Major Boost for Elderly Services

Orange County’s Area Agency on Aging will nearly double its staff after an infusion of more than $700,000 this week for an ambitious plan to consolidate information and resources for seniors.

Funds approved Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors bring the agency’s annual budget to $10.8 million. A separate onetime county grant of $300,000 will help the agency establish a toll-free telephone line for seniors and their caretakers to get information.

“The greatest benefit of this will be for seniors to have a go-to place in the county, both an interactive Web site and one phone number to get information,” said Pamela Mokler, the agency’s director. “We have wonderful places for seniors to go, but there is a need for greater coordination.”

A bigger budget is crucial because census figures show that 10% of California’s older adults live in Orange County, Mokler said.

County’s Elderly Population Grows

The county’s 400,000 adults older than 60 represent a 24% increase in the last 10 years, she said, and that number is expected to double in the next 20 years. Orange County has more older adults than all but seven other counties in the United States, she said.

Getting new funding is a triumph for Mokler, 44, who took control of the Santa Ana-based agency late last year after the top spot had been vacant for 18 months.

Supervisor Charles Smith said the money was appropriated after the county’s annual budget was approved because Mokler, being new in her job, could not submit her spending plan earlier. The board had reserved money for the agency, however, because seniors have become a priority, he said.

“This is a new era. We’re back to what we were before the bankruptcy,” the county’s 1994 financial crisis, Smith said. “This is an agency that was cut extremely.”

Evelyn Chatwell, a receptionist at the Florence Sylvester Senior Center in Laguna Hills, said she constantly fields questions about what programs are available beyond the lunches and recreation the facility offers. Chatwell said she often does not know the answers.

“I have friends that need different services, and sometimes it’s hard to find them. We have people who’d like to come in here, but they can’t because there is no transportation. Anything to help these people would be great,” said Chatwell, 77.

The new money will be used to hire 10 employees and contract with three consultants to write a fund development plan, create a Web site and act as a transportation advocate for seniors. The agency now has 12 employees.

Among the new positions will be a grant writer to seek more money for programs such as Meals on Wheels, which has struggled in recent years to keep up with increasing demand.

The agency also will hire a policy manager, a volunteer coordinator and a marketing director, Mokler said.

Neighborhood organizations that work with seniors applauded the funding increase.

Agency to Provide Coordinated Service

“We have families that come in and say, ‘We didn’t know where to go.’ We really feel it’s important that we have a coordinated vision of providing services for this growing demographic group,” said Malorie Vega, executive director of Garden Grove’s Acacia Adult Day Services.

“With the numbers increasing, our county needs to be ready for the onslaught of people who will need services and information. There is no better place for it to be developed than the Area Agency on Aging.”