Local senior nutrition programs thrive

LUNCH BUNCH- After dancing up a storm Shirley and Joe Litvack, left, Calabasas residents, and Bonnie and Stan Rothman, right, T.O. residents, sit down for a hearty lunch at the Goebel Senior Center RSVP Cafe last Wednesday. Senior nutrition programs across the county have been thriving since cities and other agencies took over operations from the county some 30 months ago.

In April 2005, the Ventura County Human Services Agency handed over to cities and other agencies the lunch program that provided meals to hundreds of senior citizens.

Since that time the programs have experienced an increase, not necessarily because there are more hungry seniors, but because the new operators have an appreciation for the human touch, according to Victoria Jump, director of the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging.

Jump said that 12 percent more seniors countywide participated in the meal programs in 2006 than in 2005.

Her agency supplies food to the locallyrun senior nutrition programs. The cities and other agencies that operate the program provide meal sites and staff, some of whom are volunteers.

All 10 Ventura County cities are home to at least one collective meal site; some also deliver meals to homebound elderly. Seniors are asked but not required to make a small donation for the meal.

Jump credits the increase to the aesthetic changes the cities have made to the nutrition program. Many of the operators redecorated or remodeled their dining rooms and improved the quality of the food. Instead of eating warmed up frozen dinners, seniors often eat fresh meals prepared on-site.

Thousand Oaks

Francine Sprigel, head of the senior and youth services for the city of Thousand Oaks, said T.O.'s senior nutrition program has become so popular they sometimes have more patrons than seats. No senior is turned away, however; the staff simply finds more table and chairs to accommodate the extra crowd.

The nutrition program, named the Marquee Café and housed in the recently-remodeled Goebel Senior Adult Center, seats 56 but has had to make room for 70 lunchtime seniors.

Before the dining room was remodeled, only 30 to 40 seniors showed up for a meal, Sprigel said.

Decorating the café was a community affair. Residents sent in photographs of actors and actresses that now hang from the walls. A local store donated the picture frames. Adolescents from the nearby teen center provided the labor, as they've continue to do for every holiday since.

"We're providing (seniors) a place, where they don't have to be alone," she said.

The Thousand Oaks community also contributed to the success of the café, Sprigel said. Two Senior Concerns employees prepare the food onsite, and members of the Retired Senior Volunteers Program come every day to help with lunchroom duties.

Local seniors groups donated money for the new $4,300 refrigerated salad bar.

For information on the Marquee Café, call Francine Sprigel at (805) 449-2743.

Simi Valley

The $8.9-million expansion of the Senior Center was planned long before the city took over the nutrition program. But the remodeling project and 12,000square-foot addition, completed in December 2005, only added to the welcoming atmosphere that has made the program grow, Director Laurie Dickinson said.

The center served about 88 meals a day in 2005, at the facility and to homebound seniors. Now approximately 75 seniors show up for lunch every day, and meals are delivered to another 60 seniors. Some months as many as 3,000 meals are served, Dickinson said.

"We're very customer-service oriented," Dickinson said. "We look at them as our customers- I think that makes a difference."

The atmosphere at the center is designed to be inviting, she said. Atop every table is a vase handcrafted by the center's ceramics class. More tables and chairs were added to the patio- a popular dining spot with seniors during the summer.

Most days seniors enjoy live entertainment, including a live band on Fridays when some of the center's staff join the seniors on the dance floor.

Dickinson said making the public aware of the meal program through a senior newsletter that's distributed throughout the city has also contributed to the increase.

The Simi Valley Senior Center serves meals Monday through Friday. For more information, call (805) 583-6363.

Camarillo

When the Camarillo Health Care District took over the senior nutrition program in April 2005, it served some 1,800 meals at a collective site and to seniors in their homes. Both meal programs now serve an average of 2,500 meals a month, a 39 percent increase.

Nearly 100 seniors a day have lunch here.

The district made several changes to the program. The meal site was moved to a room at the Camarillo Community Center and the name changed to the AppleADay Cafe. To reflect the ambience of a restaurant, meals are served on cloth-covered tables and a welcoming committee greets seniors as they enter.

Apple-A-Day diners listen to a guitarist perform, a lecturer discuss health matters or some other form of live entertainment at least once a week.

Nurses from the health care district give blood pressure checkups twice a month, and round-trip transportation is provided to seniors who otherwise wouldn't be able to come.

The Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District, which operates the senior center and the adjacent community center, tries to time its senior programs so they won't interfere with the noontime meal, allowing seniors to participate in both activities.

The addition of fresh fruits and vegetables to the café's Thursday menu has also helped the meal program flourish, Ontiveros said.

The Apple-A-Day Café serves meals on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and delivers food to homebound seniors. For more information, call the Camarillo Health Care District at (805) 388-1952.