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Service agencies get smarter about caring for our seniors in difficult times
Aging Roadmap illustration
Carlos Zamora
A homebound senior received her weekly box of milk, eggs, and bread delivered to her doorstep. But there was something extra in the week’s allotment: a birthday cake and a signed birthday card, just in time to mark another milestone during a hard year.
“We try to give them more than food,” says Sasha Escue, director of nutrition services for Jewish Family Service of San Diego. “She said it made her feel like she matters to someone else.”
Local agencies have rapidly scaled up their services for seniors during the pandemic, recognizing that a disease that disproportionately affects our older population also makes it harder for them to access basics like nutrition, transportation, technology, and even social interaction.
“Everyone knew there was work to be done, and we just did it,” Escue says. “The pandemic has given us an awakening about the urgent needs in our community.”
Jewish Family Service, which serves San Diegans regardless of religious affiliation, expanded its meal deliveries from 200 clients to more than 1,000, ultimately serving almost 1.5 million meals to isolated older adults from March 2020 to July 2021.
Despite advances in vaccine distribution, this elevated level of service to seniors will continue to be necessary. As COVID-19 and its variants continue to spread, the Silent and Baby Boomer generations are getting older. County data suggests seniors are becoming a larger share of the total population—by the year 2030, one in four San Diegans will be age 60 or older.
Jewish Family Service is one of many organizations contracted by the county of San Diego that pooled its talents and resources to better meet seniors’ needs. Volunteers and staff alike got to work when everything else shut down.
Fortunately, the county Health and Human Services Agency’s Aging & Independence Services (AIS) already has a new regional framework in place: the Aging Roadmap, a multipartner effort to make San Diego a better place to live for seniors and those with dementia.
The comprehensive plan, unveiled in 2019, builds on the county’s Age Well initiative that was launched in 2016. It targets ten priority areas: health and community support, housing, social participation, transportation, dementia-friendly resources, caregiver support, safety, preparedness and response, the “silver economy,” and the medical and social services system.
The Aging Roadmap envisions a San Diego in which older adults are acknowledged and included in a safe, thriving community. A “village” social support network helps them get rides to medical appointments, handle household chores, or attend social gatherings. This information should be easy to find and understand.
In the area of transportation, for instance, Roadmap collaborators envision neighborhoods where seniors can get around even if they don’t drive. County employees worked with regional transit services like the Metropolitan Transit System and North County Transit District to create a senior-focused transportation guide with information on costs, area of service, and contact information, particularly where service had changed due to the pandemic. The guide also explained how to use ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft.
Aging Roadmap food delivery
In terms of housing, Aging Roadmap collaborators would like San Diego to have more affordable senior dwellings near shops and services. That means advocating for more affordable housing units in new construction, allowing accessory dwelling units (aka “granny flats”) to be built for older adults or their caregivers, and identifying and assisting seniors at risk of homelessness.
The Aging Roadmap was designed to be flexible. As such, it has adapted for pandemic-era realities with additional collaborators, new emergency response systems, and a greater emphasis on prepared meals, internet access, and safe transportation for older adults.
Kristen Smith, agency operations chief for AIS, says that their priorities haven’t changed, but the pandemic has “heightened the importance of some of the work. It certainly made specific projects a higher priority.”
For example, food insecurity for homebound and low-income seniors became a prime concern. One in three adults in San Diego is considered nutrition insecure, up from one in four before the pandemic, according to the San Diego Hunger Coalition. Since social distancing made congregate dining more difficult, AIS and its broad network of partners worked to boost home deliveries and drive-through food distributions.
Because seniors were one of the first cohorts eligible for the COVID-19 vaccines, AIS bolstered its outreach to low-income senior apartments and long-term care facilities. Its partners stepped up to get seniors informed, scheduled for vaccination, and transported to their appointments.
“Our job became helping people know about the available resources,” Smith says. Some of that outreach included old-fashioned phone calls to highrisk seniors. “We knew we needed to call them and find out if they were okay. We could ask, ‘Do you have your medications? Is your caregiver showing up?’”
