Community for Positive Aging
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Mission Statement
The Community for Positive Aging was founded as the Hollywood Senior Center and is a 501c3 not-for-profit, age-positive hub that offers a multitude of no-cost donation-based services, a devoted team enhanced by peer-run programs, and resources that empower you to learn, connect, and grow. While our services are designed with attention, compassion, and respect for those age 55 and older, we believe that younger and older generations, alike, deserve experiences that reflect positive aging. We’ve created a place where everyone, regardless of who they are, feels part of this community. Our mission is to foster a healthier, more inclusive and connected Portland for adults 55+ through educational and recreational programming, support services, and care. We are dedicated to creating safe spaces and opportunities for older and low-income community members to thrive. We are committed to raising public awareness, transcending the stigmas associated with aging, and moving toward a more intergenerational future together. Our vision is a fully intergenerational, age-positive, age-inclusive future in which older adults are seen and celebrated, invited, included, and connected in community.
About This Cause
COMMUNITY NEED: According to the most recent Multnomah County Area Plan on Aging, up to 20% of older adults have depression and are at greater risk for clinical depression triggered by chronic illnesses. Many Portland area senior citizens remain marginalized and overlooked in our community and are at higher risk for food insecurity, isolation, poverty and displacement from their homes. We recognize that historically systemic injustices including but not limited to racism, ageism, ableism, cisheterosexism, and xenophobia have helped perpetuate these conditions. According to the Oregon State Health Assessment: 1) Lower income seniors experience higher rates of chronic health conditions, disease, and earlier death, and those with disabilities are more likely to have lower incomes; 2) People of Color and those living with fewer financial resources are more likely to experience worse health outcomes, poorer quality of life, and shorter lifespans; and 3) Food insecurity also influences health in several ways. Food-insecure adults are more likely to have poor or only fair health, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, and obesity. Supporting older adults’ independence and quality of life is even more critical during COVID-19. Older adults, people with disabilities, and low-income minorities are being displaced by rising housing costs at a disproportionate rate. There is a lack of affordable and reliable transportation, which is a critical component to receiving quality health care, preventing abuse and social isolation, having access to nutritious foods, and connecting to other community-based services. Racial, ethnic, and cultural minority elders are less likely to access services or have awareness of resources available, and people experiencing chronic conditions or disability want more health education and support specific to their needs. COVID-19 will also likely change aging and retirement long-term such that more adults are aging in place, which makes this work even more critical. SOLUTION & PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: CFPA is adapting to these emerging needs of the communities we serve. We are finding new ways to fulfill our mission by providing critical support services, connecting seniors and low-income older adults to technology and virtual community, and increasing our case management and direct services to provide more wraparound support. We play a vital role in referral and assistance with critical resources and needs, vaccinations, health care, housing, technology support, and transportation. We are supporting our clients remotely in their homes around increased health and behavioral health concerns, depression, social isolation, and food insecurity; delivering food and PPE, signing seniors and low-income older adults in subsidized housing up to get vaccines and coordinating transportation, keeping them connected to avoid social isolation and depression and providing resources and consistent outreach. One of our primary goals is to provide the support, resources, and information to low-income seniors and older adults in subsidized housing so they can remain safely in their homes as long as possible, including support around health literacy and accessing healthcare. We provide support navigating healthcare systems, medication management, getting to medical appointments, and address food insecurities by providing nutritious food and information on nutrition. We also pair volunteers with seniors and low-income older adults who need someone to accompany them to medical appointments. We provide health and wellness classes, health fairs, and evidence-based health promotion and classes free of charge - and we provide additional information about healthcare and accessing healthcare to participants. We integrate these health and wellness supports within our broader direct services so that seniors can turn to us as needs arise. Since the beginning of COVID-19 we have also been providing up-to-date information about the virus, and supporting our participants in scheduling vaccination appointments, as well as transportation to the appointments. CFPA is committed to addressing the social, cultural, environmental and economic needs that create barriers that impact the health and wellness of older and low-income adults. We are serving more individuals over a wider geographic area, and increasing the number of clients we serve from low-income and BIPOC communities. Older adults of color and other marginalized communities face the most barriers in accessing vital services and for too long, have been overlooked. As we thoughtfully work to be a more culturally inclusive and just organization, we recognize the complexities involved to bring about systemic change. We hold ourselves accountable to ensuring equitable access to our service, move toward necessary change, and commit to serve more BIPOC communities. Over the next year we will provide critical support to a population greatly impacted by this pandemic - approximately 1,600 low-income seniors in Multnomah County through our case management program, and more than 4,500 through our wraparound services, including transportation, food, healthy aging solutions & wellness, and/or other forms of housing stability and community support. WHO WE SERVE: More than 80% of our clients and participants qualify as low-income with over half living at the poverty guideline of $12,760. Approximately 65% of clients who access our programs and 95% of our case-managed clients are living with disabilities including chronic health disease, mobility and cognitive impairments. 100% of the clients served through the Giving Tree and now CFPA are low-income and live in affordable housing. Over 96% of our case managed clients are at or below the Federal Poverty Level, 80% have mobility or cognitive impairments, 89% have chronic health conditions, and 85% are living alone without any natural support. The absorption of the Giving Tree and Asian Food Pantry are salient examples of the ways CFPA is expanding our reach, driven by our equity journey as an organization. The Giving Tree represents new clients from 785 Section 8 subsidized Single Resident Occupancy units (-200% below the federal poverty line). The Asian Food Pantry serves buildings in the downtown area, providing low-income seniors with culturally specific foods. With this organizational expansion, we are increasing the BIPOC and low-income populations we serve. Our case managers and direct services staff play a critical and necessary role in helping clients connect to resources and navigate systems of support to help them remain safely housed as well as work to connect residents in culturally specific programming offered through the Community for Positive Aging that focuses on health and wellness. Our case managers provide holistic assessments of needs, determine eligibility for programs, authorize and coordinate services, work with clients to determine goals, and provide counseling, problem-solving, and advocacy. Additionally we provide wraparound support services for individuals who are in documented isolation or quarantine, and eligible for rent assistance, utilities (water, electric, gas and internet), etc and connect clients to culturally specific enrichments including support groups, evidence based health promotion and recreation. These efforts are expanding the geographic area we serve and increasing the number of individuals receiving culturally specific services, the number of individuals from low-income and BIPOC communities, and the housing stability for these individuals such that they are able to age in place without a higher level of care. CFPA has transitioned from being a senior center in a physical location to an organization that is focused on providing direct services to low-income seniors and older adults across Multnomah County. Our goals are: to better serve our clients through improved client involvement and engagement; to reach an increasingly diverse cross section of seniors in Portland as we grow in our equity journey and anti-racist work; and to invest in infrastructure enhancements that orient us towards a stable future. As we grow to serve an increasing number of low-income, BIPOC and marginalized seniors and low-income older adults in our community, through absorption of the Giving Tree and Asian Food Pantry and increased case management and direct services, we are focused on increasing our capacity to meet the critical needs of our clients while implementing strategies focused on sustainability and equity.