Wilma Gromer, like hundreds of local senior citizens, relishes the meals at the Redwood Coast Senior Center in Fort Bragg.
She told a special gathering of the Lake and Mendocino Area Agency on Aging (AAA) last Wednesday in the lunchroom, that the regular and varied meals and the advance availability of what is on the menu are crucial to the health of local seniors.
Gromer used to live in Montana, where the senior center offered meals three days a week, which just didn”t get the job done.
“It might not seem like much to have regular, dependable meals, but I think it makes a big, big difference what they do here,” she said.
Gromer was part of a small group of seniors who heard and spoke on a wide variety of subjects from three AAA staff members at a special information gathering session.
A Mendocino and Lake counties joint powers agency took over management of AAA from the private North Coast Opportunities this year. North Coast had administered senior programs for many years but was unable to continue, Susan Era of AAA explained to the crowd.
The AAA is continuing to take input as part of the 2006-2009 “area planning process” that includes numerous public meetings, Era said, thanking Redwood Coast Senior Center Director Joe Curren and “his fabulous senior center.”
Goal number one in the area plan was to develop fully functioning governance for AAA itself. The second goal is to strengthen senior centers and their programs.
“Our process entails having public hearings such as this discussion with the community, to find out what is missing in the continuum of services we offer and what is working,” Era said.
Curren explained that 150 people a day and about 2,000 different individuals a year use the Redwood Coast Senior Center. He explained the programs at the center and described efforts to get more of the community inside, to see what is going on there.
He mentioned the Coast Toasters Toastmasters group, which had held its weekly meeting just prior.
“These are people who otherwise might not be coming here,” Curren said.
About 20 seniors attended the meeting, a much smaller crowd than the bustling lunch that had just finished when they arrived. Lack of sufficient advance publicity for the event was mentioned, as a possible reason. Goal number seven for AAA is to improve dissemination of information.
Discussion was lively, with AAA advisory councilmembers such as Patricia Jauregui-Darland and Horace Mann, a local member of the California Senior Legislature, on hand to discuss strategies under way to improve services for seniors.
The top issue was better housing options, which is eighth on the list of priorities in the area plan process. Other issues, including the need for volunteer drivers to Ukiah for cancer patients, needs for more home health care workers, and cheaper transportation were discussed.
The shortage of assisted living facilities was another popular issue. Several facilities along the Mendocino Coast have closed their doors in the last two years, complaining of lack of help from state regulators.
Jauregui-Darland described how a home was found that would have worked, but zoning issues did not allow it.
“We need to find some solutions to the zoning issue in both the city and county,” said Era.
The goals of AAA in the 2006-2009 area planning process are to develop a fully functioning AAA, strengthen senior centers and senior center services, improve the transportation system for seniors and the disabled, improve access to health care, strengthen delivery system for vulnerable adults, particularly those with dementia, strengthen the caregiver pool and caregiver support programs, improve dissemination of information about AAA, improve housing options for seniors and increase health and safety of seniors through health education
For more information call Nancy Vinson at 463-7775 or email vinsonn@mcdss.org.