County officials are working to expand services to be more equitable and inclusive. Phone services and materials like transit guides and dementia-friendly activity booklets are offered in multiple languages, and pilot programs are training seniors to use technology like social media and video chat. “We want to make sure we’re not leaving people out,” Smith says.
You can’t talk about our region’s COVID-19 response without noting the herculean efforts of 211 San Diego, a nonprofit that connects callers to more than 6,000 community, health, and disaster services.
San Diegans who call the 211 phone number can get free, confidential help finding available services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in over 200 languages. During the pandemic, it has connected seniors to resources such as food delivery and vaccination appointments.
“We love our seniors. For us at 211, they’re one of our most important populations,” says 211 San Diego chief of staff Meg Hersman Storer, adding that when the pandemic hit, “we knew we were going to have to rise to the occasion. We had to be nimble.”
211 San Diego has helped about one million people— including seniors and their caregivers—navigate the testing and vaccine appointment process, according to Storer. In the first six months of vaccine availability, 211 staff helped schedule nearly 10,400 appointments. Some 69 percent of those were for seniors. San Diego phone staff at 211 are also trained to help seniors find free or low-cost rides.
As for food access, 211 San Diego estimates that more than 2,600 San Diego seniors who called 211 received contactless drop-offs of free groceries between March 2020 and March 2021. “Our goal is to always answer the calls with care and empathy,” Storer says. “We’re helping the unconnected get connected.”
In the priority area of medical services, the county of San Diego has been working with West Health and regional health care systems on the San Diego Senior Emergency Care Initiative. The idea is to make San Diego’s emergency departments more senior friendly for better health outcomes, coordinated care, and reduced costs.
One in five emergency department patients is a senior. Older adults have been at greater risk of serious illness from the coronavirus.
So far, 16 of the 18 participating San Diego EDs have applied for accreditation as geriatric emergency departments, according to Christy Patch, a community and aging policy specialist for the county Health & Human Services Agency. She says the other two ED applications— Naval Medical Center San Diego and Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton—are on hold due to the pandemic.
What comes next for San Diego seniors is anyone’s guess. With the Aging Roadmap, regional agencies hope they’ll be able to sufficiently meet older adults’ needs.
“We’ve been thinking, even when we saw the light at the end of the tunnel, that the people we’re serving will continue to be vulnerable,” says Sasha Escue of Jewish Family Service. “For the most part, many of these individuals who have been sheltering are suffering from social isolation, perhaps dementia, and other related diseases. We don’t want to drop them because the funding drops out or the political landscape changes.”
Collaborators on the Aging Roadmap stress that they’ll still need plenty of volunteers, donations, and community support as San Diegans continue to age.
The all-volunteer organization has awarded more than $28 million to local nonprofits—and its members still do the work by hand
Las Patronas turns 80 this year. But its newly minted octogenarian status doesn’t mean the all-volunteer organization is slowing down. On August 8, Las Patronas celebrated eight decades of philanthropy at its Venetian-themed Jewel Ball at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club.
More than 800 attendees attended the philanthropic event, a sold-out black-tie gala, which featured classic Italian sports cars, photo ops in a gondola, a replica of the Orologio tower, and other thoughtful details that set the scene for an elegant and festive evening.
Though the Jewel Ball is one of the highlights of the gala season and the most visible element of Las Patronas’ mission, it’s also an opportunity to thank supporters, showcase the organization’s impact, and cap off fundraising efforts throughout the year.
“Behind the gowns, flowers, and celebration is an extraordinary amount of work and an even more extraordinary group of women who make that work possible. This includes our members, both active and advisory, along with our donors, sponsors, nonprofit partners, and generations of San Diegans who have supported Las Patronas,” says Colleen Lighter, the organization’s president.
As Las Patronas celebrated at its 80th annual Jewel Ball, Festa di Venezia, members reflected on how special it is for an organization to remain so vibrant and relevant for eight decades.
Las Patronas was founded in 1946 by a small group of women with a shared desire to give back to their community. In the decades since, Las Patronas has transitioned into one of San Diego’s premier philanthropic organizations, providing financial assistance to nonprofit organizations across an array of causes. Major beneficiaries for 2026, who will each receive grants of more than $20,000 for capital projects, include Alpha Project for the Homeless, Canine Companions, Meals on Wheels San Diego County, National Marine Mammal Foundation, Promises2Kids, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, and Workshops for Warriors.
