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This may very well be the last year in which we call ourselves the "Senior Citizens' Foundation of Western Nevada County." On July 1, 1995, after almost a year of negotiation, budgeting and re-budgeting, audit reports, and many phone calls and meetings, the foundation assumed sponsorship of the congregate and home-delivered meals program in Truckee (Eastern Nevada County) and its satellite location in Loyalton (Eastern Sierra County).
Now that the Foundation and its services have crossed the Sierra watershed, the board of trustees will consider whether or not to drop the "Western" from our corporate title. In the spirit of having become a countywide (even "multi-county") service agency, we have successfully invited Don "Slug" Brown, president of the High Sierra Seniors in Truckee, to join our board as a trustee and then as vice president for Truckee and Loyalton operations.
Our move into the eastern part of the county came only when the board of trustees was firmly convinced that none of the resources raised by the foundation in its Grass Valley operations would be needed to cover expenses in Truckee and Loyalton. With three months of operation behind us, the board's judgement seems well founded. So do the reassurances that the High Sierra Seniors gave us - namely, that the seniors in Truckee and Loyalton would raise the funds needed to cover any operating deficits. If our first six months of operation in Truckee and Loyalton continue as well as the first three, we will begin work with High Sierra Seniors to expand our Senior Enrichment, Adult Day Care and Adult Day Health Care programs , and our Travel Club to the eastern half of the county.
The same methodical and fiscally conservative approach to programs that we used in making decisions in Truckee has also been applied to our other operations. In July 1994, we hired our first executive director, John Riggle. John brought his 20 plus years of experience and knowledge as both an area agency on aging director and as director of the California Commission on Aging to us. He then took steps and recommended new policies to 1) expand all programs and services and 2) make every program as financially self-supporting as possible.
Thanks to our management team's efforts, as well as to the hard work and good advice of our board and advisory members, the High Noon Nutrition Program ended the fiscal year on June 30th needing only a couple hundred dollars in subsidy from the foundation, in contrast to several thousands in the previous year. The program's manager, Christine Castiglioni, even succeeded during the year in repaying part of a loan made by the foundation in previous years.
We began the fiscal year at the Lutz Center at Grace Lutheran Church projecting a potential deficit of up to $25,000 as a result of starting up the new Adult Day Health Care program at the Lutz Center. The foundation expected to cover most of the deficit through its fund-raising activities. At the close of the fiscal year, we were delighted that the deficit was only about a third of what we had projected. The Lutz Center's manager, Liz Mantle, along with her dedicated team of staff and volunteers, have their sights in the current fiscal year on average daily attendance of 20 Adult Day Health Care patients and 10 Adult Day Care clients.
Until January, 1995, the Senior Center at the Fairgrounds, the last but largest program of the foundation had no "membership" as such. Instead, each year we asked individuals and couples to donate $5 to become "Friends of the Center." We ended 1994 with 667 such "friends."
Until 1995, the Senior Center did not charge anyone for any class or activity or program, with the one exception of the Travel Club, in which everyone had to pay for his or her trips taken under the club's auspices. Even the High Noon luncheon program's $2.25 was only a "suggested donation." A couple of groups did take up donations from their members or participants and then gave all or part to the center. Some class or activity instructors/leaders asked for donations to cover their time and out-of-pocket expenses. The center, however, did not ask anyone or any class or group for a donation.
Since January, we have gone from 667 "Friends of the Center" to more than 1400 dues-paying "Members of the Senior Center at the Fairgrounds." In line with policies followed by senior centers throughout the state, we have initiated reasonable fees for classes and activities held at the center. This is in line with the recommendation that our executive director made to us last year: namely, that every program of the foundation become as financially self-supporting as possible.
For the center, this means having those who use the center pay for most, if not all, of its related expenses. As this happens the proceeds from the foundation's fund-raising activities -Travel Club, special dinners, monthly dances, raffles, etc. - can be put into the capital fund for the new center that all of us very much want.
... but Prelude to the FutureSpeaking of the new center, the increase in the center's membership by more than 100 percent in nine months, the expansion of classes and activities to fill our five days each week at the center, and our desire to have many more evening and weekends available for social events make the new center no longer just a dream but a real necessity. This past year has given us real hope that we will see the construction of the center begin within the next couple years. I say that for these reasons:
First, we have been fortunate in receiving a commitment of four acres that are involved in the county's general plan process and that are within sight and sound of our present center. Now that the general plan is moving towards approval by the Board of Supervisors before the end of 1995, we hope to get the four acres designated as a separate parcel and then the deed to same transferred to the foundation in 1996.
Second, we have received a very generous donation of $50,000, which the foundation has earmarked for building the new center. The donors, who have long supported senior programs in this county, have indicated their willingness to add to this original donation. This substantial support has inspired the board to put together, before the end of 1995, a multi-year capital campaign to raise the $2 million we think will be needed to build our 24,000 square-feet Senior Center Complex.
I feel confident, as do my fellow trustees, that we - as a foundation and as a center with more than 1,400 members - will find the means to resolve successfully our problem of too little space for the rapidly growing senior population of Western Nevada County.
In closing this annual report, I want to thank my colleagues on the board of trustees, our executive director John Riggle and his managers and staff, the growing numbers of volunteers in all of our programs and facilities as well as our members, clients and patients, and our corporate sponsors - Truckee River Bank and Giselle's Pioneer Travel - for making this past year such a rewarding prelude to a better future.
Spring of 1996
Larry Lutz, PresidentGo to the Home Page of the Senior Citizens' Foundation of Western Nevada County
e-mail to Senior Citizens' Foundation of Western Nevada County