Why We Do It

AgingNext provides a broad array of services and support for older adults, caregivers, and others interesting in enhancing aging services in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. Working in concert with community leaders, social services, healthcare providers and city and county organizations, AgingNext is a convener, information resource, and collaborator on senior issues. Navigage provided funds to expand AgingNext’s capacity by 50%.

Ashby Village is a community of older adult members and five generations of volunteers who live in the California communities of Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Emeryville, Kensington, Oakland, and Richmond. Together with staff and Board members, “villagers” are inspired by the neighborly practice of helping people navigate aging through services and programs to enhance quality of life and plan for the future. Navigage provided funds to support operations for their important peer to peer approach.

Navigage has worked with the Buck Institute for Research on Aging for more than five years, supporting scholarships, research, curriculum development, and symposiums through the joint Buck-USC Graduate Program. The Buck-USC Ph.D. Graduate Program is a joint effort allowing students to receive a degree and expose them to many different research areas for age-related diseases. Buck-USC students are participating in many national and international collaborations. Navigage funds have supported a range of studies from Mass Spectrometry to Ethics to Data Analysis to Geroscience. In addition, Navigage has been a key funder in the Senior Livelong Learning program.

Navigage provided the funds to launch Well Connected Espanol, a Front Porch Community Service. Well Connected offers phone and online activities that help older people build community, thus increasing social connection and alleviating loneliness. Expanded to Spanish language programming allowed the program to be more inclusive and grow the commitment to offer lifelong learning and enhancing the curriculum. Front Porch Community Services hired a bilingual program manager to develop a calendar of events, train presenters, and expand outreach and awareness of the program.

Hillcrest, in La Verne, CA, is a life plan community that sought funds from Navigage Foundation to transform their Woods Health Services from a clinical skilled nursing facility to a more residential and personalized health setting. This resulted in fewer, more comfortable, and more private rooms with new décor and warmth. Each resident hallway became a private residential neighborhood each with specialized design elements. In addition, Hillcrest added The Gathering Place for social dining and conversations with family and friends.

Monte Vista Grove Homes is an active senior community in Pasadena, CA, founded in 1924 to support people retired from religious and non-profit careers. The organization received funds from Navigage Foundation to refresh Marwick Place, the largest meeting space on campus, used for activities and assemblies of residents and others. Focusing on improving the use with older people in mind, the renovation focused on lighting, acoustics, sound, and audiovisual equipment in addition to décor. Monte Vista Grove honors the aging process in a holistic manner that encourages residents to flourish, which corresponds to the purpose of the Navigage Foundation. The Marwick Place renovation allows the community to continue to provide a warm, welcoming, safe, and inviting place where residents, neighbors, and the community can gather comfortably to connect and celebrate the journey of life.

Older people have always relied on the Pasadena Senior Center (PSC), and the changes due to COVID-19 caused a significant change in the PSC’s funding sources and programming. With funding from the Navigage Foundation, the PSC was able to cover expenses and increase bandwidth to support the necessary pivot to digital programs, social wellness activities, and communications to dispel the effects of isolation. Navigage Foundation-funded allowed the PSC to retain their IT specialist. In addition, the PSC was able to cook, package, and deliver 500-holiday dinners to needy isolated older people. PSC relies on a small staff of eleven full-time and three part-time staff to work directly with members of the community and energize over 200 volunteers. Navigage Foundation funding sustained the Social Service programming.

The Redwoods is a multi-level retirement community in Mill Valley, CA, that is on a mission to maintain a creative, affordable community that promotes good health, well-being, and security for a diverse group of elders. With a long-standing commitment to affordability, The Redwoods reached out to Navigage Foundation to provide apartment renovations so that an additional 10 very low or extremely low-income seniors in Marin County could enjoy community living through the ILA Revitalization Project. Leveraging the Navigage funds with a matching grant, The Redwoods renovate apartments for this needed housing.

Consistent with Navigage Foundation’s purpose to support learning, Solheim in Los Angeles, CA, was awarded grant funds for complete refurbishment and modernization of the multi-purpose room used for resident engagement and programming such as the Navigage-sponsored Speaker’s Series. In addition, Solheim added a digital communication system to enhance daily notifications, ease of access to information, and interaction with residents and family. Solheim also created a contemporary Learning Center for staff education, in-service, and professional development including new computers. Solheim, founded in 1923, is a senior living community offering independent living, assisted living, memory care, and nursing care in an urban location that allows residents to stay connected to the neighborhood.

The St. Vincent de Paul of San Francisco operates with the mission to assist those who need help the most. The organization comprises 100 dedicated men and women who work together to improve the lives of approximately 400 people in San Francisco every day. Navigage Foundation provided funds to help relocate homeless older people to live with family with the goal of creating a sustainable living environment.

Supporting health and education about aging is central to the purpose of the Navigage Foundation. Working with the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Navigage Foundation supports research on various topics, from mitochondrial dysfunction to heartbeat variability to the effect of a fasting-mimicking diet on Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. This multi-year support has allowed for in-depth examination, testing, and experimentation to help extend the health span of older people, making a positive impact on how people age and thrive.

The mission of the USC Verdugo Hills Hospital (USC VHH) is to provide personalized, high-quality healthcare relevant to the patient community. Partnering with the Navigage Foundation, USC VHH established a Senior Resource Center to serve hundreds of older people and their families in the local community. The Foothill Community Senior Resource Center is available free of charge and is staffed by a gerontological social worker to connect older people to resources and programs through assessments, information, and referral.

Vivalon was formed as Whistlestop in 1954 to meet the needs of Marin County’s older adults and people living with disabilities. Vivalon’s main objectives are to provide transportation, nourishment, education, and opportunities for socialization and is now the largest nonprofit serving older people in Marin County. Noting that the COVID-19 crisis has disproportionately impacted older people and those living with life-threatening and chronic illnesses who are homebound, isolated, and struggling to survive on very low incomes. To meet this demand, Navigage Foundation provided funding to Nourish by Vivalon to deliver over 700 nutritious, ready-made meals each week to homebound older people and those living with life-threatening or chronic conditions.