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Community Action Plan :
CCEG believes that aging friendly communities are
places where:
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All generations are included, integrated and respected. |
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Policies and programs sensitively address all ages and cultures. |
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Neighborhood centers welcome all generations. |
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Adequate infrastructure is accessible for people of all ages
and abilities. |
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Mentors advocate and provide assistance for those who need help. |
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Successful programs are identified and replicated. |
CCEG’s 2008 Strategic Plan for Community Action continues the
focus on the following areas:
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Healthcare and Wellness |
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Housing |
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Transportation |
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Neighborhoods and Communities |
The Plan lists the key goals in each area and the strategic actions
to achieve them. At the heart of the Plan is the belief that CCEG working together
with the people of Contra Costa can create a “cascade of partnerships” that
will work to make our communities aging friendly.
2008 Strategic Plan for Community Action
Healthcare and Wellness
Goals
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Address the isolation of seniors. |
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Promote services that assist individuals with planning for all
stages of life. |
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Support education about healthy aging for culturally diverse
populations. |
Strategic Actions
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Partner with government and nonprofit organizations currently
serving isolated seniors in the county to assess the magnitude and demographics
of senior isolation, to conduct an inventory of services available, and to educate
and make recommendations to decision makers on addressing the service gaps. |
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Explore alternative approaches for isolated seniors to socially
connect from home like the Senior Center Without Walls, a program sponsored
by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Oakland and offering telephone
group activities for elders throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, and
make sure that county seniors are made aware of them. |
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Collaborate with other county stakeholders to identify, and
educate the public on, available programs and resources on life planning and
healthy aging. |
Housing
Goals
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Motivate public and private entities to develop housing that
is truly affordable for all generations. |
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Promote varied and creative sources of funding for affordable
senior housing |
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Involve and empower seniors to become part of the community
planning process. |
Strategic Actions
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Monitor proposed housing developments in the county using CCEG’s “Endoresment
Criteria” as a general benchmark for ensuring that a development is “aging-friendly” and
its “Development Guidelines for New Senior Housing” if the project
is for senior housing. |
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Meet with senior groups, planners, developers, other county
stakeholders and decision makers starting early in the development cycle to ensure
that the needs of seniors are addressed before final approvals are granted. |
Transportation
Goals
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Support sustainable and coordinated funding for transportation. |
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Advance affordable, safe, seamless and accessible, countywide
transportation for seniors. |
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Promote responsible land use and transportation policy decisions
by planners and policymakers. |
Strategic Actions
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Continue to form alliances and partnerships with transportation
stakeholders in the county (government, nonprofit, and faith based) with
a focus on filling the gaps between current transportation services mostly provided
by government and those needed transportation services not adequately provided. Work
to increase the level of transportation resources – funds, vehicles, and
drivers. |
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Monitor transportation developments in the county using CCEG’s “Endorsement
Criteria” as a guide to educate decision makers (board of supervisors,
city councils, planning commissions, transit authorities, etc.) on their impacts
on seniors prior to formal decisions being made them. |
Neighborhoods and Communities
Goals
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Promote increased awareness and funding for the broad
spectrum of community-based support services for seniors and work toward an equitable
level of these services throughout the county. |
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Support the enhancement of safety and security in Contra Costa homes
and neighborhoods. |
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Raise awareness and break down stereotypes and myths about aging and
encourage older adults to become involved in neighborhood and community affairs. |
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Increase outreach to fully integrate all generations, cultures,
religions and language groups in community involvement. |
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Encourage parental and community involvement to increase academic
achievement and provide constructive intergenerational neighborhood-based activities
and opportunities for youth. |
Strategic Actions
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Identify support services provided by government, nonprofits
and faith-based organizations for seniors throughout the county and work with
the appropriate stakeholders to publicize and educate seniors on how to
obtain them. Seek out county decision makers to advise and educate
them on key issues of funding and equitable distribution of services. |
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Continue and expand the Myth Buster Campaign, which seeks to
educate the citizens of the county by countering false stereotypes of aging and
by debunking myths about older adults. |
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Continue and expand the LEARN Program (Library Education and
Resource Network, a partnership of the libraries, senior centers, the County
Area on Aging and CCEG). The objective of the learn program is bring
to Contra Costa residents of different cultures and languages together to learn
about the resources available to them and to encourage them to become involved
in the community. |
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Identify the Neighborhood Watch and community-based policing
programs throughout the county and where the gaps are and facilitate collaborative
relationships between neighborhoods in need and the appropriate organizations
(police, sheriff, etc. ) that can assist them. |
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Research existing intergenerational programs in the county and
collaborate with the organizations providing them to determine how they are working, how
they might be improved, and make appropriate recommendations decision makers on
the findings. |
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