Loading...
Item 7 - Senior Services at the Mickey Cafagna Community CenterFebruary 2, 2021, Item #7DATE: TO: FROM: CONTACT: SUBJECT: Summary: AGENDA RE PO RT City of Poway CITY COUNCIL February 2, 2021 Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council Wendy Kaserman, Assistant City Manager/Acting Director of Community Services wk... Belinda Romero, Community Services Manager (858) 668-4592 or bromero@poway.org Carrie Sanchez, Recreation Supervisor (858) 668-4673 or csanchez@poway.org Senior Services at the Mickey Cafagna Community Center The City of Poway and the Poway Valley Senior Citizens Corporation (PVSCC), more commonly referred to as the Poway Senior Center, have enjoyed a mutually beneficial partnership for many years. Poway has been somewhat unique among other cities in San Diego County in that the City does not directly provide senior services. The Poway Senior Center, an independent 501 (c)(3) non-profit, has operated out of city facilities and provided senior services to Poway residents and residents in the surrounding area. There have been many changes for the Poway Senior Center between the move to a temporary location during construction of the new Mickey Cafagna Community Center (MCCC) and the ongoing global pandemic. Health orders aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19, especially amongst high risk populations like seniors, forced the closure of the Poway Senior Center approximately 10 months ago. The closure has provided an opportunity for the City and PVSCC Board to re-evaluate the operating model and the delivery of senior services in Poway. After careful consideration, both City staff and the PVSCC Board agree that when the MCCC opens, the City should assume responsibility for providing senior services in Poway. More information is provided in the discussion section below. Recommended Action: This in an informational report, there is no recommended action. Discussion: As described in the summary section above, for many years the City and the Poway Senior Center 1 of 4 February 2, 2021, Item #7have partnered to offer senior services. The extended closure of the Poway Senior Center due to the global pandemic provided a unique opportunity for both organizations to revisit how senior services are provided in Poway. While Poway Senior Center staff initially continued to work after the facility closed, with no projected end date to the pandemic, no revenue being generated from bingo and no ability to offer onsite programming or the onsite nutrition program, eventually the PVSCC Board made the very difficult decision to lay off all of the remaining staff. Since that time, the City has worked with the Board and Jewish Family Service UFS) to use federal COVID relief dollars to implement a weekly drive through meal service for seniors at the Poway Senior Center and the PVSCC Board members have worked diligently to offer online programming and resource opportunities, as well as call and visit the seniors while they shelter in place and manage the administrative responsibilities associated with running a non-profit. After thoughtful consideration, PVSCC Board members approached the City about the potential for the City to provide senior services when the new community center opens. The PVSCC Board envisions maintaining its non-profit status and transitioning to a Friends of the Seniors type model where they would continue to fundraise and provide ongoing funds to the City to offset costs associated with providing senior services. Additionally, the non-profit Board would serve in some advisory capacity to the City as it develops and implements senior programming. Staff and the PVSCC are actively working on a memorandum of understanding of sorts that would outline the roles and responsibilities of each entity. Staff anticipates bringing this forward for Council approval at a future date prior to the opening of the community center. City Management and Community Services staff have discussed this transition at length. Staff is confident that with the ongoing support of the Friends of the Seniors, the City can offer senior programming at the MCCC. Community Park staff is currently in the process of researching and exploring the initial programming that would be offered. Depending upon the status of the global pandemic and its impact on the programming permitted, initial offerings may be limited. As is done successfully for much of the City's recreation programming, staff anticipates that services will largely be provided through contracts. The City will not be adding new staff to support this programming, however operating funds will be added to support the services and contracts. Below are several areas staff is addressing. Bingo The Friends of the Seniors plan to continue running bingo to raise funds for senior programming. Staff will make space available at the MCCC for this programming, though with the ongoing pandemic, there is no anticipated date at this point for when bingo can safely resume. Nutrition Program Staff is in