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  For Every Generation Making Our Community Aging-Friendly
   
 
 
 
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Board :

The Board of Directors is comprised of experts and representatives from the community covering a broad range of backgrounds from healthcare, legal, public officials, mental health, social services and business background.

Barbara SmithPresident: Barbara Smith
A long- time community volunteer, her most recent civic activities have included service as a board member of John Muir Medical Center (1990-1997) and board member of John Muir/Mt. Diablo Community Health Fund (1999-2006). A dedicated California history buff, she founded the history docent program at Oakland’s Mountain View Cemetery, where she conducts tours.

Wesley FranklinVice President: Wesley M. Franklin
Currently serves as a member of Contra Costa’s Advisory Council on Aging and is a Certified Long-Term Care Ombudsman for Alameda County. He has a passion for senior/aging issues and finding self-sustaining strategies/solutions for dealing with them. He is the former Executive Director of the California Public Utilities Commission (1995 to 2002) where he was employed for 31 years. He co-created the California Utilities Diversity Council and has served on several university advisory boards and city commissions.

Gerald RichardsSecretary: Gerald T. (Gerry) Richards
Is the President of the Contra Costa County Advisory Council on Aging and has represented the City of Hercules on this body since 2005. A practicing attorney for over 30 years, he became a member of the State Bar's Emeritus Pro Bono Program providing free legal services to individuals over 60 at various senior centers around Contra Costa County. Before retiring in 1993, he spent over 20 years of his career in distinguished service with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a weapons designs specialist, an expert in technology transfer from government to private industry, and later as an assistant laboratory counsel.

Viola LujanTreasurer: Viola Lujan
Is currently the Regional Director for La Clinica de La Raza, Inc.’s Contra Costa and Solano Counties medical, dental and health education sites. She has been with La Clinica for more than 33 years, answering a call to give back to the community.

 

Other Board Members:

Kitty BarnesKitty Barnes
She currently provides consultation to the County Area Agency on Aging. She served as Executive Director of a multi-service, not-for-profit agency in East Contra Costa County, the Coordinator of the Contra Costa Contractors’ Alliance, an organization of over 20 not-for-profits and has served on several boards in Contra Costa County. She is a certified Trainer and a certified Conflict Mediator.

Chia-Chia Chien
Chia Chia ChenAfter a 28-year career as a mental health professional at the Berkeley Mental Health Clinic, she devotes her time to active grassroots community service. She founded the Culture to Culture Foundation to promote peace and harmony among individuals with different cultures, languages, and ethnic backgrounds. Her deepest passion is dedicated to improving the mental health of Asian-Americans, and she has worked hard to reduce the cultural stigma attached to mental illness among this underserved population.

Trevor Evans-YoungTrevor Evans-Young
Is a former mayor of the city of Hercules, where his service also included appointments to the Hercules Community Services Commission, the Hercules Planning Commission, the Franklin Canyon Steering Committee, and four years on the Hercules City Council. He has a long career with the Social Security Administration and rose to be Deputy Regional Commissioner for Western States and Pacific Territories before his 1993 retirement. His volunteer record includes serving as the U.S. representative on the review of the Social Security System in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Contra Costa Human Rights Commission, Contra Costa County Council on Aging, and several citizens’ advisory panels. He is one of the founders of the Hercules-Rodeo chapter of the NAACP.

Gordon FreemanGordon Freeman
Is Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation B'nai Shalom in Walnut Creek where he had been for thirty-eight years. Before that time, he served in the USAF as a chaplain in Mississippi and Ankara, Turkey. He currently serves on the Board of the Walnut Creek Library Association and has been an officer in the Rabbinical Assembly, the international organization of Conservative Rabbis.

 

Elaine WelchElaine Welch
Is the Executive Director of Senior Helpline Services, an organization dedicated to helping seniors age in place so long as they can do so safely and comfortably. In 2005, she expanded their services, starting a free, one-on-one, door-through-door volunteer driver program called Rides for Seniors. She retired from Kaiser Permanente in 1998, after a career of twenty-five years, specializing in Medicare benefits and coverage, utilization, and quality of care and services for the elderly and disabled. She currently is a member of the Contra Costa County Advisory Council on Aging and has been a Certified Long Term Care Ombudsman for Contra Costa County, an adult literacy tutor and board member for Project Second Chance, Medicare consultant, senior advocate, and youth mentor - all on a volunteer basis.