FEATURE

The Timpany Center Makes a Splash

By Cassie Myers

Since 1979, the Timpany Center, with its heated pool and fitness accessible to all abilities, has fulfilled its mission “to create an inclusive space for people to thrive.” These profiles of faculty, staff, and clients demonstrate what the space means to the community.

First, to clarify: the Timpany Center is not named for drums, rhythm or anything percussion-related. In fact, as Jennifer Schachner, ’99 BS, ’02 MA Kinesiology, Timpany’s program and operations director, explains, the center is named for Charles Timpany, a community leader and former superintendent of San José schools who helped design the building and define its purpose.

The Center, located off campus near the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, is based on a simple idea: “create an inclusive space for people to thrive,” as Schachner puts it. It’s probably most well known for its 100,000-gallon indoor pool, which is heated to 92 degrees at all times and equipped with a zero-entry ramp designed for accessibility. The heat is therapeutic for people with adaptive needs and the ramp provides access to swimming and water workouts for people with wheelchairs or other mobility issues.

But that’s not all – the Center also boasts full workout facilities for those with and without adaptive needs, including a spa, gym, weight room and classroom, as well as personal training options, fitness classes on land and water, and safety classes and onsite physical therapy. Schachner estimates that about 90% of the center’s clients have adaptive needs, but it’s also a full-service gym where anyone and everyone can work out, gather and find community.

Timpany Center staff and clients have weathered many storms together. From left: staff members Carina Rodriguez-Tsai and Maranda Amaral, client Felipe Gonzalez, staffer Brittany Manrubia, program and operations director Jennifer Schachner, and staffer Kelsey Basilio. Photo: Robert C. Bain.

“The Timpany Center's goal is simple: create an inclusive space for people to thrive.”

— Jennifer Schachner

San José State (and Santa Clara County) to the rescue

The center was founded in 1979, and thrived for many years as a community space. In 2009, San José State stepped in when two professors from the kinesiology department, Shirley Reekie, professor of kinesiology, and Nancy Megginson, emeritus professor of kinesiology, saw a great opportunity. Working with Santa Clara County, they created the community-university partnership that exists today. The center operates in a county-owned facility, and its programs and day-to-day operations are managed by the San José State University Research Foundation, a nonprofit auxiliary of the university.

They also began an internship program, in which SJSU students from various departments (largely kinesiology, but also recreation, nursing, occupational therapy and public health) complete semester-long internships. Assignments vary, but most students are paired with a member (or client) for one-on-one work to help them reach wellness or health goals. The program has about 10-15 interns per semester.

Clients mainly find the center through word of mouth and referrals from various medical centers, including Valley Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente, as well as Schachner’s various partnerships with NorCal Spinal Cord, Special Olympics and her connections with local senior centers.

If you talk to Timpany clients, they use similar words to describe the center: “safe,” “un-intimidating,” “inclusive.” But everyone — staff and clients alike — agrees that it’s the people you meet there who truly make it special.

I. The Clients

Felipe Gonzalez

’25 Spanish

Felipe Gonzalez, ’25 Spanish, is both an SJSU student and a loyal Timpany client. He’s had a spinal cord injury for 20 years and uses a wheelchair, and has visited the center regularly since 2008, when a physical therapist at Valley Medical recommended it to him. Over the years he’s made friends, found a community and worked regularly with interns on various fitness projects and goals. He says Timpany has been “very, very important” to him.

“Before I went to the Timpany Center, I wasn't doing that much in my life,” he says. “I was in my room a lot. I didn't go out. I was depressed. But because of the Timpany Center, I was able to learn so many things that I never thought I was going to do.” He learned how to swim because an intern he worked with suggested it, and competed in wheelchair racing after another intern urged him to try it out.

He ended up taking their encouragement and running with it. He not only raced — he completed marathons. He not only swam — he swam to Alcatraz Island and back. He not only made friends — he now volunteers with a peer-to-peer support group for others dealing with injuries similar to his, and suggests the center to anyone who will listen.

“The Timpany Center made me turn my life around,” he says. He’s now enrolled at San José State, studying Spanish in hopes of becoming an interpreter and translator. And, of course, he still goes to the Timpany Center — three days a week.

Felipe Gonzalez swam to Alcatraz and back on September 6, 2015, partly thanks to the encouragement of Timpany staffers. Photo courtesy of Felipe Gonzalez.

Gail Collie

’76 Graphic Design

Gail Collie, ’76 Graphic Design, is another loyal Timpany client. She’s been coming to the pool for at least 15 years — her father “raved about it” when he first discovered it, she says, and when she developed arthritis and difficulty walking, she turned to the center for exercise.

“When I was still working, I started going to the pool after work and it was just so much fun,” she says. Over the years, it’s become a habit and a haven. Some of her Timpany friends have lost spouses, or been in the hospital, and they’ve all helped one another through various trials. “It was nice just to have other people who are going through aches and pains, recovering from surgeries,” she explains. “We have been a wonderful support to each other.”

