During the last few days of 2020, Akila Gibbs, executive director of the Pasadena Senior Center, anxiously watched as revenue streams dried up during the pandemic, even as the need for the center’s life-saving services grew exponentially for thousands of older adults.
Instead of a bustling place filled with hundreds of people each weekday and a fully booked calendar of weekend rentals for its banquet hall, the center closed its physical doors as it pivoted to delivering many of its services online and through various other methods.
Daily lunches were now delivered to older adults’ homes, hundreds of daily phone calls were made by center staff and volunteers to check on people who live alone, and classes and club meetings were transformed into Zoom experiences.
As an independent, donor-supported nonprofit, the Pasadena Senior Center endured a decrease in donations at a time when every dollar could make a vital difference in the lives of older adults.
That day in 2020, when Gibbs began another of her bi-monthly “Coffee with Akila” virtual events, she was exhausted from long working hours, worried about finances, but excited to engage in this more intimate connection with everyone who signed up for the small group chat.
Little did she know an “angel” had joined the conversation, someone who was formerly on the board of directors of a small, little known foundation that would soon send a check for $100,000 to be used for whatever the center needed.
“I was moved to tears. It was like a gift dropped from the heavens,” said Gibbs. “Only two percent of foundations in the country fund programs for older adults, despite a growing older population, and this donation was unrestricted. I was beside myself with excitement and couldn’t wait to tell the staff about this generous gift.”
The mystery person who dropped in for “Coffee with Akila” was DeWayne McMullin, a former Navigage Foundation board member who now is the board’s business representative and actively searches for entities that make huge differences in the lives of older adults.
The foundation was created after the permanent closure of many independent, nonprofit senior centers in the country that serve older adults. Foundation leadership wanted to continue the mission of serving older adults in a different way and decided to provide funds to nonprofits whose missions align with theirs.
After the virtual coffee chat with Gibbs, McMullin contacted Navigage Foundation’s board chair, Jim Rock, a real estate professional known for personally supporting the greater Pasadena community.
“We were blown away by the vast array of services provided by the Pasadena Senior Center,” Rock said.
The gift enables the center to continue its work during the pandemic, including the delivery of 500 special meals during the holidays and daily boxed lunches, offering fitness and other classes online, and managing the 30 percent increase of older adults signed up for the Telephone Reassurance Program that regularly puts volunteers in touch with older adults in isolation to address social and emotional needs.
There is another part of the story, this one about how good works never go unappreciated and whose impacts go on and on.
“I had an amazing assistant who worked for one of my companies many years ago and took it upon herself to combine all the email lists of all entities that serve older adults in the greater Los Angeles area,” said McMullin. “When she left for another job, the combined list was transferred to me. Because I receive the Pasadena Senior Center newsletter by email, I decided to get to know more about PSC and signed up for a Zoom meeting where I found myself having “Coffee with “Akila.”
“DeWayne McMullin and the Navigage Foundation are living examples of what true generosity is,” Gibbs said. “They are angels.”
To make a donation to the Pasadena Senior Center, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org and click on the orange Donate button.
For more information about online activities and other programs and services of the Pasadena Senior Center, visit the website or call (626) 794-4331.
The center, at 85 E. Holly St., is an independent, nonprofit organization that has served adults 50 and older for more than 60 years. Doors are open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for social services and other critical programs and services for older adults in need. Masks and social distancing are required.
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