Contra Costa Health Foundations Partner on Project To Make Communities ‘Elderly-Friendly’
The John Muir/Mt. Diablo Health Fund and the Y and H Soda Foundation on Monday will announce business, government and not-for-profit group leaders selected to work together on a three-year, $300,000 effort to develop plans to make communities in Central and Eastern Contra Costa County and the San Ramon Valley "elderly-friendly," the Contra Costa Times reports. The panel will address the area's need for more health care, exercise programs, housing, employment and transportation to accommodate the state's elderly population, which is expected to double in 25 years and triple in 50 years. Currently, 11% of the state population is age 65 or older, according to the 2003 state report, "Getting California Ready for the Baby Boomers." Under the foundations' new project, analysts, consultants, forum organizers and communication specialists will convene conferences, conduct interviews and take other measures to inform the development of a community plan aimed at keeping seniors "active, mobile and happy and productive," the Times reports. According to Grace Caliendo, president of the John Muir/Mt. Diablo Health Fund, the foundations aim to help seniors remain in their own homes rather than nursing homes. The foundations also have worked together to provide 18 not-for-profit groups with $2.7 million in grants over the last three years for senior assistance projects, and they plan to offer an additional $3 million in grants in the next three years (Cuff, Contra Costa Times, 5/3).
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