Willits Senior

NUTRITION PROGRAM (Meals on Wheels, drive through pick lunches and indoor dining) We served 12,338 Meals on Wheels lunches, 10,697 drive thru pick up lunches and served 1888 lunches in our dining room (total meals served 24,923) Compared to the last full non COVID year which was 2019 where we distributed 8,739 Meals on Wheels lunches and 10,955 lunches in our dining room (total lunches served 19,694) an increase in 2021 of over 5,000 meals served. We have raised our lunches back to $7.00 per meal for lunches served from the senior center, Our Meals on Wheels clients pay $5.50 per meal. We also provided a free drive through Thanksgiving Dinner. Over 479 meals we served via drive through and 126 meals were delivered via Meals on wheels. COVID-19 did not stop us from delivering to many who were isolating at home because of potential exposure to the virus. Our driver would drop off their meal on their porch then call them by telephone after they left. 1 deliver meals on wheels whenever needed and every year on Thanksgiving Day. This year a lady broke down and cried when I handed her a thanksgiving dinner. She said, "thank you for taking time out of your day to bring me a dinner, I live alone have and no family to be with and would have gone without, god bless you." Personal experiences like this happen all the time. I tell everyone this service is the collaborative efforts of our donors, volunteers, staff and Board of Directors. This is perfect example of what can be accomplished when people share in a common goal and have established a trusting relationship over time. Words cannot accurately express how much we appreciate all the T. R Eriksen Foundation has done for the senior center over the years. We can only be good stewards of the money you entrust in us and spend it at prudently as possible.PARKINSON'S & LIFE CHANGES SUPPORT GROUPS Linda Posner facilitated these much-needed support groups. Linda agreed to lower her price to facilitate the groups so we could allocate the remaining part of her wages ($865) towards our drive thru pick lunches and Meals on Wheels program. Linda has a huge heart and understands the importance the senior center is to seniors throughout the greater Willits area. The Parkinson's and Life Changes Support groups are back to meeting regularly indoors in our Conference room. I recently purchased the Parkinsons support group a very thick exercise mat so they may practice how to safely get off the floor if they fall. TRANSPORATION We have provided 4,349 rides. Our seniors depend on our door through door transportation service. Our drivers carry our seniors' groceries from their shopping carts into their homes. They have come to rely and trust on us to get them to safely to and from their medical and dental appointments, banking errands, surgeries, physical therapy appointments and the most appointments of all, getting the ladies to the salon. We have always known how important our transportation department is to our seniors . We adhered to the Health Departments guidelines by limiting the number of passengers in our vehicles to 2, sanitized our vehicles after every use and required everyone to wear a mask at all times. At one point early in the pandemic we did restrict rides to essential destinations such as medical appointments, banking and grocery shopping. Our seniors were so appreciative not only of our transportation service but also the manner in which our drivers showed unwavering commitment to keep them safe. Isolation is more common in seniors than in other age groups, the social interaction between our drivers and passengers are mutually beneficial. I was a driver for 7 years before I became Executive Director and understand how lonely some of our seniors are and how important the social interaction between our drivers and passenger are. Marsha a long-time recipient of our transportation service was at home on Hospice care called and asked if could drop by and spend time with her during her last moments. This testimonial illustrates how essential our transportation this service is. OUTREACH DEPARMENT I am happy and relieved to finally have hired Joanne Moore as our new outreach worker. Our goal of our Outreach Department is to empower seniors in living independent lives and support them so they can remain living in their own homes for as long as possible. We are in the process of connecting seniors via tablets to friends, family and other seniors as a means to address senior isolation. A lot of seniors are worried about contracting COVID-19 and are not socializing as much and in some cases not at all. I attached some of the services we are providing. Serena started an Adult Children and Families of Willits Seniors Face book Page to provide information about the senior center programs and services but also to educate the family members of our seniors what an important resource the senior center is to or community. Our Outreach Department is operating under our organizational philosophy, If we can help we will, if we can't, we will try and direct you to a resource that may assist you. We are not always able to help every person with every request, but we take pride in the manner we administer services, always with compassion, empathy and clear understanding of the unique challenges our seniors face.We are still having a hard time recruiting volunteers and 2 of our steadfast thrift store volunteers, Dorcas age 90 & Carol age 85 are retiring. They account for 64 hours of labor, experience and have such positive attitudes and huge hearts. They epitomize the meaning of what a volunteer encapsulates, selfless service in the benefit of others, they will be sorely missed.