“What started with friendship, philanthropy, and service has grown into an organization that has funded more than $28 million in grants for over 4,500 nonprofit organizations throughout San Diego County,” explains Lighter.
She notes that it’s especially meaningful that while San Diego has changed tremendously over the years, Las Patronas’ spirit of giving has held steady. “The needs of our community evolve, the organizations serving those needs evolve, and the things they need to do their work evolve. Our responsibility is to listen, learn, and make thoughtful investments that allow those organizations to serve San Diego more effectively,” she says.
Part of what makes Las Patronas stand out among philanthropic groups is its hands-on approach to service. The Jewel Ball is known for over-the-top décor, with many of its elements crafted in painstaking detail by members of Las Patronas, a tradition dating back to the first Jewel Ball.
In addition to fundraising throughout the year, leading up to the event, members log long hours in “The Warehouse,” where they put their creative skills to work, painting backdrops, assembling centerpieces, and doing everything it takes to turn the exterior of the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club into a grand ballroom. They also haul all of their handiwork to the venue and set up, then break it back down immediately after the event wraps.
“The motivation behind one extraordinary evening is an entire year of fundraising, grantmaking, and thousands of hours of volunteer work,” says Lighter.
That collaborative spirit stretches far longer than just a year. Las Patronas keeps its roster of members intentionally small and highly engaged. To ensure senior members stay on long enough to hold a handful of leadership positions and show newer members the ropes, the organization requires a commitment of six to seven years. It also requires all members to work with its grants committee, visit eligible nonprofit organizations that apply for grants, and assist in the vetting and selection processes.
“Our members have careers, families, and very full lives, yet they make an extraordinary commitment of time. Members participate in fundraising, evaluate grant requests, visit nonprofit organizations, serve on committees, and quite literally build and produce the Jewel Ball together,” says Lighter. “That investment of time is part of what makes Las Patronas and the relationships we form within the group special. We don’t simply raise money and write checks. We do the work ourselves, shoulder-to-shoulder, and we take stewardship of the money entrusted to us very seriously.”
Lighter says Las Patronas is defined not by moments or events, but by its traditions, which will continue for generations to come.
“When you think about the generations of women who have given their time, talent, and energy to Las Patronas since 1946 and the donors, sponsors, advisory members, and community partners who have believed in our mission, you realize that our job is both to honor what they built and make sure it remains relevant and strong for the future,” she says.
And though events like Jewel Ball are rewarding, the real magic happens once the funds are put to work. Lighter recalls one story that captures the quiet impact Las Patronas hopes to continue to make. A woman reached out to say that as a child, she’d attended a school where Las Patronas had funded a new floor and noted how much brighter the campus felt. It may not sound transformational, but it made a difference, and decades later, people still remember.
“That is what capital giving can do. A vehicle can allow an organization to reach people it couldn’t reach before. A piece of medical equipment can expand care. A commercial kitchen can allow a nonprofit to feed more people or train people in a new profession so they can flourish. Technology can help an organization serve an entirely new population and expand their impact,” she explains. “We aren’t trying to tell nonprofits what they need. We listen to them, learn about their work, and help provide the critical tools they tell us will allow them to do more of it.”
As she looks to the next 80 years, Lighter’s hope is that Las Patronas continues to evolve without losing what makes it special: thoughtful stewardship, hands-on service, friendship, and an unwavering commitment to San Diego.
“The needs will change. The nonprofits will change. San Diego will change. Las Patronas will change with it, but our mission will always remain the same,” she says.
Photos Credit: Melissa Jacobs
Sarah Sapeda is San Diego Magazine’s Custom Content Editor. In her 15 years in San Diego journalism, she has covered charitable events, health care, education, crime, current events, and more.
After more than six decades of preserving the community’s past, the newly renamed museum is expanding how it tells its stories
La Jolla has a rich history. From its roots as Kumeyaay territory and early days shaped by influential San Diegans like Ellen Browning Scripps to the vibrant hub for arts, culture, and education that it is today, the roughly seven-mile stretch along the coast has long been a local gem.
