The Humboldt Senior Resource Center (HSRC) has successfully provided services to Humboldt County seniors for more than 40 years. At the heart of HSRC’s success is a commitment to a global vision that states: “Seniors and their caregivers in Humboldt County will have a life with dignity, health and self-determination in a community of respect and tolerance.” This vision guides the board of directors, staff, and volunteers.
In 1974, HSRC was created because of the need for services for 16,000 elderly people living in Humboldt County. Within 10 years, HSRC was providing meals for seniors, home health care, adult day health, information for seniors, senior home repair, and Senior News.
From its inception, the agency has served older adults and their caregivers throughout northern Humboldt County. The agency’s first nutrition site opened in Crescent City in November 1975; the Arcata nutrition site opened one month later. The Orleans/Weitchpec and Eureka Nutrition programs opened in 1976. The Adult Day Health program was started in the basement of the Washington School building in 1983, moved to a new building across the street in 1987, and opened a second location in Fortuna in 1988.
As additional needs were identified, HSRC worked to address them, often by adding new programs. HSRC grew “from a single information and referral program to an array of outstanding programs and services used by thousands of Humboldt County seniors and their families each year,” then-Executive Director Mary Beth Wolford stated on HSRC’s 25th anniversary in 1999.
Growth continued in the ensuing years with the additions of the new Alzheimer’s Services and Center in 2009 and the opening of the Redwood Coast PACE, the first rural Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly in California, in 2014.
Humboldt Senior Resource Center celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2014, and published a special edition of Senior News (click on link to view) to mark the occasion.
Necessity is the mother of reinvention. This has been true for HSRC. To continue as a strong community partner committed to our ever-increasing population of seniors, the agency continues to adapt to this changing landscape.