She’s made lifelong friends in the pool, and still goes regularly to get her doctor-recommended exercise, as well as a sense of community and calm. “The psychological effects for me are just as great as the physical parts,” she says. “The staff is great. I see some of those faces and it just warms my heart.”

But her absolute favorite part of the pool might be unexpected: the water. “It's warm water, so I feel safe,” she explains. “I'm an artist, so I'm funny about everything I see, and the water is so sparkly and clean. I would love to record the sounds of just walking into the water, the little swish, swish with your hands and the voices of people in the background. It would be a meditation tape for me.”

“For me, the psychological effects of Timpany are just as great as the physical parts. The staff is great. I see some of those faces and it just warms my heart.”

— Gail Collie

II. The Staff

“If it wasn’t for the wonderful staff we have, the center would not be able to do what we do for the community.”

— Jennifer Schachner

For staff, the experience is equally meaningful, and Schachner sees it all. One of her favorite experiences is shepherding the interns through their programs.

“You can lecture so much on what it's like to work with an older adult, but the one-on-one experience is so different,” she says. “San José State has always been big on community outreach, and it's so important, because [as a professor] you can't teach some of what the students are learning here within the community. You need that community to teach them.”

Student interns often return to the center in one way or another. Schachner estimates that 90% of her current staff are either former interns or former members of the facility. Interns and graduate students often roll directly into jobs at the center after graduation.

“It helps us, too,” she explains. “It's a win-win. If it wasn’t for the wonderful staff we have, the center would not be able to do what we do for the community.”

III. The Interns

Kelsey Basilio

’22 Public Health

Kelsey Basilio, ’22 Public Health, is one such intern-turned-staffer. She completed a public health internship at Timpany and currently works the front desk part-time. During her internship, she mostly focused on administrative work, but also contributed to a public health campaign for members by designing a flier explaining how to treat arthritis symptoms.

She loves interacting with members and says her time at the center helped crystallize her desire to become a nurse. “I knew [nursing] was something I wanted to do,” she says, “but working at the center and seeing that there are a lot of people who need help [made me want to help even more].”

Maranda Amaral

’23 Kinesiology

Maranda Amaral, ’23 Kinesiology, also interned at the center, teaching classes on land and in the pool as well as working directly with a client in a wheelchair to help him achieve his fitness goals. She loved the experience, calling it “a happy environment.” “Everyone wants to be there,” she says. “Everyone inspires each other.”

Her internship was an excellent introduction to the world of kinesiology, she says. The guidance the staff provided helped her navigate all the new lessons she was learning. And she loved the clients, too: “All the clients want us to learn and they feel like they help us learn during our journeys,” she explains.

As a recent graduate, she’s looking at various job possibilities but adds that her experience at Timpany has also sparked her interest in working with older populations.

Surviving COVID

You’d expect a long-serving community hub to survive anything, but the Timpany Center almost didn’t survive COVID-19.

“It was the hardest 19 months of my life,” Schachner says.

In March 2020, they had to close all their facilities and pivot to virtual classes and internships. After several cuts, Schachner was the only staff member left. Some clients couldn’t get the help they needed.

But the Timpany Center endured. The student interns jumped in to help Schachner teach 15-20 virtual classes, learning to teach online on the fly. “They stepped up for their community,” Schachner says. “We would have not survived at all if it wasn't for their help.” Several even stayed on for an extra two or three semesters once their official internships ended to help out.

Collie remembers the delight once they reopened in August 2021. “Coming back to the pool, I just said, ‘I'm not going to be happy until I see Jenn [Schachner],’” she remembers. “And when she saw me she came out of the office and said, ‘Now we're open! You're just the person I want to see!’”

Felipe and Maranda working together in the Timpany Center gym. Photo: Robert C. Bain.

The new Timpany Center pool provides opportunities for people with adaptive needs to work on their fitness goals. Photo: Robert C. Bain.

A new beginning

And now? The pool closed again in 2022, but this time for a remodel. It reopened this April, state-of-the-art and gleaming.

“The recent facility renovations are a testament to our joint commitment to supporting the community with this widely appreciated educational recreation program,” SJSU Vice President for Research and Innovation Mohamed Abousalem says. “The Timpany Center is an excellent example of how the university is delivering on its Transformation 2030 strategic goal of connecting with and contributing to our larger community through a program that provides educational value to our students while serving the needs of our community."

And clearly the community appreciates it. Attendance numbers at the center are nearly back up to pre-COVID levels, with roughly 350 people a day using the facilities. Their personal training program has “exploded,” even to the point where Schachner was able to hire a full-time fitness specialist (another former intern) for the first time in years.

Schachner has the air of someone very busy, but very happy to be busy, especially after all the storms she’s weathered.

“There are days where I look at that brand new pool and go, ‘This really happened,’” she says. “It's unbelievable that we've gotten to this point. And it's super exciting.”

Want to learn more?

The Timpany Center continues to grow and expand its community. Visit the Timpany website to explore their programs and discover ways you can contribute.

Top photo: Robert C. Bain