Senior Services Agency in Ojai to Use Old Jail
An Ojai group’s ability to provide hot meals, transportation, counseling and other services for seniors will expand significantly under a lease agreement approved Tuesday by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.
HELP of Ojai will see its space triple under the 35-year lease, allowing the nonprofit to offer more programs and services to the elderly in the Ojai Valley, said Lisa Meeker, a charity spokeswoman.
Under the agreement, HELP will pay $100 a year to take over 42 acres at a former jail operated by the Sheriff’s Department. The facility south of Ojai was closed three years ago in a cost-cutting move.
Supervisor Steve Bennett, who shepherded the lease through the county process, said HELP had “earned the right to get this opportunity” because of its sterling track record.
The social services nonprofit, created in 1968, now serves 9,000 people a year with the help of 600 volunteers. Its annual budget is $1.1 million.
HELP’s main offices in Ojai are bursting at the seams, said Ross Atkinson, a board member. The charity plans to raise $1 million to turn its new “west campus” into a mission-style facility set on pastoral grounds.
“We’re at the gate and ready to run,” Atkinson told supervisors, who approved the lease on a unanimous vote.
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