{"id":25635,"date":"2025-10-27T16:52:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T16:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/25635\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T16:52:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T16:52:13","slug":"bay-area-senior-services-at-risk-due-to-government-funding-shortfalls-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/25635\/","title":{"rendered":"Bay Area senior services at risk due to government funding shortfalls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Healthy, hot-cooked meals, exercise sessions and other services for older adults are on the chopping block<\/a> in parts of the Bay Area as service providers feel the squeeze of shrinking government budgets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To save money, the Downtown Oakland Senior Center cut its Friday services and reduced its operations the rest of the work week by two hours a day in April.<\/p>\n

Barbara Griffin, 81, an amusement park retiree who\u2019s been coming to the center for the past 20 years, said recent schedule reductions have forced her to choose between her two favorite aerobic dance classes: Zumba and \u201cKeep it Moving.\u201d She said she\u00a0worries the city is starting to treat seniors like \u201can afterthought.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like some people would rather have us sitting on a park bench feeding pigeons,\u201d Griffin said.<\/p>\n

\"Barbara<\/a>Barbara Griffin, 83, of Oakland, eats a free lunch at the Downtown Oakland Senior Center in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. Griffin has been going to the senior center for over 20 years. The center has scaled back its operations amid city funding shortfalls. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

Similar concerns are upsetting older adults in Sunnyvale, where a program that serves healthy meals to residents aged 60 and older, as well as their spouses and disabled dependents, increasingly has to turn people away as demand has outstripped the program\u2019s funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe numbers are climbing,\u201d said Ronald Nathan, who chairs the volunteer committee of the Sunnyvale Senior Nutrition Program. \u201cAt this rate, without systems to control overages, we could literally run out of food.\u201d<\/p>\n

The challenges the two centers face reflect the broader problem of government budget deficits and rollbacks in the Bay Area. Earlier this month, Contra Costa County eliminated a $277,000 contract with Meals on Wheels Diablo Region due to federal funding cuts, ending weekly \u201cBreakfast Bag\u201d deliveries to hundreds of seniors.<\/p>\n

Seniors are the fastest-growing group in the Bay Area<\/a>, with about 1.2 million residents now over 65, according to the Bay Area Census. Their rising numbers are expected to further strain the region\u2019s already limited resources.<\/p>\n

Throughout the Oakland Downtown Senior Center, bright orange flyers neatly placed on tabletops, pinned on bulletin boards and tucked under coffee mugs plead \u201cSave our Senior Centers\u201d in bold font. For Barbara Tengeri, 83, the message feels deeply personal. She has been attending the center for the last 23 years, first learning about it through her late mother, who used to brew coffee in the kitchen. She\u2019s grateful for the hot lunches and friends she\u2019s made, but said recent scheduling changes make her uneasy. To her, the center isn\u2019t just a part of her routine, it\u2019s her legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I come here I think about my mother,\u201d Tengeri said.<\/p>\n

In Oakland, the budget shortfalls are projected to persist into 2030, according to its most recent five-year annual forecast. In Santa Clara County, a similar picture unfolds as costs rise faster than revenues.<\/p>\n

Oakland\u2019s senior centers are also facing staffing cuts<\/a> that have left them dependent on part-time volunteers. Several community members expressed fears that sustained staffing shortages could threaten the social fabric of these welcoming environments.<\/p>\n

\u201cA friend I\u2019ve made at this center is sick right now, and I\u2019ve seen her deteriorate because of the lack of social contact,\u201d said 65-year-old Friederike Droegemueller, a yoga enthusiast who participates in activities at the downtown site. \u201cWe need our centers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Teri<\/p>\n

Teri Chapman plays pool at the Downtown Oakland Senior Center in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. The center has scaled back its operations amid city funding shortfalls. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Mary<\/p>\n

Mary Roberts, of Oakland, hands out free food to senior citizens during the Mercy Brown Bag Program at Mercy Retirement and Care Center in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Cindy<\/p>\n

Cindy Zheng and Dennis Harrison, both from Berkeley, participate in ballroom dancing at the Downtown Oakland Senior Center in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. The center has scaled back its operations amid city funding shortfalls. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Volunteer<\/p>\n

Volunteer Grace Van chats with a diner at the Sunnyvale Senior Nutrition Program at the Sunnyvale United Methodist Church in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People eat at the Sunnyvale Senior Nutrition Program at the Sunnyvale United Methodist Church in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Debbie<\/p>\n

Debbie Witt, site manager, serves meals, Chinese chicken salad, at the Sunnyvale Senior Nutrition Program at the Sunnyvale United Methodist Church in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 6<\/p>\n

Teri Chapman plays pool at the Downtown Oakland Senior Center in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. The center has scaled back its operations amid city funding shortfalls. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Farther south, the concerns are similar. On a recent Thursday morning at the Sunnyvale Senior Nutrition Program, Ginnie Reyes split a palm-sized pumpkin pie with two friends and her husband. Reyes, who discovered the program through a friend, says she and her husband now stop by nearly every day. Aside from the days in which the menu features Chinese chicken salad, Reyes said what she enjoys most are the social connections.<\/p>\n

The budget woes are stirring concern among the regulars. For Reyes, and her lunch community at the Sunnyvale United Methodist Church, any further scaling back \u201cwould be devastating for a lot of seniors,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Ginnie<\/a>Ginnie Reyes, right, chats with her husband Luis at the Sunnyvale Senior Nutrition Program at the Sunnyvale United Methodist Church in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

Nathan said demand for meals has outgrown the program\u2019s funding and the number of days when not everyone can be served is rising.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe days we serve things that people love, like Korean barbecue for example, are when we hit really high numbers,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to turn people away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the county\u2019s current budget, the program is funded for up to 150 meals a day. Lately, Nathan said, the kitchen has been serving closer to 200. The difference is typically absorbed by the church. But with its own shoestring resources, Nathan says the church can\u2019t shoulder that burden indefinitely as more hungry seniors walk through its doors.<\/p>\n

Sourcewise, a social services agency based in Santa Clara County, reported a 10% increase in Meals on Wheels recipients over the past year<\/a> \u2014 a sign that more residents are turning to local agencies to help them access food.<\/p>\n

Turning seniors away may be the only way to stretch limited food supplies, but that doesn\u2019t make the job any easier for Nathan or the on-site volunteers. When he has to close the doors, he knows he\u2019s denying them not just a meal, but also a sense of camaraderie.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had a chance to say anything to a county person right now, I would say think about the seniors because the value of this program is beyond food,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: October 27, 2025 at 4:00 AM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Healthy, hot-cooked meals, exercise sessions and other services for older adults are on the chopping block in parts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[7,8,23,100,88,90,89],"class_list":{"0":"post-25635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-news","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-san-jose","13":"tag-san-jose-headlines","14":"tag-san-jose-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}