LIVE OAK – After inhabiting the Live Oak Senior Center for more than 40 years, Meals on Wheels, Senior Network Services and other elderly assistance programs are now looking to relocate their services after receiving an eviction notice from the building’s owner, the Live Oak School District.
The organizations were served the notice in early May and were told they have six months to vacate the building, at 1777 Capitola Road. The district plans to remake the facility into teacher housing, said Community Bridges Program Director Lisa Berkowitz. Community Bridges provides administrative support and oversight for Meals on Wheels and a variety of other senior support services across the county. It distributes 180,000 meals to Santa Cruz County seniors each year, through home delivery and in-person dining facilities.
Contingency plans
Berkowitz acknowledged that discussions around the school district’s long-term development plans have been ongoing for almost a year, but said they had received assurances that no immediate decision was looming and that there would be “ample time to talk and discuss” before a move was made.
“When it did arrive we were surprised. Not unexpected, but surprised,” Berkowitz said.
It is no accident that Meals on Wheels has been committed to the facility since 1977. Ray Cancino, the CEO of Community Bridges, said the building has just the right amount of space for its offices, dining space, cooking space and storage facility, all under one roof. Still, he’s realistic about the situation and wants to assure the community that it is exploring contingency plans and doing all it can to ensure services continue.
“I want to reassure the public that, as the provider for meals in the county, that we have every single intention and every single plan to meet our obligations,” Cancino said. “We’ll ensure that no senior sees any loss of service as a result of what’s happening at the Live Oak Senior Center.”
In that regard, Cancino and Berkowitz did have some positive news to share: Meals on Wheels secured a space to provide in-person senior dining services at the Mid-County Senior Center, after the center’s board approved a recent proposal. Community Bridges currently operates two additional dining sites in north and south county, but Berkowitz says this midtown location will prove to be a critical resource.
“Because there isn’t anything in place in the midcounty area, basically seniors have to go to either one end or another. For big swaths of the county in the middle, there really isn’t any place for seniors to go,” Berkowitz said. “Particularly in these very expensive times we’re living in … it’s an opportunity for a senior to come and enjoy a good meal, hang out, talk and be with friends.” Details for when this service will begin have not yet been announced.
Community Bridges confirmed it is continuing to explore potential options for relocating its cooking and food storage facilities, but was unable to provide specifics.
During a recent Santa Cruz City Council meeting, Councilmember Sandy Brown made a desperate appeal to the community. “It’s kind of a desperate situation now, to try to identify an alternative kitchen,” she said. “We are beginning to have more in-depth conversations in the city of Santa Cruz … but I want to just let people know this is a significant challenge.”
Senior Network Services
Meals on Wheels is not the only senior support organization operating out of the Live Oak Senior Center. Clay Kempf is the executive director of the Area Agency on Aging in Santa Cruz and San Benito counties. He says his organization is the primary funder of programs housed in the senior center, including Meals on Wheels. Some of these programs include Senior Information & Assistance, Medicare Navigation, Senior Shared Housing and the Family Caregiver Support Program.
Kempf highlighted the precarious situation these organizations have been put into by the eviction notice and lack of mitigation measures to ease the transition.
“All these services are in danger. I think that’s the overriding message,” Kempf said in an interview with the Sentinel. “Contingency plans are in process, people are trying to find alternatives, but we know all the alternatives are going to cost more and probably cost us quality and access.”
Kempf also stressed the importance of the the geographic location of the current facility, which his organization has designated the “senior hub” in their area plan for Santa Cruz and San Benito counties. “We’re trying to route all seniors through that location and the location is perfect,” Kempf said. “It’s in midcounty, it’s along the major bus line, it has substantial and adequate parking for seniors who can drive there,” he said.
Kempf said that Santa Cruz County has more than 70,000 residents age 60 and older and that population is expected to rise. According to the California Department of Aging, the percentage increase of the elderly population aged 60 and over in Santa Cruz County is expect to rise almost 110% from 2010 to 2060.
Kempf and Berkowitz confirmed that negotiations with the Live Oak School District for both short-term and long-term solutions are ongoing. The Live Oak School District did not respond to a request for comment, but did say it would work to provide an update next week once graduation ceremonies have passed. Source: www.mercurynews.com