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Santa Ana staff outline senior‑center programs, transport and volunteer needs
Summary
City staff presented a comprehensive overview of programming at two Santa Ana senior centers, including congregate lunches, twice‑monthly commodity distributions, excursions and door‑to‑door transportation; staff also solicited volunteers and described an adopt‑a‑senior partnership.
At a recent Youth Commission meeting at the Santa Ana Senior Center, recreation community services supervisor Juan Lara summarized the City of Santa Ana’s senior‑services operations, saying the department runs two senior centers — the Santa Ana Senior Center and the Southwest Senior Center — staffed by full‑time coordinators and specialists and open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Lara said the centers offer regular recreation and fitness classes (from arts and crafts to Zumba), monthly themed special events, educational seminars (nutrition, fraud prevention), and a congregate lunch program served weekdays at 11:30 a.m.; lunches are free to enrolled seniors, with a $5 charge for public participants who register. He also described twice‑monthly commodity distributions of nonperishable food items that are open to the wider community and scheduled by family last name.
Lara highlighted a popular excursion schedule that mixes day trips and larger trips: upcoming or recurring outings include visits to the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, the Getty Villa, the OC Fair, and a November shopping trip to the Citadel outlet. Local trips and the OC Fair rely on city shuttle service; longer trips use charter buses.
On transportation, Lara said the senior transportation program operates three vehicles with three full‑time drivers and provides primarily door‑to‑door pickup to bring seniors to centers, shopping trips and events. He framed transportation as both an access and social program, enabling seniors to attend activities and maintain independence.
Staff described a range of social, educational and competitive activities — garden clubs, movie matinees, billiards tournaments, talent shows and table tennis — and said instruction is available in languages used by the senior population (Spanish and Chinese), with Santa Ana College providing many class instructors.
Lara described the department’s funding model as principally reliant on the city general fund supplemented by local partners: Meals on Wheels (meal service and home delivery), Santa Ana College (instructors), the County of Orange Office on Aging (Medicare/Medi‑Cal assistance and on‑site appointments), Community Legal Aid of Southern California (one‑on‑one legal help), a local adopt‑a‑senior program (which the presentation said has provided gifts to 50 seniors at each center over the past three years), local businesses supplying event refreshments, and SCAN Health Plan supporting the senior coffee bar.
The department invited volunteers to help at the front desk, with meal service, the coffee bar, class instruction and events, and encouraged residents age 55 and older who use a senior center to consider serving as senior representatives on the Parks and Recreation Commission; Lara outlined eligibility requirements (Santa Ana residency, minimum age 55, registered center participant, two‑year commitment and monthly meeting attendance) and thanked current senior representatives Sylvia (Southwest Senior Center) and Nancy (Santa Ana Senior Center) for their service.
The presentation closed with contact information and an invitation for commissioners to ask follow‑up questions.
Next steps: staff encouraged volunteer recruitment, continued partnership development, and promotion of senior events and excursions to increase participation and sustain services.
