A recent grant to the Memorial Community Center in Hope will mean programming will continue with improved community outreach for the residents of Hope, said board member Delores Matthews.

Matthews, a recently retired English teacher from Clark Fork, wrote a proposal that ended up garnering $15,000 from Spokane Teachers Credit Union.

Matthews wrote the grant in the spring, she said, and heard back from STCU on Giving Tuesday.

Chair of the Board Dawn Brinker said she received a call asking for her and Matthews to meet on a Zoom call so STCU staff could ask some questions about the grant. Instead, the staff presented the two with a $15,000 check.

Two corporate members, dressed as elves, presented the check.

“It was a very exciting day,” Matthews said. “Dawn and I looked at each other like, oh my goodness. I actually teared up.”

The center will use the money for a new floor in the downstairs of the building, Matthews said. That area is the main floor that visitors walk into, and hosts numerous community functions including a knitting group, AA meeting, senior fitness classes and yoga.

The center is a central point for many of the programs that happen in Hope, she said. And because there are seniors who regularly come to the center, getting a new floor was a safety priority.

The flooring will also be provided by Sandpoint Furniture, which offered a $1,000 discount to the community center, Matthews said.

In addition to helping the center provide safe community programs, Matthews said, the new floor will by extension also help the other programs at the center.

One of those programs, she said, is the only preschool in the area.

There are few paid staff, Matthews said, and funding comes in part from small fees groups pay to host programming and events in the community center.

“We are the only preschool between Sandpoint and the Montana border,” Matthews said.