LOCAL NONPROFIT LAUNCHES $1 MILLION PHILANTHROPY INITIATIVE TO END SOCIAL ISOLATION CRISIS FOR SENIORS
Social isolation has long been considered an epidemic for seniors, but the months stuck at home because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have exacerbated the problem.
Wanting to help San Diego County’s older adults remain socially engaged, physically active and well cared for, San Diego Seniors Community Foundation announced its new No Senior Alone initiative during a press conference Wednesday.
With a matching donation pledge of up to $500,000 from the Sahm Family Foundation, the nonprofit hopes to raise a total of $1 million to fund a variety of support programs to help seniors stay connected to loved ones and access telehealth.
“This generation is one to be valued, protected and not forgotten,” Abigail Sahm said. “The hard work and dedication of our great grandparents and grandparents has benefited the generations that have followed.”
One in four San Diego County residents will be over the age of 60 by 2030, but the region currently lacks the infrastructure to support this aging population, said Bob
Kelly, San Diego Seniors Community Foundation founder, CEO and president.
“The graying of San Diego is coming — it’s not a crisis right now, but the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the reality of this demographic shift to the forefront,” Kelly said. “We’re not prepared for this current situation, nor have we planned for the unprecedented demographic shift.”
The past 100 years have seen significantly increased life expectancy due to medical and scientific achievements. Paired with cultural changes that cause families to live at a greater distance from one another, it’s impor
tant to build a better infrastructure to care for older adults and help them age in place, Pam Smith said. She is the former Aging & Independence Services director and current San Diego Seniors Community Foundation board member.
“Now that we’ve figured out how to get everybody into old age, we don’t know what to do with them,” Smith said. “We know people continue to need meaning and purpose in life, you still want to have worth, you still want to contribute, you don’t want to be forgotten.”
Money will be distributed to senior-serving nonprofits to support their work throughout the county. The funding could be used for a variety of individual programs, like support for senior centers to expand calls to older adults, social distancestyle pop-up concerts in parks, and the distribution of iPads and tablets to seniors so they can connect with loved ones and telehealth professionals.
Creating programs like these through the No Senior Left Behind initiative is an example of the ways San Diegans can pay-it-forward to the seniors who shaped the region, Rep. Juan Vargas said. The Democratic representative from National City for California’s 51st congressional district spoke during the press conference Wednesday, pledging to make a personal donation to the cause.
“There are many, many seniors right now who built this community, who built this city, who built this state and who built this nation and are now alone,” Vargas said. “They deserve better, and we as a people [can make it] better.
For more information about the No Senior Alone initiative or to make a donation, visit sdscf.org/COVID19.