to gather, kids having a safe, warm place to play, and new residents finding immediate belonging.

For her, The Community Center represents something rare: a place with no expiration date. A community investment that will last for generations.

Scott sees that longevity, too, but he frames it in terms of completion. “Until it’s finished, all you have is potential,” he says. “When you finish it, that’s when it becomes everything it’s meant to be.”

They both understand the importance of the gym and performance space — not as features, but as catalysts. Once built, the ripple effect will spread across the valley for decades. Lives will be touched by things none of us can fully imagine today.

Passion turns to purpose.

The Community Center has already transformed daily life here. The lobby is alive with conversation. The fitness center hums with energy. The meeting rooms, programs, and events keep growing. Families gather. Kids laugh. Seniors connect. Visitors walk in and feel the warmth immediately.

But the Isaaks know something essential: the story is still being written.

The vision is bigger. The need is real. And the community has an opportunity right now — this year — to bring the whole dream to life and turn passion into purpose.

A clear but quiet invitation to step forward.

This year, that opportunity has become even more relevant.

It’s the kind of opportunity Brooke and Scott hoped their own giving would inspire: a moment where the entire valley can come together to finish something extraordinary.

Their belief in this place runs deep. Their message, though gentle, is unmistakable:

This is the time — while the gym and performance space are being completed — to help finish the dream.

This is when your gift matters most.

What we build together will outlast all of us.

For Brooke and Scott, giving was never about recognition. It was about purpose, about gratitude, about paying forward what they were given.

And now, their story becomes a call — not loud, not forceful, but unmistakably hopeful:

Join us.

Turn passion into purpose. Turn potential into reality.

Give now, and help finish the next chapter of the Lake Chelan Community Center.

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