Marrianne McBride - The Council on Aging
Marrianne McBride, President and CEO of the Council on Aging, was our speaker at Thursday’s breakfast. The mission of the Council is to enhance the quality of life for our aging community by providing services that promote well-being and maintain independence. There are approximately 130,000 seniors in Sonoma County and this number will greatly increase in the next few years. Seniors face many challenges that they may not have anticipated while they were younger. For example, 25% of seniors outlive their ability to drive, which in an area with poor public transportation like Sonoma County, leaves these seniors unable to get around without outside help. Seniors also often lack financial security and feel that they are out of touch with their communities and not respected.
The Council on Aging works to lessen the negative aspects of aging with a variety of programs, including case management, the Family Justice Center, a fee-based ongoing care program, disaster case management, a legal program helping seniors with basic probate and trustee issues, senior peer support and a health and mental health service. The Council is also currently working on programs to lessen the serious housing deficit in Sonoma County for seniors, and recently purchased, with donor support, 5 new manufactured homes intended to help those who lost their Journey’s End homes in the fire. Marrianne also gave us some tips for a long and healthy life: limited coffee and wine are ok, eight hours sleep per day, a diet based on plants, movement, and a sense of purpose. Especially for seniors, a balanced life should have some spiritual component, socialization and engagement.
Marrianne did not have enough time to speak about the Council’s most recent program, Age Friendly Sonoma County, but it is fully described on the website at www.agefriendlysonomacounty.org. Many thanks to Marrianne for her informative presentation and let’s keep the Council on Aging in mind as we develop our volunteer and giving programs.
