Lana Bostic has lived in Federal Way since 1980, and after retiring, she wanted to find a way to be involved, so she joined the Federal Way Senior Commission.

Bostic said she’s lived in Federal Way since 1980 and has two kids who graduated from Federal Way high schools. During her working career, Bostic said she was a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tacoma, but also worked a multitude of nursing jobs.

After working as a nurse for many years, when Bostic retired in 2019, and the Federal Way Senior Commission started, she looked into joining because she had recently become a senior. Now, Bostic serves as chair of the commission.

Bostic said that in the 1990s, she was on the Arts Commission, and she thought it was very interesting, so that was partly a motivator to join the Senior Commission. But she said what really pushed her was that she wanted to get involved to see what could be done to help Federal Way seniors.

Bostic said that since she joined the commission, some of its achievements include creating a senior resource guide brochure, the senior resource fair, supporting seniors at the Federal Way Community Center and the Federal Way Senior Center, supporting seniors at assisted living facilities during Christmas, a kids’ reading program, and most recently, hosting senior lunches.

Bostic said that moving forward, her goals as a senior commission member include continuing to support seniors through programs so they can age at home. Another goal is to get a senior center in Federal Way because the current Federal Way Senior Center is in unincorporated King County and not in Federal Way proper. Bostic said she also wants to continue growing the Federal Way senior community and increase seniors’ engagement with one another.

“There really is a lot of activities and a lot of programs that seniors can enjoy or volunteer for, and I just think that people need to know what they are and how to get there, just to make their life after retirement more full,” Bostic said. She added that she wants to educate more seniors about the activities available in Federal Way and about the programs seniors can enjoy or volunteer for.

Bostic said supporting seniors is important because everyone will become a senior one day. Bostic said in the U.S., people tend to think older people aren’t useful, but that’s not true. She said seniors can be helpful and have a lot of knowledge, wisdom and life experience.

Regarding what she wants to see improved in Federal Way, Bostic said she would like to see more small businesses that attract young people, such as breweries, microbreweries and wine bars. To beautify the city, Bostic said she would like to see more support for public art through more murals, and less boring buildings. Additionally, Bostic said she would like to see more available housing and support for people experiencing homelessness.