Sacramento Senior Safe House now hosting its first guests

Top: The completion of the Sacramento Senior
Safe House was celebrated with a July 23 dedication ceremony. To see photos from that event, click here. Above: Each of the six bedrooms feature a brightly painted accent wall. The home is ready to receive guests.

After a decade-long gestation, the Sacramento Senior Safe House – a safe and comfortable refuge for abused and neglected seniors – is now hosting its first guests.

The men and women who are coming to the Sacramento Senior Safe House are referred to the home by Sacramento County Adult Protective Services. Until the safe house's opening in September, APS staff were forced to place clients in less-than-ideal temporary quarters, including motels and hospitals.

"They're the forgotten population," said Elizabeth Foster-Ward, manager of Sacramento County APS. "We've found seniors living in a shed in the backyard and they're paying rent to live in this substandard, unlivable situation."

Such are the real-life horror stories that prompted Maxine Milner Krugman's 10-year crusade to help Volunteers of America establish the Sacramento Senior Safe House. The six-bedroom haven for abused and neglected seniors became reality July 23 with a dedication ceremony honoring Krugman and project partners Mercy Housing California, HomeAid Sacramento and Lennar. (To read the press release, click here. To see photos from the event, click here.)

Construction of the six-bedroom, 4,783-square-foot Sacramento Senior Safe House began in January, and was completed in June. Landscaping was finished in July.

"Of course, the safety of an abused or neglected senior is most important, but let there be no doubt that spending a little time in the Sacramento Senior Safe House should be a boost to self esteem, and remind these folks that they are worthy and deserving of respect," said Krugman, a former chair of Sacramento County's Adult and Aging Commission, and long-time senior advocate.

Providing the kind of healing atmosphere Krugman envisioned is Sacramento Senior Safe House Program Director Juanita Daniel, who calls her position of aiding abused, neglected and exploited seniors "a privilege."

Volunteers of America expects to help as 72 seniors annually at the unique facility situated on an acre of oak-dotted land tucked away in a quiet, residential area of Sacramento.

For more on the history of the Sacramento Senior Safe House, including early photos of the project site, please click here.

Volunteers of America is working toward sustainable revenue to cover the program's $300,000 annual operating budget. We also are in need of several in-kind donations (please see the Wish List link on the right of the page).

To contribute to this much-needed program, call 916.442.3691, or go to our online donation page.

Sacramento Senior Safe House receives some warm, homey touches

Top: Judy Persin (left) and Susan Abrams, the leader of the quilt donation effort, show off one
of the several quilts delivered June 23 to the
  Sacramento Senior Safe House. Above: Many senior-created artworks were finally freed from storage and donated to the safe house June 25
in anticipation of the facility's August opening.

In the decade that Maxine Milner Krugman, founder of the Sacramento Senior Safe House, had worked toward making her dream a reality, she always envisioned the "House" as a "home."

Far from a sterile institution, the almost-completed six-bedroom, 4,783-square-foot house is a real home that's getting "homier" daily thanks to Krugman and her fellow safe house supporters who have delivered several donated quilts and many pieces of original art to grace the walls.

Sacramento Senior Safe House board treasurer Carole Cory, who recently retired from the California Department of Aging, was responsible for securing some 50 artworks created by seniors statewide. Held in storage during the home's long gestation, Krugman happily delivered them June 25.

Just two days earlier, Krugman gave a tour to several fellow long-time supporters, including: CSUS' Susan Abrams, who arranged for the donated quilts and is working on a continuing stream of them for the safe house; Debra Morrow, former director of Adult Protective Services and a founding SSSH board member; AARP's Celia Esquivel, an SSSH founding board member; quilter and community supporter Judy Persin, retired; Charles McKenzie, a volunteer for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and safe house community supporter; Hilary John Gould, a safe house founding board member;
David Harley, retired from the Department of Justice; Janis Foreman of SMUD, and an SSSH founding board member; Geri Esposito, chairwoman of the Sacramento County Adult and Aging Commission; Martha Geraty, former SSSH board member; Karen Polansky and Madeleine Jensen, community supporters.