A LIFELINE FOR SENIORS
For seniors like 80-year- old Jose Mejia, the isolation brought on by the coronavirus pandemic can be especially lonely and frightening.
Many crave a safe place to see familiar faces, to share a hello or a goodbye, to find a balanced meal — even if it’s only for a short time each day.
Mejia — who lives in San Jose’s Alum Rock neighborhood — and others like him find a glimmer of joy at the Eastside Neighborhood Center, run by Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.
For Mejia, the center is a place where he can take part in socially- distanced outdoor exercise classes and receive nutritional take-home meals which the agency provides — among many other services — for its registered guests.
“It’s an option to get to see other people and to do something during the day,” the Spanish- speaking Mejia said through an interpreter. “I really appreciate that I get to see people that I know.”
But Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County is hurting. The pandemic has turned its budget upside down as staffers have tried to accommodate the needs of a growing number of seniors who seek amenities offered at Catholic Charities’ centers — Eastside in the Alum Rock neighborhood and John XXIII Multi- Service Center in downtown San Jose.
“The reason why we picked the senior center (for Wish Book) is that it’s so much more than just giving them a meal or giving them enough food for the week,” said Ladonn DuBois, the CCSCC’S senior director of communications. “It’s being able to see somebody and even though they can’t touch or dance or anything like that, it’s just being recognized and looked after so to speak.”