discussions withJFS about potentially offering the lunch time nutrition program at the MCCC. JFS was awarded the County Nutrition Grant to serve Poway and surrounding areas last year. The County would have to approve the MCCC site as an additional location for meals to be served. Due to their role in providing food programs to people throughout the County during the pandemic, at this time JFS is limited in terms of the types of meals it could initially provide at the MCCC. Classes/Programs/Space for Seniors The Community Services staff works year-round to offer robust contract programming to residents. They are now actively pursuing opportunities to offer free, as well as low-cost classes for seniors. While long-term the costs of this programming is anticipated to be offset by bingo revenue contributed by the Friends of the Seniors, to fund programming in the short-term staff anticipates drawing down on what is often referred to as the City's Senior Center Endowment. Technically there 2of4 February 2, 2021, Item #7is no separate endowment. These were surplus General Fund dollars earmarked many years ago for the senior center. As staff begins to program the facility for all future uses, space and timeslots have been set aside for senior classes and programming, some of which is envisioned as simply space available for seniors to come in and potentially play games such as mahjong and socialize with each other. As has been planned for years, the MCCC is a multi-generational facility where all users can come together, interact with each other and enjoy the beautiful new facility. The City also plans to offer multi-generational programming. As indicated, there is much work to be done to plan for this transition and the grand opening of the MCCC. Staff is at a point where we want to engage instructors and organizations who previously worked with the Poway Senior Center, so both staff and the PVSCC Board think it is the appropriate time to bring forward the transition of services announcement to the City Council and share with the community the new partnership we are working on to deliver services to our senior community when we open the MCCC. Environmental Review: This action is not subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Fiscal Impact: This report is informational only, there is no fiscal impact associated with the report. Public Notification: None. Attachments: A. Letter of Support from the Poway Valley Senior Center Corporation Reviewed/ Approved By: Assistant City Manager 3 of4 Reviewed By: Alan Fenstermacher City Attorney Approved By: c~ City Manager � owa NIOR CENT January 25, 2021 Poway City Council 13325 Civic Center Dr. Poway, CA 92064 Dear Poway City Council, The Board of Directors of the Poway Valley Senior Citizens Corporation (better known as the Poway Senior Center) is in full support of the proposed changes to manage senior center services for our Poway senior community moving forward. In fact, it was our idea. The pandemic forced us to shut down the temporary Senior Center, and subsequently, lay off all of the organization's staff. The Board of Directors took this opportunity to review our budget, operations, and how the organization is run overall while the center remained close. It was concluded that it made most sense to approach the City of Poway with a new organizational structure, in which the City would use the resources already in place both on the City side, and through the Poway Senior Center. The Board of Directors of the PVSCC would provide additional funding for the services through a new fund raising and oversight branch of the entity, to be called the "Friends of the Poway Senior Center." The exact name of the organization is still to be determined. After meeting with City staff, it was clear from the start that this would be a much more collaborative and streamlined way to serve our wonderful senior community. Bottom line, it just made sense. We are very excited with where we are going with our discussions and planning with City Staff. Although we know there is still more work to be done, we are confident we will be able to work out all the details before we are able to bring the senior community back to the soon-to-be-completed MCCC. We all hope that day comes sooner, rather than later; however, we also understand the need to ensure that all of our members and community are 100% safe, before we bring them back. This will, of course, affect when and what programming will be available, as well as limit fundraising efforts, but we are confident it will only be a short time. On behalf of the entire Board, I would like to say Thank You for all your support in the past, and I am delighted you have agreed to work with us in this new capacity, moving forward. With gratitude, Cynthia Elizondo President Poway Senior Center 678-520-1662 4of4 Poway Senior Center-Poway Valley Senior Citizens Corporation -Tax ID 51-0183384 16315 Pomerado Road Poway, CA 92064 (858) 618-5545 www.powayseniorcenter.org ATTACHMENT A February 2, 2021, Item #7