In 1964, a group of volunteers came together to preserve the history of the community. They formed the La Jolla Historical Society, which has since evolved into the Museum of History and Culture La Jolla. For the past 62 years, the organization has worked to protect historic buildings, archival materials, and recorded memories, ensuring the character of the neighborhood would endure well into the future.
“La Jolla is a small community, but it has a fascinating history,” says Lauren Lockhart, executive director of the Museum of History and Culture La Jolla. “The focus was always on how do we preserve the stories, places, and people that make La Jolla unique, and that remains central to our mission.”
However, in its early days, the organization was limited in what types of programming it could offer because it didn’t have a permanent homebase. A pivotal point came in 2008, when it was gifted Wisteria Cottage, originally the private residence of Virginia Scripps, by descendants of the Scripps family. The historic Craftsman cottage had been remodeled by famed architect Irving Gill, whose other modernist works are peppered throughout La Jolla, adding to its distinctive look. The organization then launched a capital campaign to expand into a museum-quality space to host exhibitions and to store the tens of thousands of photos, drawings, postcards, and other materials in its collection, Lockhart explains.
“At that point the organization could really begin to invest in developing a public space and public programs that would give back to the community,” she adds. “That effort accelerated with my predecessor, Heath Fox, who pushed the organization to think about an exhibition program that was interdisciplinary in nature. It’s something that drew me to this organization and that I’ve continued to advocate for because examining history through lenses of art, architecture, science, and literature is so compelling and such a great way to bring different audiences into the fold.”
The organization entered another period of transformation this year when it “outgrew” its previous identity as La Jolla Historical Society and officially rebranded as the Museum of History and Culture La Jolla. The organization had transitioned from a traditional historical society into a professionally operated museum and wanted to reflect that while also amplifying its ability to connect with broader audiences.
“We’ve grown so far beyond what a traditional historical society might offer to the public that we were finding that often, especially younger generations, they would come through our doors and say, ‘Wow, it’s a lot cooler than I thought it would be,’ which is a nice compliment, but it made us ask ourselves who’s not coming through our doors because they’re not sure what we have to offer or that they will see themselves reflected here,” says Lockhart. “We wanted to remove that barrier and make sure that everyone, just from recognizing our name, will think, That sounds like there’s something there for me, and that definitely is evidenced in our current programming and exhibitions.”
The change, she says, has been a long time coming. “We’ve already made a lot of huge strides over the years,” Lockhart says. “It’s about our name catching up to our work.”
The Museum of History and Culture La Jolla’s current exhibits include Stories in Cloth: Communicating Through Textiles, presented in partnership with the Visions Museum of Textile Art at Liberty Station, on display through September 6. On deck is The Scientific Art of Historic Preservation, which explores the processes behind the museum’s mission. To honor the philanthropic spirit of the Scripps sisters, admission to the museum and many of its public programs are free of charge.
Sarah Sapeda is San Diego Magazine’s Custom Content Editor. In her 15 years in San Diego journalism, she has covered charitable events, health care, education, crime, current events, and more.
For nearly four decades, the Latina mentorship organization has connected volunteers with girls and young women
MANA de San Diego has spent the past 38 years building a community to help girls and women thrive. Short for hermana, Spanish for sister, MANA de San Diego is part of a national organization that aims to empower Latinas to reach their full potential through programs like its Hermanitas mentoring program for middle and high school students, which has served more than 600 girls and young women since its inception and, in recent years, boasts 100 percent high school graduation and college admission rates.
Volunteers like Brenda Lemas are essential to MANA de San Diego’s mission. Here, she details her service with the organization and why, for her, mentoring is truly paying it forward.
I had just come back from a conference that was sponsored by LATINA Style magazine. I was receiving an award while I was still on active duty in the Navy. It was all women, all different branches of the military. The environment I was in excited me so much. I had never been in a room full of women who just wanted to help each other out.
