Ypsi community center offers senior cafe, weekly dinner, free space for nonprofits

On the Ground Ypsilanti is an “embedded journalism” program covering the city and township of Ypsilanti. It is supported by Ann Arbor SPARK, the Center for Health and Research Transformation, Destination Ann Arbor, Eastern Michigan University, Engage @ EMU, Washtenaw Community College, Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission, and Washtenaw ISD.

Programming has grown swiftly in the last year and a half at Ypsilanti Township nonprofit Peace Neighborhood Center’s HUB Community Center, which serves the West Willow, Gault Village, and Sugarbrook neighborhoods. The HUB, located in the former Zion Lutheran Church at 1515 S. Harris Rd.,  launched in early 2025 with a food pantry offered twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays.

Since then, the HUB has added a weekly dinner on Tuesday and a senior meetup on Wednesdays. It’s also established partnerships with a wide range of community nonprofits from Food Gatherers to Washtenaw My Brother’s Keeper and the Student Advocacy Center. Local nonprofits can reserve rooms for board meetings, interviews, and other needs for free, although Peace Neighborhood Center may charge for that service in the future depending on budgetary concerns.

All those partnerships are part of a “wraparound services” approach to serving the community, according to Peace Neighborhood Center Executive Director Bonnie Billups Jr. Partnerships mean the HUB can do more with a smaller staff, too, because HUB just provides the space while organizations like Our Community Reads provide programming.

“They’re already doing good work, so we provide a space, a hub where all these nonprofits can connect and provide services to these three major neighborhoods and help to have wraparound impact,” Billups says.

Billups says a thorough remodeling of the space helped break it up into more usable spaces so that a community dinner can happen on a Tuesday night in the great hall while an Ypsi-area nonprofit’s board can meet in a smaller meeting room in another part of the building, for instance.

During renovations, the tiny former church kitchen was also remodeled and more than doubled in size.

“It was this little bitty space, so building out a commercial kitchen was a big part of the plan, because food is such a major component of everything we do, from our community meals on Tuesday to our senior cafe to the breakfast we do in the hall with Washtenaw My Brother’s Keeper,” Billups says.

Organizations have to provide their own food but are welcome to use the kitchen for their own events as well, he says.

So far, the senior cafe is well attended. Billups estimates that 20-25 seniors are regulars, though attendance on any particular week usually tops out around 15. Billups says he’s hoping to get the word out and draw higher attendance at the Tuesday night dinners as well, which haven’t been as busy as he’d like. He says the HUB has had as many as 40 or 50 diners at one time, but it can easily handle more.

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, Food Programs Manager Latricia Juide was serving up tasty-looking chili dogs. However, most of the regulars say they attend less for the food and more for companionship and an opportunity to get out of the house. Anyone 55 and over who lives in the service area can come to the senior cafe to eat for free, participate in activities at the center, and go on monthly excursions to the movies, museums, and other destinations.

Senior cafe regular Ruby Phillips says the thinks the HUB is “doing very good work here.”

She says she’s made friends and enjoys getting out and participating in the cafe’s weekly and monthly activities.

Calvin Dishman lives in the West Willow neighborhood and started coming to both the Tuesday night dinners and the senior cafe a few months ago. He says he’s been enjoying bingo and field trips offered through the senior cafe. Visits to the University of Michigan’s botanical gardens and Detroit were among the highlights for him.

Dishman says he not only enjoys connecting with other seniors but looks forward to interacting with “the good people” on staff at the HUB.

Billups says plans for the future include expanding the HUB’s wraparound services.

“Peace Neighborhood Center has always served people in [the] 48197 and 49198 [ZIP codes] with what we call advocacy, basic emergency services, eviction prevention utility support, all those kind of things, transportation repairs,” he says. “But it’s great to be able to have a spot here in Ypsi where those calls get directed to. Instead of people having to bring all the paperwork and stuff to Ann Arbor, they’re able to meet with a case manager here.”

Billups is hoping to add a “community connections” staff person who helps connect clients to established HUB partners and other community resources, ranging from eviction prevention to help getting a better-paying job.

Learn more about the HUB Community Center here.