The days of Fit and Fall Proof at the Post Falls Senior Center are numbered.

The exercise program will be displaced after June 26 as the building at 1215 E. Third Ave. undergoes renovations. It is being remodeled to house the senior center as well as the Post Falls Food Bank.

"It's not that we don't support the program, it's the reality of what we’re needing to do,” Post Falls Food Bank Executive Director Leslie Orth said Wednesday. "We have two nonprofits trying to fit, and this one is growing and it's desperately in need of the space."

Orth said the food bank has been using space in the senior center for two years, although it was about nine months ago staff and patrons were given a heads up that changes would be coming that would impact programming following the two nonprofits merging.

“It wasn’t a possibility, it was a definite, ‘This will not be available, you’re welcome to stay here now, nothing is in concrete,’” Orth said.

Facilitated through Panhandle Health District, Fit and Fall Proof is for all ages, but geared toward helping people 65 and older maintain independence and physical strength through moderate-intensity exercises taught by trained volunteers. The Post Falls Senior Center program meets three days a week.

Orth said, with the remodel, the Dougall Room now used for the program will be used for offices and a flex room, as well as a senior cafe. The space will be cut in half and unable to accommodate as many as 30 people with chairs. A square dancing group that uses the space one evening a week will also be impacted by the remodel.

"We are creating something very nice for them, but it’s different," Orth said. "Things like Fit and Fall Proof will have to be held elsewhere. We just don’t have that option."

Fit and Fall Proof regulars are imploring the community to help find a new, ideally permanent venue where they may continue participating in the program that keeps their bodies nimble, their minds sharp and their hearts full. The program is all about exercise and balance, but camaraderie and friendship is a big part of it.

“I come with my husband, which is terrific because he’s got artificial hips and he needs the exercise,” program participant Victoria McCarthy said.

Without this program, she said their exercise outings would be reduced to walks around the neighborhood.

“If this goes, it would be such a shame,” said Roberta Cutsinger, a participant and assistant to class leader Nancy Fallon.

As of June 28, Fit and Fall Proof will be held across the street at Black Bay Park.

“We’ll be working out in the park all summer,” Fallon said.

“And the ground is uneven," Cutsinger said. "It’s not horrible, but we can’t do it in the winter, obviously."

A few suggestions for a new venue have included local churches, Post Falls Parks and Recreation spaces and meeting rooms.

“We didn’t know we were going to get kicked out, we knew there was going to be a change,” Fallon said.

The challenge is, since the program is funded through grants and the state of Idaho, stipulations are that the program must be free to participants, the venue must accommodate the group size and the facility must be free and consistently available for the class.

"We're still working on finding an alternative location," Panhandle Health public information officer Katherine Hoyer said, adding that program coordinator Carolyn Jaeger has been trying to find a new location in Post Falls.

“We’re certainly going to keep trying,” Hoyer said. "It would be great if this article spread the message that we are looking for a facility."

Fit and Fall Proof participant Gail Pruis, who moved to Post Falls eight months ago, sent a letter Tuesday to Post Falls City Hall, asking the mayor to bring this to the attention of the Post Falls City Council.

“I just said I’m a new resident and we’re very concerned about losing our facility, and that this is beneficial to seniors," she said. "I’m concerned about going to the park. Uneven surfaces are not good for seniors. The heat, the cold, whatever. It’s a very temporary solution.”

Outreach and volunteer coordinator for the senior center Rhonda Story closely works with the Fit and Fall Proof program. She said although things are shifting, everyone is doing the best they can. She said she wants people to know the food bank and the center merging is a good thing.

"We’ll be better together. Possibly, we'll outgrow our space, but it doesn't end there," she said. "It’s not going to end because our space is getting smaller. We are going to be better together."

Anyone with venue recommendations can contact Jaeger at cjaeger@phd1.idaho.gov or 208-415-5142.