When I came back to San Diego, I started looking for that type of community. I found MANA and I volunteered at its Latina Success Conference. It was just incredible. I stayed connected with MANA, but because I was still on active duty, I couldn’t fully engage as a volunteer. When I retired, I wanted to go back to it. They wanted me to do the Latina Success Leadership Program, and during that, one of the women asked me if I wanted to be a mentor. I really enjoy mentoring. When I was in the military on active duty, that was something that was at the top of my priorities. I always wanted to mentor people.
I was asked to be in the leadership program, so I became part of the leadership team and did that for a year. And I have done a consulting gig with them. Right now I’m a mentor, and help any time I can with any of the events. I really love the community that they have.
For me, what it means is giving back. I didn’t have a strong female role model when I was growing up. I kind of always searched for that. But I think slowly, life shapes you and molds you and I sort of became that for other people.
I’ve always looked at mentors as somebody to provide guidance. And that’s what we do. The program is for young women, and the purpose is to encourage them to continue in their academic journeys. As a woman in a professional space, you’re offering that guidance to that young woman, and the goal is to get them through high school and eventually for them to pursue higher education. Then some of them come back and they become mentors. It’s a holistic way to empower young women.
My favorite part has been seeing my mentee grow. You always learn something different from each person that you get to mentor. The experience is not one-way; they get a lot from it, but then as a mentor, you gain a lot of knowledge. With my mentee now, she was going through some stuff when she first started the program that I didn’t fully understand. But it allowed me to gain some insight into what it looks like for a young adult and how to help her and support her. And I really didn’t have to do much other than be a strong presence for her. She’s a very smart, intelligent young woman.
It is the whole process. I look back, like, if I had only had somebody in my life that could have been there, I probably would’ve done most of the things that [my mentee] has done. None of what she’s accomplished I was able to do in my young lifetime. She’s just so motivated; it’s a confidence that I can’t explain, and a complete 180 from where she started.
The question for them is, ‘What are you trying to get out of it?’ Most of us volunteer for a reason, like a higher purpose or something like that. But I would recommend finding a community where you feel like you belong and just do it. It doesn’t have to necessarily be difficult. Just go out there and start asking people, ‘Where can I help?’
Sarah Sapeda is San Diego Magazine’s Custom Content Editor. In her 15 years in San Diego journalism, she has covered charitable events, health care, education, crime, current events, and more.
Earlier this year, Fit quietly dropped "athletic" from its brand, from Fit Athletic Clubs to simply Fit, and started calling itself something new: a social wellness club.
There’s a version of San Diego that lives in two extremes. On one side, the 5 a.m. crowd: biohackers, marathoners, people who’ve already logged a cold plunge before your alarm goes off. On the other, the after-dark crowd, the ones chasing sunset happy hours and late dinners with friends. Everyone seems to be either optimizing or unwinding, and most of us feel like we’re failing at both.
Fit, San Diego’s reigning Best Gym for the third year running, has built its entire identity around erasing that divide.
Walk into one of Fit’s three San Diego locations on a Tuesday afternoon and the lines blur fast. Someone’s mid-set on the squat rack. Someone else has a laptop open at a café table a few feet away, half-working, half-people-watching. A group is trading plans for the weekend’s event by the recovery lounge. Nobody’s in a rush to leave.
“We’re not competing for the same people,” says Emily Waybright, Public Relations Manager at Fit, addressing the arrival of a national luxury gym chain in San Diego this year. “We don’t really feel like we’re in the gym category. It’s this unique thing.”
That unique thing has a name now. Earlier this year, Fit quietly dropped “athletic” from its brand, from Fit Athletic Clubs to simply Fit, and started calling itself something new: a social wellness club.
It’s a small wording change with a bigger idea behind it. Fit was never built around escaping the workday. It was built around the people who genuinely like what they do, and who want workouts, work, and friendships to happen in the same place instead of three separate ones. Because sometimes red light therapy with a stranger turns into weekend plans.
Fit’s philosophy traces back to its founder, who started the brand nearly two decades ago after failing to find a gym he actually wanted to belong to. He looked instead to the old-school country club, where people came for a shared interest and stayed for the community. His version was made for a younger generation, minus the golf, plus the loud music.
Which makes it a little ironic that the very award putting Fit back in the spotlight this year is Best Gym.
