Our Mission
Our Mission
The mission of Garden Terrace is to provide safe, affordable housing where seniors with limited incomes can live with dignity, independence, and a sense of belonging.
We are committed to creating a welcoming and supportive community that respects each resident’s privacy, individuality, and independence while encouraging connection, engagement, and meaningful relationships. Working together, residents, staff, and the Board of Directors strive to make Garden Terrace more than simply a place to live — but a community where seniors can feel secure, valued, connected, and at home.
A Community Designed for Senior Living
Garden Terrace is ideally located to help residents remain active and independent. Medical services, banking, pharmacy services, and grocery shopping are all within easy walking distance. Nearby Riverfront Park offers paved walking and cycling trails along the Columbia River, while local transportation connects residents with downtown Wenatchee, Pybus Public Market, shopping, entertainment, community events, and other services.
Our location also provides easy access to the many recreational opportunities that make North Central Washington special, from parks and fishing to mountain trails and winter recreation.
Life at Garden Terrace
Community at Garden Terrace is shaped by the people who live here. Residents have opportunities to connect through exercise, arts and crafts, games, educational activities, social gatherings, potlucks, outings, and special events.
Our Resident Council helps plan activities and creates opportunities for residents to become involved in the life of the community. Informal groups also develop around shared interests, friendships, conversation, and simply enjoying time together.
Participation is always a choice. We value each resident’s right to live independently and privately while making opportunities for friendship, involvement, and connection readily available.
We are especially proud of the many Garden Terrace residents who continue to share their time, talents, experience, and compassion with one another and with organizations and causes throughout the greater Wenatchee community.
At Garden Terrace, we believe affordable senior housing should provide more than a roof overhead. It should provide a place to belong, opportunities to stay connected, and the freedom to continue living life on your own terms.
TO PROVIDE FINANCIALLY VULNERABLE SENIORS WITH A SAFE, SECURE COMMUNITY WHERE THEY CAN THRIVE.
Drilling the elevator shaft during construction of the original Garden Terrace building. The original shaft remains in use today and was refurbished in 2004.
Our History
Garden Terrace began with a vision: to create safe, affordable housing and a welcoming community for seniors in the Wenatchee Valley.
In late 1969, members of Wenatchee Immanuel Baptist Church began construction of the first of what would eventually become two six-story apartment buildings for independent seniors. The original Garden Terrace — known as “A Good Place to Live” — welcomed its first residents in 1971.
A decade later, Garden Terrace West opened in 1981, expanding the community to 146 apartments serving seniors age 62 and older with limited incomes.
From a Church Vision to a Community Resource
A few years after the original Garden Terrace opened, Immanuel Baptist Church merged with the Wenatchee Church of the Brethren to form Wenatchee Brethren Baptist Church United. Garden Terrace's governing organization became Wenatchee Brethren Baptist Homes, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing HUD-subsidized senior housing.
Over the years, Garden Terrace evolved from “A Good Place to Live” into “A Caring Senior Community” — a description that continues to reflect the spirit of Garden Terrace today.
For many years, a community meal program was an important part of life at Garden Terrace. The program was intentionally created to encourage residents to gather, build friendships, remain socially connected, and provide another opportunity for staff and neighbors to look out for one another. Although the meal program has since concluded, the values behind it — community, connection, engagement, and caring for our neighbors — remain an important part of Garden Terrace.
Leadership Through the Years
JC “Chip” Marshall served as the first administrator of Garden Terrace. He was followed by Dick Allstot, Clyde Woods, Otha Holcomb, Ross Heminger, Robert “Jack” Kennedy, Gene Anderson, Leanne Ford, Terry Adams, John Braun, Ken Neher, and current Manager Shawna Smith.
Garden Terrace West was constructed during Jack Kennedy's tenure. Several administrators provided many years of leadership to the organization, including Jack Kennedy, who served for 15 years, Leanne Ford for 16 years, and Ken Neher for six years.
Investing in Garden Terrace
In 2013, the property was refinanced and underwent significant renovations and modernization. Improvements included the installation of a building-wide fire sprinkler system and new fire alarm and monitoring systems.
Apartments in the original Garden Terrace building were updated, new heating and air-conditioning units were installed, new resident mailboxes were added to the lobby, and new hot-water tanks and circulating pumps were installed.
These improvements represented another chapter in Garden Terrace's continuing commitment to providing residents with safe, comfortable, and well-maintained homes.
Garden Terrace Today
As the organization grew, its relationship with the broader Wenatchee Valley community also evolved. In 2019, Wenatchee Brethren Baptist Homes, Inc. was renamed Garden Terrace Senior Living at the direction of the Board of Directors.
The new name reflected Garden Terrace's identity as a community resource serving seniors throughout the Wenatchee Valley while honoring the vision established by its founders more than five decades earlier.
Today, Garden Terrace continues that legacy by providing financially vulnerable seniors with safe, affordable housing and a community where they can maintain their independence, build meaningful connections, and thrive.
More than 50 years after welcoming our first residents, Garden Terrace remains what its founders envisioned: a good place to live and a caring senior community.
