Chelsea Senior Center Appoints New Assistant Director and Senior Services Coordinator

Community News

Chelsea Senior Center (CSC) announces the promotion of Jon Van Hoek to Assistant Director and the addition of Angela Johnson as Senior Services Coordinator.

Van Hoek has been a Senior Services Coordinator for CSC’s Senior Nutrition Program (SNP) since 2020. Van Hoek provided program oversight of 34,000 meals a year, consisting of both home-delivered and weekday senior café meals. He also handled volunteer recruitment and coordination and managed the important relationships with the Chelsea School District and Washtenaw County Office of Community and Economic Development, CSC’s partners in support of the Senior Nutrition Program. Prior to CSC, Van Hoek spent a handful of years as an educator, teaching Spanish at the high school level.

“I really enjoy being involved in the community and wanted to increase my service involvement,” says Van Hoek. “When this opportunity arose, it was an impetus to help out more.” Van Hoek finds the promotion bittersweet. “I have loved working with all the (Senior Nutrition Program) volunteers. They have such big hearts and are full of compassion.”

As Assistant Director, Van Hoek will work with new Director Jennifer Smith to expand programming at Chelsea Senior Center, as well as assume other duties.

“I am excited to work alongside Jon. His compassion for area seniors comes from the heart and his commitment to CSC’s mission is steadfast. We’ve worked closely together and have a level of trust that will be key as we take on the leadership of CSC,” says Smith. “And I am thrilled that Angela chose to take over for Jon and join our team. Angela’s passion for helping older adults and her drive to engage resounded with me.”

Angela Johnson joins CSC, taking over the coordination duties of the Senior Nutrition Program. Johnson brings a fresh outlook to the program and is excited to reach even more isolated seniors who qualify and can benefit from a lunch onsite with friends or a meal delivered with a smile. While Johnson’s early career focused on children in various human services roles, after working for Dexter Senior Center as program coordinator, she discovered a new passion to support older adults and help them lead full, enriching lives.

Woman in a white shirt looking at the camera — Courtesy of Sharon Kegerreis

“I’m really looking forward to getting to know all of the members and volunteers,” says Johnson. “I also hope to strengthen relationships with stakeholders in the community and friend-raise to grow our volunteer base.”

Smith welcomes the robust ideas and renewed energy that typically come with change. “The opportunity to see the team evolve to meet the goals of the organization and the changing needs of area seniors will be amazing and will inform our choices moving forward.”