Tag: News

The work of CCDC was recently featured in a Star News article quoted below. See links to original article published on The Star News.

“Senior center celebrates makeover”
By Albert Fulcher -06/02/202

The City of Chula Vista held a ribbon cutting on May 30 to showcase the improvements to the Norman Park Senior Center. Over the past few years, the Center received renovations with new flooring, cabinets, a remodeled kitchen, ADA improvements and accessible restroom, a new roof, a second-floor deck, painting, furniture and a new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system. These improvements, totaling $2.4 million, were funded by Measure P, the half-cent, ten-year sales tax passed by voters in 2016.

In April 2019, using Community Block Grand funds and the City’s General Fund for a total of $132,000, an outdoor fitness area, concrete slab and sail shades were added. The fitness area features low-impact equipment and wheelchair accessible machines.

The most recent renovations at the Center include the addition of pickleball and bocce ball courts and solar lighting for the fitness area for a total cost of $450,000. Funding for these enhancements was provided by the Congregational Community Development Corporation which owns property adjacent to the center. The pickleball court is a multi-sport floor surface allowing the nets to be removed for additional sports use. Pickleball court hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for seniors only and 1 to 5 p.m. for all ages open play; and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for all ages open play; closed Sunday.

Formally the site of the Chula Vista Library, the Norman Park Senior Center was built in 1963 and named after the City’s first park supervisor Chet Norman. The Center offers a variety of classes, activities and events for the senior population, as well as Meals on Wheels San Diego County headquarters on the second floor.

For more information, visit https://www.chulavistaca.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/community-centers/norman-park-senior-center .

See original article posted here: https://www.thestarnews.com/senior-center-celebrates-makeover/

Article originally featured in San Diego Union Tribune:

NEWS FOR CAREGIVERS

Chula Vista seniors can access new homelessness prevention program thanks to $350,000 grant

Laurie Orange of Community Congregational Development Corporation speaks during a press conference at Norman Park Senior Center in Chula Vista on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. The nonprofit CCDC funded the construction. (Kristian Carreon/For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Serving Seniors will be helping older adults remain in their home from new program, funded by the the Community Congregational Development Corporation

BY LAUREN J. MAPP STAFF WRITER 

NOV. 26, 2022 5 AM PT

Serving Seniors has received $350,000 from the Community Congregational Development Corp. to fund a new homelessness prevention program in Chula Vista.

The Senior Homelessness Prevention Program, which is funded through 2023, is one of the first such programs in San Diego County. It provides limited financial support and case management services to low-income older adults in South Bay at risk of becoming homeless.

Serving Seniors is now providing two years of rental subsidy support to 21 clients, age 63 through 82, but the organization will soon increase the number of older adults enrolled in the program to 27. The nonprofit is also distributing meals to eight of the clients and helping seniors enrolled in it to access other important support resources.

Paul Downey, Serving Seniors CEO and president, said the goal of this new program is to not only help the seniors involved with it, but to prove that shallow rent subsidies can prevent homelessness.

According to Serving Seniors, a quarter of San Diego’s homeless adults are age 55 and older — and more than 40 percent of that sector is experiencing homelessness for the first time.

During the nonprofit’s needs assessment — which was published in September 2021 — 56 percent of older adults interviewed for the study reported that an additional $300 a month or less would make a difference between whether they would become homeless.

The study also found that in order to afford rent, 34 percent of seniors who had experienced homelessness had sold personal items or medication, 45 percent had gone without food or medication and 23 percent had passed on medical care.

“The biggest impact I think is going to be peace of mind for these folks, knowing that they are safe and secure, and won’t lose their housing, at least for two years,” Downey said. “They’ll actually be able to sleep at night and not worry that each month when the rent check is due, that they might not be able to pay it or be on their way to experiencing homelessness.”

Ultimately, Downey said, preventing homelessness is much easier and cheaper than helping someone who has already become unhoused to find a new home. He said estimates show it costs between $35,000 and $50,000 a year to support someone who is unhoused when factoring in the cost of fire department and paramedic calls, hospital visits and the criminal justice system.

CCDC Director and Corporate Secretary Laurie Orange said selecting Serving Seniors for this grant was another way it could support older adults living in the South Bay. CCDC has also funded programs for legal aid for seniors, helped Meals on Wheels purchase a new food delivery van and provide meals and rental assistance through Casa Familiar.

In distributing money for the homelessness prevention effort, Orange said it will allow Serving Seniors to increase its presence and program offerings in and around Chula Vista.

“Serving Seniors is a local institution that has done wonderful work over a number of years; however, it doesn’t have a lot of presence in the South Bay,” she said. “CCDC is trying its best to woo new nonprofits and new services to the South Bay.”

For more information about Serving Seniors or to get connected to its programming, call (619) 235-6572, email info@servingseniors.org or visit servingseniors.org.

Kudos from Councilmember Jill Galvez – Sept 2022

Community Congregational Development Corporation for reaching $6M in grants to benefit seniors in Chula Vista and the South Bay. Special thank you to board member Laurie Orange. Some of the tremendous projects and programs supported by the CCDC include the Chula Vista Community Shuttle, grants for the Norman Park Senior Center, Chula Vista Walks, Loving You Through It, Serving Seniors, Community Through Hope, Legal Aid for Justice for South Bay Seniors program, St. Paul’s Senior Services, MAAC, Casa Familiar, and Meals-On-Wheels. Click here to read the Star News story. Click here to learn more about the CCDC’s grants for senior programs and services.

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