Senior center honored for its efforts

Elise Gee

WEST SIDE -- The Costa Mesa Senior Center received a $50,000

surprise Thursday when it was awarded one of the two highest honors at

the 42nd annual Disneyland Community Service Awards.

The grant is expected to help the nonprofit senior center create

design plans for a state-of-the-art wellness center to be located next

to its existing facility.

Disneyland doled out $450,000 to 53 Orange County service

organizations Thursday. The Costa Mesa Senior Center and The Eli Home in

Orange received “Outstanding Awards” of $50,000 each, the most of any

other service organization.

“It was absolutely astounding,” said center board member Mary

Hornbuckle. “It’s just such a wonderful validation of what we do there on

a regular basis.”

The award came as a total surprise to Executive Director Alan Myers.

Myers said that as the awards ceremony neared the end, he was preparing

to leave thinking that the senior center had missed out on any awards

this year.

“It was really exciting,” Myers said. “In fact, I didn’t expect it. I

was just about to walk away ... then I started hearing the description of

an organization that sounded like us.”

Disneyland recognized the center for its Latino community diabetes

outreach program, which has provided ongoing bilingual education on the

disease.

The senior center serves about 450 seniors daily, which adds up to

more than 100,000 visits to the center by 23,000 seniors from 13

different cities a year, Myers said.

The grant will help the center with its fledgling attempt to bring a

$10-million to $12-million wellness center to the community. It also

comes days before the center holds it kickoff for its annual campaign,

scheduled for Tuesday.

The wellness center would provide seniors an alternative to living in

skilled nursing facilities by providing specialized drop-in services,

including a fitness, counseling, nutrition and medical centers. A task

force that includes Hoag Hospital, OCC, and Cal State Fullerton’s

gerontology center is just being formed.

The goal is to help seniors maintain their independence and life span

by giving them resources they can access from their home without having

to be placed in nursing facilities.

“Placing a senior in a skilled nursing facility means counting the

days until (they) die,” Myers said. “The wellness center will keep them

in their own home environment.”

* FYI: These organization were also recognized by Disneyland:

Environmental Nature Center, Newport Beach -- $10,000

Very Special Arts Orange County, Costa Mesa -- $5,000

New Directions For Women, Costa Mesa -- $5,000