COUNTYWIDE : Foundation to Aid Elderly May Dissolve

A countywide foundation formed to raise money for senior citizens programs throughout the county could vote itself out of existence this week because of a shortfall in fund-raising goals.

The Seniors Resources Foundation, founded in 1983 with a goal of raising $250,000 in its first year for distribution to county seniors programs, raised less than $8,000 then and donations have continued to lag far behind goals, said Luisa Finnochio, the foundation’s executive director.

The private, nonprofit organization received an infusion of funds about a year ago, including a $75,000 federal grant and $25,000 in funding and staff support from the county Area Agency on Aging, which allowed the foundation to open an office in Santa Ana and hire Finnochio as its full-time director and fund-raiser. But funding for senior programs has not kept pace with demand for services or the cost of living, said Jerry Bellsmith, contracts manager for the Area Agency on Aging.

Coupled with the drop in donations to charitable organizations because of the recession and the work overload on administrators of county senior programs, who are often so busy with providing services that they have little time for intensive fund raising, the Seniors Resources Foundation found itself in financial difficulty.

As a result of the shortfall, the board of directors of the foundation, which raised money for adult day-care centers, transportation and meals served at senior centers or delivered to homes, will meet Friday to decide whether to continue or disband.

“Even if we were to continue, the way we’re going all we could do is keep the doors open,” said Jim Straw, co-chair of the foundation board and one of its founders. “And that isn’t helping the seniors.”

While acknowledging the negative impact of the poor economy, Straw, Bellsmith and Finnochio noted that help from the corporate community may have been lacking not because of the recession but because of the mistaken belief that most of Orange County’s 306,000 senior citizens are affluent and do not need help.

Finnochio said that she feared the shutdown of the foundation would have the greatest impact on the homebound, who are also the most in need.

“The most critical of all are the home-delivered meals,” Finnochio said. “There’s a lot of people in places like Anaheim and Santa Ana who need the services, but they’re on waiting lists and there’s not enough funding to support the programs.”