“We have a fabulous, committed, caring staff, and they make a difference every day.” —Marianne McBride
Founded in 1966, Santa Rosa-based Council on Aging (COA) currently serves about 5,000 clients every year through its myriad health, nutrition, social, legal and financial support programs. The best known of these is Meals on Wheels, which delivers healthy, filling meals to homebound seniors across Sonoma County every day.
“Most people know about Meals on Wheels, but it’s just one of so many things we do,” says President/CEO Marrianne McBride. “I think that’s what makes us unique: We’re such a comprehensive, wraparound service for seniors and their families.”
COA divides its programs into four departments—social, financial, legal and nutrition—and has an annual operating budget of close to $4.5 million. Government and grant funding covers about $1 million, with the rest coming from fund-raisers, community support and COA’s own fee-based programs and product sales (including a new grab-and-go meal, Stagé, available at G&G, Kenwood and Oakmont markets). And starting in July, COA will produce meals for the Marin County Meals on Wheels program (with continued delivery through Whistlestop and West Marin Senior Services), which will help lower costs due to economies of scale.
If seniors (or their families) need help but don’t know where to go or whom to ask, COA is the first call they should make, says McBride. “We’ll assess the situation, then connect them to the resources they need, whether that’s here within COA or elsewhere in the community. We put together a care plan, and we follow up to see how it’s working. We also let them know about benefits they qualify for that they may not know about.”
All COA case managers, employees and many volunteers (including Meals on Wheels delivery drivers) are trained to look for signs of elder abuse, health emergencies and depression, and to alert the proper authorities if something seems amiss. “We have a fabulous, committed, caring staff, and they make a difference every day,” says McBride. “Trained staff in our programs have actually prevented suicides—several times.”
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Says, McBride, “Our mission has always been independence and well-being. But a few years ago, we incorporated enhancing quality of life into our mission statement. It’s something we all deserve.”
To that end, COA worked with Chef Josef Keller to revamp its Meals on Wheels menus (see “Comfort Food,” January 2012) to provide more fresh, healthy food choices (there are now several trained chefs in the MOW kitchen every day), and a few years ago launched the Senior Games, a 10-day summer program that focuses on competitive sports and activities for those age 50 and older (see “Let the Games Begin,” June 2011). “The Senior Games came out of the desire to identify another fund-raiser that wasn’t already being done in Sonoma County. But once we started, we realized it was an incredible program opportunity.
“It’s such a fun idea—and it goes far to change the perception of aging. I think we all have the potential to have a really great aging experience, and Senior Games contributes to that.” This year’s event takes place May 30 through June 9 at venues all across Sonoma County.
Asked what the community can do to support COA, McBride says, “Contributions go far, and volunteers are always welcome—time and energy are invaluable.”
And to the NorthBay biz readers who voted COA Best Nonprofit, McBride offers, “Thank you for supporting COA and for taking the time to learn about what we’re doing in the community and for supporting that mission. On occasion, we’ve feared that people didn’t really understand who we are and what we’re doing, but clearly, the community has taken the time to learn about us. I think that bodes well for our aging population.”
