SoHum Chamber’s Featured Business of the Week: Healy Senior Center

Every week the Southern Humboldt Chamber of Commerce features a business of the week. We’ll be sharing their posts here to celebrate our community.

This week’s featured “Business of the Week” is the Healy Senior Center!

Let’s take a moment and go back in time to August 15^th, 1973, when the very first senior meals were served at the Community Presbyterian Church in Garberville.  With a suggested donation of $1.00 per meal, clean up and dishes were hauled over to the Veterans Hall and washed there.  Over the next six years, this helpful little group developed into an official nonprofit organization in December of 1979 and became known as the Southern Senior Center.

Sometime in 1985, the Jerold Phelps Community Hospital took on managing meals served at the Veterans Hall.  In November that same year, The Southern Senior Center received their first of so many donations from the Rex Foundation, associated with the legendary psychedelic band The Grateful Dead, who wished to honor Dan Healy, a former sound engineer for The Dead!

This important non-profit organization started up meal programs at the senior center in 1990 and the cooks were employed by the hospital at first.  Their “Meals on Wheels” home delivery set up started in the fall of 2000 and continue to this day with the help and support from the Humboldt Area Foundation, Cooperative Community Fund, Union Labor health Foundation, St. Joseph Health Foundation and many donations from community members!

As the years passed, a motion was approved by the Board of Directors to change the business name in honor of Dan Healy.  In 1994, The Southern Senior Center became The Healy Senior Center! Over the years, the Rex Foundation has donated over $90,000 to this center in honor of Mr. Healy’s name!

This very important organization plays a vital role within our community and has since expanded their services.

The “Meals on Wheels” program offers delivery on hot and frozen meals prepared by cooks three days a week to seniors who need them. This program follows the classic and famous meal-delivery model started in Philadelphia in 1948.

They have also implemented a “Social Dining Meal”.  This is a chance for Southern Humboldt seniors to get together at the center in Redway, enjoy a home-cooked lunch, get out of the rain or the heat, and enjoy an afternoon socializing amongst themselves and with the staff at Healy.   This particular program is open to all ages.  To keep this program happening, Healy politely asks a donation of $9.00 for adults and $6.00 for seniors.  If you are interested in attending “The Social Dining Meal”, it happens on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 12:30pm.  If you are short on change, no worries there.  No one will be turned away from this program if they lack the ability to pay.

Another great program that is popular is the “Frozen Meals Program”.  This program is geared for people and families that are always on the go!  Life can get so busy and sometimes there is just not enough hours in the day to get everything done!  If you are someone that is always on the go with very little time to devote to cooking, this might be your saving grace!  This program offers many locally made meals of higher quality and you can pick them up directly right there in Redway!  There is no age requirement and there is no income requirement.   A $5.00 donation per frozen meal is much appreciated to help keep this program up and running.

Aside from their food programs, The Healy Senior Center also offers their historic building as a facility rental for meetings, receptions, trainings, maybe a fun bingo night, town hall get together, birthday parties, potlucks and more!  The rates are competitive and they have room for parking!  If you are looking to host an event or gathering to your liking, consider the center and give them a call!

A representative of The Healy Senior Center states, “Southern Humboldt can be a somewhat stressful place to live for some older adults.  Our small community recently lost a lioness in the fight against food security when the Mateel Meal shut down. We know that many folks are struggling in SoHum.  We are now up to two  million people over 65 years old, living under the poverty line in California”.

Life hasn’t been the easiest for some, and as of recent, many people are struggling.   

What sets this important non-profit organization apart from the rest is that they are the only reliable hot meal between Willits and Fortuna!  One of their main goals is to keep seniors socializing, fed and living independent lives.

The Healy Senior Center is proud to play such an active role in this community and provide this type of helpful service to those in need.  They want the community to know that, “We could not feed people and make a difference in their lives without SoHum residents, friends and neighbors”.  The center is people driven and they rely so much on the dedicated team of volunteers they have who help with the meal and “Meals on Wheels” deliveries.  Many hands make light work and they are currently in need of additional volunteers!  If you have free time to come out and help, please give them a call!

The Healy Senior Center is open to the community and invites anyone to come join them for lunch one day!  They aren’t just a senior center, they are a community center!

Hours of operation are:

Open Monday, Wednesday and Thursdays – 9:30 am – 3:30 pm

Closed Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at this time.

For more information on this great organization or what you can do to help, please call 707-923-2399!  You can also email them at: [email protected].

You can find their historic building located at:  456 Briceland Rd, Redway CA, 95560

Thank you Healy Senior Center for all of your hard work, dedication and effort you put back into our community.  We are lucky to have an organization that cares so much!

456 Briceland Rd PO Box 1849

Redway, California

Call (707) 923-2399

[email protected]

http://www.healyseniorcenter.org

Monday 9:30 am – 3:30 pm

Tuesday – Closed

Wednesday 9:30 am – 3:30 pm

Thursday – 9:30 am – 3:30 pm

Friday Saturday Sunday – closed

Our Mission: To support independent, meaningful, dignified lives for older adults through: Social Interaction Recreation Good Nutrition Health Maintenance Care Maintenance Information Referrals Volunteerism