For Karen Namy, the Wellness and Community Center at Brethren Care Village is more than just a place to work out. It’s a place where her past, present, and future seem to meet—a community full of familiar faces, meaningful connections, and new opportunities to stay active and healthy.

“I joined in November,” Karen says. “Mostly because I didn’t want to become a couch potato during the winter months.” A longtime daily walker, she was looking for a way to keep moving once the cold weather set in. The Wellness Center offered the perfect solution—indoors, accessible, and, as Karen puts it, “very clean, very kind, and just a great place to be.”

Her connection to Brethren Care runs deep. Her parents both spent time here as residents, and her brother served as Director of Nursing. “My mom was here about nine months, and my dad a couple of weeks before he passed,” she says. “They both received really good care. That meant a lot to us.”

Karen and her husband, a retired United Methodist minister, moved often during his 35 years in ministry—living in places like Bucyrus, Canton, and Cuyahoga Falls—before returning to Ashland in 2013. Today, he still works part-time at West Salem United Methodist Church, and Karen is happily reconnected with the community they call home.

“You meet people everywhere,” she says. “I see folks here I haven’t seen in 50 years—people I went to school with, neighbors, even folks I know from church. I’m a pretty social person, so I like putting the puzzle pieces together.”

She’s found that the Wellness Center brings those pieces together in unexpected ways. Whether it’s chatting in the hallways or recognizing a familiar last name, Karen loves the social side of the facility as much as the fitness aspect. She walks the looped hallway instead of the treadmill (“I prefer that, honestly”), and adds in some gentle physical therapy exercises for her neck and balance—especially on the half-balls, whose name she admits she can never quite remember.

The community feel is what keeps her coming back. “Everybody seems happy to be here,” she says. “People say hello. People want to chat. And that makes a difference—especially in the winter when it’s easy to feel cooped up.”

After a walk, Karen often stops by The Greens Bistro & Pub for lunch or to meet up with friends. It’s all part of what makes the Wellness Center more than just a fitness facility—it’s a hub for conversation, routine, and wellbeing.

Her recommendation? “I’d suggest it to anyone—especially friends who need a little physical therapy, or just want to stay healthy. It’s a wonderful place to be.”

Karen’s family history is tightly woven into Ashland and the surrounding areas. From ancestors who farmed in Columbiana County to relatives who moved into city life in Akron, she sees Brethren Care as a natural extension of her story.

“It’s clean, the staff is kind, and it’s comfortable,” she says. “I don’t have anything bad to say about it. I love coming here.”