What does the best traditional gym look like when the definition of a gym is becoming less traditional? It’s a fair question, and Fit’s answer is that the fitness industry itself is shifting. The 45-minutes-in, 45-minutes-out model is giving way to something closer to a genuine third space, the kind of role the office and the bar used to play before remote work and changing nightlife habits rearranged how people spend their time
For Fit, community isn’t a marketing add-on to fitness. It’s the through-line. Members aren’t just paying for a treadmill; they’re paying for an entire day of social wellness that’s built on performance, recovery, connection, and a plan for the next event on the calendar. That’s a much harder membership to walk away from.
Ambition and ease aren’t opposites here, they exist side by side, where passion and play share the same morning. On September 12, Fit is hosting Sol, a full day wellness festival at Fit Social. The morning focuses on wellness classes and vendors and then the evening is a full party with multiple DJ sets and an open bar. Think of it as a kick-off to locals’ summer in San Diego.
Ready to see what a social wellness club actually looks like? Visit fitclubs.com, or follow along at @thefitclubs on Instagram.
Here’s where to celebrate, connect, give back, and make a difference this month
Margaritaville Hotel San Diego Gaslamp Quarter will honor the legacy of the late Jimmy Buffet with a fundraiser for the San Diego Music Foundation. Its Day of Service at its rooftop bar will feature a performance by The Buffett Band, a travel and experience themed silent auction, and interactive entertainment.
Hundreds of San Diegans will gather at NTC Park at Liberty Station for the McAlister Institute’s 14th Annual Walk for Sobriety. In addition to the walk, the event will include a resource fair with more than 35 nonprofits, healthcare providers, and community organizations that are part of a network of support for those in recovery.
Foreigner will take the stage to benefit Promises2Kids at its Dream On Concert Gala at a private home in La Jolla. Proceeds from the exclusive event will help Promises2Kids create a brighter future for local foster kids.
The Lucky Duck Foundation will host its annual Showcase Soirée at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa. Proceeds from the event will support the nonprofit’s mission to prevent and alleviate the suffering of homelessness throughout San Diego County.
Show your support for families of local children with life-threatening diseases at the Emilio Nares Foundation’s Harvest for Hope at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar. Funds raised will benefit programs like Ride With Emilio, which provides no-cost transportation for families seeking medical treatment, and Healing Through Nature activities for kids in recent cancer remission.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Girl Scouts San Diego’s Camp Winacka, the organization will host a nostalgic evening under the stars. This year’s Urban Campout: Ignite the Possibilities at Girl Scouts San Diego’s Balboa Campus will feature camp-inspired cuisine, cocktails, and activities.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego will celebrate its impact on local youth at its 13th annual An Evening of Changing Lives. Proceeds from the gala at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina support programs that promote academic success, character development, and healthy lifestyles.
Youth Tennis San Diego will honor the sport’s American icons at its annual gala at the Barnes Tennis Center. An Evening Celebrating Tennis Heritage & Legends will help the nonprofit make tennis accessible to all youth in San Diego, regardless of background or skill level.
Serving Seniors will produce a Jukebox Broadway-style show for its highly anticipated Sunshine Gala. The evening at the Hilton San Diego/Del Mar will support Serving Seniors’ compassionate and life-changing services for seniors in need throughout San Diego.
Support the Enlisted Project (STEP) will host an 18-hole golf tournament on the South Course at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa to raise money for its financial wellness program. Proceeds from STEP’s Swing Fore Our Heroes Charity Golf Tournament will help connect military families and veterans in need with financial social workers, emergency relief, and other tools.
Tom Petty Tribute Band, PettyBreakers, will take the stage at the Doors of Change 2026 Concert of Hope at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. This year, the nonprofit will celebrate its 25th year of transforming the lives of unhoused youth.
Boys to Men Mentoring will celebrate 30 years of service this year at its annual 100 Wave Challenge. The annual surf-a-thon event welcomes hundreds of surfers who attempt to catch 100 waves in one day and raise $1,000 or more to support Boys to Men Mentoring.
The San Diego Automotive Museum will host The Party in the Park to raise money for the museum and programs that equip youth for careers in the automotive industry. The Roaring 20s-themed event at the Balboa Park institution will feature live jazz and an exhibit of 1920s automobiles.
