Upfront
REAL ESTATE TRENDS by Samia Cullen
SENIORS
Avenidas makes plans for Palo Alto wellness center Consortium seeks land for ‘big, audacious idea’ for senior services by Sue Dremann
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consortium of senior and health-services organizations are looking for land to build a wellness center that would focus on seniors. Lisa Hendrickson, president and CEO of the nonprofit Avenidas, floated the idea by the Palo Alto City Council Jan. 14, saying her organization is running out of room and will face an onslaught of aging baby boomers in the next few years. The wellness center is “a big, audacious idea� that would also offer services to the larger community as well as seniors, Hendrickson said. The consortium includes Avenidas, the Cardiac Therapy Foundation, Betty Wright Swim Center and Pacific Stroke Association, which would provide services at the center. The group is looking for a fifth partner to provide land within Palo Alto, she said. “Our over-65 population is growing twice as fast as the total population growth. It’s a large population — 17 percent of the total population in 2010 — which makes Palo Alto one of the oldest cities in Santa Clara County,� she said. People older than 65 make up 11 percent of Santa Clara County’s population, she said. Palo Alto’s population ages 55 and older is now about one out of three. “So we’ve got our work cut out for us,� she said. “I spent a lot of time thinking about capacity and resources, and what are
we going to do to continue to be as relevant to everybody that knocks on our door in the coming years as we have been in the first 40 years. Boomers, she said, will have different needs and expectations and will live longer than previous seniors. “We’re going to have to figure out how to be there for them — or for us, I should say,� she said, noting the number of gray heads sitting in the council chairs. Avenidas is currently housed in the city’s old fire and police building. “We are bursting at the seams at Bryant Street,� she said. “It’s a charming building, and a lot of folks that come into Avenidas have history with the building. They remember getting parking tickets and going in front of the judge and spending time in the holding cells — and every once in a while they’ll tell you that. “But that is a history that boomers don’t have with our building,� she said, adding that other local organizations serving seniors have “wonderful, brand-new facilities.� Two of those facilities, the 25,000square-foot Mountain View Senior Center and the 45,000-square-foot Santa Clara Senior Center, opened in 2007. Avenidas’ newest facility is the six-year-old Avenidas Rose Kleiner Center in Mountain View, which offers health care and senior day care. Avenidas currently leases 450 Bryant from the city for $1 a year, but its lease runs out in 2026. The
organization would like to keep 450 Bryant and expand and upgrade the facility, but it also wants to build the wellness center in south Palo Alto, Hendrickson said. Avenidas serves 6,000 people annually. The organization offers social services, care-management coordination, case management, transportation, caregiver support and many classes and connections with other agencies serving seniors. Thirty-two percent of Avenidas’ $4.1 million budget comes from fees, 28 percent from the endowment, 18 percent from community support and 12 percent from other sources. The City of Palo Alto provides 10 percent of the budget, which Hendrickson called “significant.� That figure is down from the 30 percent the city provided in 1978 when Avenidas first started. Hendrickson did not make an overt appeal to the council for assistance other than to ask that they spread the word that Avenidas is looking for land. On Tuesday, she told the Weekly that she spoke to a committee deliberating on the future of Cubberley Community Center “to plant the seed with them if there is a way for land there to be utilized.� She stressed that although the consortium has been considering the possible size of the facility and its potential cost, the numbers are speculative at this point. “It’s a very exciting idea, but it’s far from being firm,� she said. N
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identical. The cost, extent of coverage and terms can be as unique as each parcel of real property, since no two parcels are exactly alike. Generally, a title insurance policy insures the buyer against loss or damage arising out of: a) title to the property being vested in someone other than the insured, b) any defect in or recorded lien or encumbrance on the title, c) un-marketability of title, or d) lack of right of access to and from the property. Each of the covered items listed above typically is limited by speciďŹ c or generic exceptions, exclusions or other conditions speciďŹ ed within the title policy. Title insurance policies are complex legal documents, and readers who require speciďŹ c advice should consult an attorney.
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This Sunday: Too Big For His Britches Rev. David Howell preaching An Open and Affirming Congregation of the United Church of Christ
CIVIC SERVICE
Why no applicants for library commission? Council concludes panel is ‘viable’ but reduces membership to five
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hy didn’t anybody apply for a recent vacancy on Palo Alto’s Library Advisory Commission? The dearth of applicants for the advisory panel to the City Council — despite recruitment efforts from July to October — led to a council inquiry on the “viability� of the commission. The council concluded this week that the commission indeed serves a useful purpose after hearing so from Library Director Monique le Conge and library commissioners themselves. But council members voted to reduce the number of commissioners from seven to five — a more “manageable� number, le Conge said, and one they hope will ease recruitment troubles in the future. With library use steady and residents consistently rating libraries as one of their most-valued city services, the lack of applicants for the commission following the July 2012 resignation of Noel Bakhtian
by Chris Kenrick remained something of a mystery. Councilman Larry Klein in October asked for a discussion of the viability of the commission. “I hope the length of the meetings isn’t why we’re seeing so many vacancies,� council Klein said this week, referring to the four-hour meetings that have been held roughly every month. “The LAC has way more vacancies than any of our other commissions, almost by a factor of two. It’s a disturbing number.� The board’s need for new members is about to be exacerbated, with three more commissioners’ terms set to expire Jan. 31. Le Conge said she values the advice of library commissioners, who also regularly stay in touch with two other library interest groups in town, Friends of the Palo Alto Library and the Palo Alto Library Foundation. In their own response, library commissioners said they perceive that they are “providing a valuable and rewarding service to the city,�
lending perspectives on long-term outlook for programs, services and use of space; technology, finance and marketing expertise and advocacy for libraries. “We have a lot to discuss, especially with new facilities coming on line,� library commissioner Bob Moss told the council Tuesday. Councilwoman Nancy Shepherd said she expects a “vigorous debate� over library staffing in 2014, when the new Mitchell Park Library is opened and people will seek longer hours for the College Terrace Library, which currently operates just four days a week. Besides Moss, current library commissioners, according to the city’s website, are Toluope Akinola, Leonardo Hochberg, Eileen Landauer, Theivanai Palaniappan and Mary Beth Train. The terms of Akinola, Moss and Palaniappan expire Jan. 31. N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be emailed at ckenrick@paweekly. com.
Inspirations is a resource for ongoing religious services and special events. To inquire about or to reserve space in Inspirations, please contact Blanca Yoc at 223-6596 or email byoc@paweekly.com
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