New at Community Bridges!
Meals on Wheels
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Continue to support Meals on Wheels for Santa Cruz County. Our seniors and disabled residents are counting on you. |
Meals on Wheels
Wells Fargo Foundation supports Meals on Wheels
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With a $5,000 check from Wells Fargo Foundation, Meals on Wheels can deliver daily meals to 50 homebound seniors for three months, five days per week. Their contribution supports two delivery routes, reaching the north and south ends of the county, to maintain contact with our most vulnerable clients who benefit from the daily meal delivery and wellness check that Meals on Wheels provides. Thanks to Wells Fargo for helping to make sure that Santa Cruz County seniors can remain healthy and safe in their own homes. |  |
Community Bridges CFO Cathy Benson accepts a check from Karri White of Wells Fargo Bank. The funding will help maintain daily delivery routes for Meals on Wheels for Santa Cruz County. |
Community Bridges |
Dear Friends,
After 29 years with Community Bridges and 14 of those as CEO, I will be moving on to other endeavors. It has been my great honor to work at Community Bridges and to be able to devote my time and energy to serving the clients that depend on our services and the community at large. There is no greater reward than to be able to provide public service and especially to those in times of need. I have been fulfilled by being allowed to work for all of the great programs that make up the spirit and substance of Community Bridges - all the old programs like WIC, Meals on Wheels, Lift Line, CACFP, and Elderday; the programs that evolved and grew during my time such as Child Development Centers, Live Oak Family Resource Center and La Manzana Community Resources; and the new programs that have more recently joined our family such as Mountain Community Resources, Familia Center, Beach Flats Community Center, and Elderday again. Over the summer months, as the agency recruits a new leader, I will be working with everyone to assure a smooth transition. This is the close of a long and rich chapter in my life. Thanks to you all for making that possible. I'll be remaining in the area, opening a private law practice including nonprofit law, one of my lifelong passions. Hope to see you around town. Sam Read more: |
Mountain Community Resources
Mountain Community Resources launches food pantry to serve more valley residents
On June 13, Mountain Community Resources unveiled a new mural to mark the opening of a food pantry serving valley residents in need.  |  |
Community BridgesSeeking Volunteers for Summer Lunch |
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Familia Center/Beach Flats Community CenterYolanda Henry of Familia Center receives Champion Award | |
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The hard work of advocates over the past ten years has made it much easier for eligible people to receive benefits. You can now apply by phone, mail/fax applications, or online. Barriers such as the finger-imaging requirement have been eliminated. Yolanda Henry, Director of the Familia Center, received the CalFresh Champion Award for her devotion to the cause. "People who have never had to visit a food pantry before are finding themselves needing help and having to push beyond their fear," said Henry upon receiving the award. "We have the opportunity to help them with CalFresh." The second annual CalFresh Forum, an inter-agency collaboration helping community-based organizations work together to increase local participation in CalFresh, took place on Monday, May 6th. Over fifty people attended the event, organized by Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County in partnership with the Central Coast Hunger Coalition, Catholic Charities Diocese of Monterey, Familia Center and Champions for Change. Read more: CalFresh Forum Promotes Collaboration
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ElderdayCommunity Bridges Keeps the Doors Open at Elderday |
Elderday Adult Day Health Center is the newest member of the Community Bridges Family of Programs. The move has major consequences for 120 local seniors facing Alzheimer’s, dementia, and frailty. Elderday Adult Day Health Center is the newest member of the Community Bridges Family of Programs. The move has major consequences for 120 local seniors facing Alzheimer’s, dementia, and frailty. “Elderday is coming home,” Said Sam Storey, CEO of Community Bridges. “This program is a lifesaver not only for the participants, but for their families who care for them. It allows adult children to go to work during the day and elderly spouses to have a few hours of respite from the intensity of caring for a loved one with dementia.” The program was originally part of the Community Bridges family of programs, but was transferred in 2004 to community clinic Salud Para La Gente to maximize revenue. At that time, the Medi-Cal reimbursement rate was higher for adult day programs under the auspices of a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) such as Salud’s clinic. In March of 2012, when the State changed the reimbursement system, that FQHC advantage disappeared, and with the lower rate, Elderday was in danger of closing. In fact many similar clinics across the state closed due to the loss in funding. The Salud Board of Directors was committed to finding an option to keep the center open, even under a different umbrella. With leadership from the clinic’s interim Director Dori Rose Inda, the agreement was finalized with Community Bridges and the management transfer took place on April 1, 2013. In order to keep the doors open, a significant reduction in expenses had to be found and Ow Family Properties, the owner of the Harvey West neighborhood facility, played an important role in modifying the terms of the lease agreement. Principal partner Benjamin Ow stated, “The Elderday program is one my family has gotten to know and care for. They’re not just a tenant, they’re an important part of how we as a community can provide the respect and care our elders deserve.” Elderday provides physical and occupational therapies, nursing services including medication and diabetic management, resources and referral, mental health services, podiatry, nutritional services, therapeutic activities, and two nutritious meals a day. The Center’s door-to-door transportation is provided by our very own Lift Line program. Under Community Bridges umbrella, the two programs can maximize efficiencies such as scheduling and reporting. Read more ... |  Elderday's door-to-door transportation is provided by Lift Line. Now that the two programs belong to the same nonprofit efficiencies such as scheduling and reporting are being put in place. |
Meals on WheelsMarch for Meals 2013 |
LOCAL ELECTEDS TO DELIVER MEALS ON WHEELS Meals on Wheels for Santa Cruz County joined the Meals on Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) in its annual March For Meals campaign Wednesday, March 20, 2013. The national campaign is an effort to increase public awareness and encourage local support for senior nutrition services. The local nonprofit is inviting all local elected officials in the county to experience first-hand the impact meal deliveries have on participants who often struggle with aging, isolation and poverty, by participating in a ride-along with an experienced volunteer. Read more ... Leaders lend a hand to Meals on Wheels |
Capitola Mayor Stephanie Harlan, left, and Meals on Wheels driver Penelope Brown inspect food for delivery Wednesday in Live Oak before the annual county mayors' ride along to promote Meals on Wheels' efforts to feed the needy in Santa Cruz County. |
Lift LineExpanding Services in 2013Lift Line provides safe, reliable transportation for disabled veterans to access their health care. We have piloted transportation for the last two years, and we're now ready to double our efforts, not only for veterans, but for all eligible low-income elderly or disabled adults. In January we will launch these new services:
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Join Friends of Meals on Wheels!
Friends of Meals on Wheels is a group of volunteers supporting the mission of Meals on Wheels to provide nutrition meals to local seniors.
To learn more, click on the button below! |
Join Friends of Meals on Wheels on Facebook! 
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