Dear Friends:
Del Mar Community Connections helps seniors live active, vibrant lives by providing transportation, education, and social activities.
If you ask any of our Board members what DMCC does, that’s the answer you’ll get in one sentence, and it packs a punch. Flip through the following pages, and you will read about how our transportation services have alleviated so much of the isolation that often makes seniors prisoners of their homes and captives of their televisions. Keep reading, and you will be reminded of the many educational programs that we hosted throughout the year, ranging from tax preparation tips, to avoiding internet scams, to navigating the complexities of health insurance, all of which are designed to keep our seniors safe, secure, and healthy. And, of course, there’s no point to any of this if we’re not having fun, which is what we offered through our many social events throughout the year, including our TLC Lunches, Book Club, Knitting Circle, Bridge Club, Sand Striders hiking group, Foodie Van, cultural outings, Ice Cream Social, and Champagne and Chocolate event, just to name significantly more than a few!
All of these activities and services fall under that one sentence, and we provide them for one reason: To be an integral part of a special community where we all recognize our responsibility to care for one another. And while it is nice to take a moment to celebrate the successes of the past year, it is equally important to set out important goals that we have yet to achieve. We are currently putting the finishing touches on our long-term strategic plan, a significant initiative that has included multiple focus groups as well as dozens of one-on-one interviews with some of the most vulnerable members of our community. The extensive feedback we’ve received (which, I am happy to report, has been overwhelmingly positive), has been critical to defining how we will address the needs of our senior population for years to come, particularly in the form of more transportation services, more outreach to those most in need of assistance, and more programming and services devoted to the family caregivers who devote so much of their lives to ensuring a superior quality of life for the senior members of our community.
These goals, while ambitious, are no less attainable than the goals our founders laid out a quarter century ago, when they built a thriving service organization from nothing. They were able to create DMCC, and we have been able to prosper since then, because of your empathy, compassion, and generosity. I know that we will be able to count on that same caring spirit to carry us well into the future.
On behalf of our entire Board, our Executive Director, Ashley Simpkins, and our Program Manager, Kara Adams, thank you for fostering a sense of community that allows DMCC to grow and to succeed in its mission. Thank you for caring!
Best regards,
Bob Gans
President
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