Avenidas

Re-Inventing Aging

Avenidas in the News

News Items Archive Image

See the latest coverage and and read our press releases about Avenidas and our senior services in the Palo Alto and Mountain View area.

Tracy & Pinki interviewed in Palo Alto Weekly

Originally published by Chris Kendrick on page 24 of the August 7th Palo Alto Weekly.

The digital drop-off: Some seniors shy away from Zoom, virtual classes

Tracy McCloud, director of Avenidas’ downtown Palo Alto location, said online classes are operating between 60% to 100% of their pre-pandemic, in-person enrollments. On the other hand, some Avenidas classes and clubs have “well over 100% of their previous enrollment simply because people have the time to participate,” she said.

Read the complete article »

Pinki Fung, who manages the Avenidas Chinese Community Center at Cubberley, said about 15% of previous participants have chosen not to engage digitally but that her program has grown by 20% because of newcomers from places like Sacramento, Los Angeles and Vancouver, Canada.

Chris Kendrick, Palo Alto Weekly

Daily Post Reports Avenidas Layoffs

The June 25th edition of the Palo Alto Daily Post reported on the layoffs at Avenidas and the reason for them.

Click the image to download the PDF.

Avenidas CEO and President Amy Andonian said the layoffs are primarily because of a loss of revenue from fundraisers and suspending classes, the fees for which constitute 40% of the nonprofit’s revenue.

Palo Alto Daily Post, June 25, 2020, page 4

Los Alto Town Crier Reports on Avenidas Program Changes and the Fight for CBAS

The June 25th edition of the Los Altos Town Crier addressed both the fight against CBAS cuts and the fact that the continued threat of COVID-19 makes cutbacks at Avenidas inevitable.

Local senior services threatened under COVID-induced budget cuts

No sooner had the California State Legislature staved off proposed budget cuts to community-based adult services (CBAS), than nonprofit Avenidas announced June 24 it was halting operations of several of its seniors programs, laying off seven of its 53 employees.

Read the complete article »

Palo Alto Weekly: Virtual, Contactless Era Forces Avenidas to Dismantle Programs for Seniors

Virtual, contactless era forces Avenidas to dismantle programs for seniors

Senior services nonprofit Avenidas announced that it is halting several programs as the organization pivots to a new service model as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the complete article »

Palo Alto Weekly correspondent Linda Taaffe responded to our June 24th press release about changes to Avenidas’ program offerings. Posted in Palo Alto Online on June 24th and printed on page 22 in the July 3 edition.

Click the thumbnail image to download the PDF file.

Avenidas Restructures Due to COVID-Caused Changes 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Kari Martell, (650) 289-5427

Palo Alto, CA, June 24, 2020–Avenidas, a non-profit organization that operates two Enrichment Centers for seniors in Palo Alto and an Adult Day Heath Care Center in Mountain View, announced today that it is halting the operations of several of its programs–Avenidas Blooms, Handyman Services and the Redwood Cafe–and laying off seven of its 53 employees. Three additional programs, Avenidas Rose Kleiner Center, Avenidas Door to Door and Senior Planet@Avenidas, will scale back their operations to reflect a new virtual service delivery model.

“Due to COVID-19, our operations drastically changed, and this new reality is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, causing us to take on these belt-tightening changes,” states Avenidas CEO and President Amy Andonian. “Although our buildings have been and will remain closed for an unknown amount of time, we are delivering as many existing and new services and programs as we possibly can. I have been impressed at how well we were able to re-tool to meet the new needs of our vulnerable senior population,” Andonian says.

Avenidas staff members pivoted to continue to work remotely Monday through Friday to help seniors, their families and caregivers as everyone navigates this current crisis. Here’s what staff has been doing:

  • Delivering groceries, supplies and medicine to those in need 
  • Taking calls on the hotline and responding to requests
  • Updating the Avenidas without Walls Resource page on the website (www.avenidas.org) to make it a one-stop shop for information 
  • Making daily, weekly and birthday check-in calls as requested to decrease loneliness 
  • Creating new programs to keep the LGBTQ community involved, such as a Virtual Support Group, a Movie Review Discussion Group on Zoom and a photo treasure hunt 
  • Staying involved with adult day health participants and their families with phone calls and nursing visits to drop off supplies and check blood pressures 
  • Transitioning many classes to Zoom to keep people learning and moving  Developing Zoom classes of interest to Avenidas Chinese Community Center members
  • Teaching seniors how to use this crucial new tool called Zoom via our Senior Planet@Avenidas online classes and written instructions (available in 3 languages) 
  • Coordinating volunteers to assist in making social phone calls and writing letters to cheer up isolated seniors
  • Working to counsel seniors through this emotional time and help with care planning

“Even in the face of these challenging times, we can see this as an opportunity to innovate in new ways to reach an even bigger and more diverse senior population with our Avenidas Without Walls strategic initiative,” concludes Andonian.

###