Sarah Sapeda is San Diego Magazine’s Custom Content Editor. In her 15 years in San Diego journalism, she has covered charitable events, health care, education, crime, current events, and more.
Serving Seniors provides meals and coordinated services to more than 13,000 older adults each year, aided by a dedicated volunteer network
Seniors today face challenges that were unimaginable to previous generations, and some turn to nonprofit organizations to bridge the gap. Serving Seniors helps low-income older adults with housing assistance, social services, and more. The nonprofit provides 1.5 million meals and coordinated services to 13,265 older adults each year, the majority living on less than $1,125 per month.
Dedicated volunteers, like Fred Davis, help make this important work possible. Since roughly 2008, Davis has spent six days a week at the Serving Seniors Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center serves as a liaison to help clients access much-needed resources. Here, he shares what keeps him coming back day after day.
I have a community outreach ministry and my grandson and I were on the streets downtown handing out sack lunches, water, hygiene products, clothes and shoes, and things like that and I noticed that most of the people I met appeared to be seniors. So the next logical step for me was to find a senior group that I could work with. I heard about Serving Seniors, and I made a few phone calls. No one really responded to me, so I showed up. They opened the door for me and now they can’t get rid of me. I found a home. I’ve met some really good people over the years. And as it turned out, I’ve been here longer than most of them. I’ve been here at the West Center ever since the doors opened. And matter of fact, I was the one who gave Gary and Mary West an award for their generous donation that made it possible to open up this center.
I’m in ministry, but I don’t want that to be the highlight of what I do. It’s not just a passion for serving people, it’s a calling. I like the idea of giving and serving people and trying to meet their needs. So I counsel, I oversee the serving of the lunches, and I work with the head of the volunteer group. I’m involved in different activities. Matter of fact, this coming Saturday, I’m going to take a group of seniors out sailing. I also helped start the Civic Engagement Group. It was a group of us, and there are about three members that are left from when we originally started it. Now Serving Seniors is taking it over, and my role is to work with them. I also took it a little bit further and ended up joining Aging and Independent Services and sat on that advisory board for a number of years. That led to me being elected to the California Senior Legislature. So I’ve been advocating for seniors for a very long time. They’re a vulnerable group. They worked hard and don’t always get the respect that they deserve.
The people—this is my target group right here. I don’t have to walk the streets like my grandson and I did anymore; they’re right here. I’m here every day at the West Center but Sunday.
The biggest challenge is not being able to help someone who really needs the help. But we try to find a way. I reach out to different organizations, faith-based organizations or other nonprofits, sometimes with success and a lot of times without success. There are quite a few people that are in need who are hardworking people, dedicated people who still want to provide for themselves and their family, and they’re just caught in that void.
I was handing out clothes; I usually have a sock drive and I gave a homeless person a pair of socks. As they peeled their filthy socks off their feet, this person cried. You don’t know how important these little things are that we take for granted. It was really touching.
A lot of people use the term giving back, but I just say giving. When you say ‘giving back,’ that means you’re trying to repay something and you’re taking credit. But giving is a passion. It’s something that you do from your heart, not out of obligation.
Sarah Sapeda is San Diego Magazine’s Custom Content Editor. In her 15 years in San Diego journalism, she has covered charitable events, health care, education, crime, current events, and more.
Laika Nur, MD, takes her love of volleyball from the court to the clinic as team physician for the San Diego Mojo
Growing up, Laika Nur, MD, Scripps Clinic sports medicine specialist, loved watching beach volleyball when the Association of Volleyball Professionals tour came to her hometown of Chicago. A talented volleyball player herself, she remembers sitting in the stands all day, and once, even got a couple autographs. Years later, Dr. Nur was attending a professional event focused on women’s sports, and the discussion turned to a new professional women’s volleyball league. The general manager and coaching staff for San Diego’s team, the Mojo, happened to be in attendance, and Dr. Nur took the opportunity to ask them if they needed a team doctor. Flash forward to the Mojo’s inaugural 2024 season, when Dr. Nur officially became the team physician. Click here to read more about Dr. Nur and how she incorporates lessons she learned on the court into her practice.
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