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Executive Director :
Elaine Welch
Elaine has been an RN since 1971. In 1979, she earned her MBA from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California. Twenty-five years of her career were spent with Kaiser Permanente, primarily in the corporate offices, with responsibility for Medicare compliance in all Kaiser regions throughout the United States. She specialized in Medicare benefits and coverage, utilization, and quality of care and services for the elderly and disabled. After retiring in 1998, she became a 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.  A combination of boredom and concern about the plight of seniors trying to age in their own homes without proper support, brought her out of retirement in January 2002, to become the Reassurance Program Director for Senior Helpline Services. In August 2002, she became the Executive Director. In September 2005, she started a free volunteer driver program at Senior Helpline Services, and just over two years later added a home safety/falls prevention program.
After having volunteered with Contra Costa for Every Generation since its inception, and then serving as a Board member, she was selected to become the organization’s first Executive Director in August 2008.
Board of Directors :
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.
 President: 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.
 Vice 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.
 Secretary/Treasurer: 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.
Other Board Members:
 Kitty 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.
 Trevor 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 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.
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