Vivalon’s Healthy Aging Campus: A New Home for Marin’s Seniors
After over a decade of preparation, the time has come to Open the Doors at Vivalon’s Healthy Aging Campus.
Marin is set to herald a new era of care for seniors with the inauguration of a cutting-edge facility, a first of its kind in the region. This comprehensive campus will be a sanctuary for older adults, providing a host of programs, extensive health services, and 66 units of affordable housing for seniors–all under one roof.
Just imagine the impact this will make in our community.
Marin leads California in having the oldest population. The most rapidly growing demographic is residents over the age of 85.
These realities exacerbate challenges that have existed in our community since Vivalon’s founding in 1954: accessible transportation, affordable nutrition, isolation and loneliness. At the same time, we are faced with new difficulties that we must learn to navigate together: the rising cost of living, lack of affordable housing, and the intrinsic role technology plays in day-to-day life.
Through the Healthy Aging Campus, we can open a world of opportunities in the face of these issues with the ultimate goal to create a model of care that can be replicated across California.
We recently heard from a long-time Vivalon member and volunteer who was approved by the county to live in one of the apartments at the campus. Susan also eats in our café with her friends regularly, and she has built a community at Vivalon that she relies on. Like thousands of seniors, she looks forward to the day the doors open at the Healthy Aging Campus and recently shared her story with us:
“I live alone,” says Susan. “I’m 77. I don’t have very much money. I don’t have family that live nearby. The fact that the [Healthy Aging] Center is going to be in the building is huge for me. I am over the moon just to have friendly people that I know and trust and like and all the social interaction. I was applying to places all over the United States. This opportunity came up, and it’s a five-minute walk from where I live now. I’ve lived in the Bay Area for my entire adult life, and I have many roots and friends here, so this is wonderful for me. I’m almost crying talking about it. I’m so, so happy and relieved that I’m going to have a beautiful, safe place to live, and not only that, but I’m also going to be surrounded by all of these wonderful people. I am very much a part of the community, and I look forward to being even more connected. I’ve been a community organizer my whole life. I worked as a civil rights organizer. I’ve been a housing activist. I worked for co-op nursery schools. So, I’m very much a community-minded person, and I’m just so happy that I’m going to be part of a community, and I will be able to volunteer, and I will be able to be around people who I know and trust.”
The Healthy Aging Campus is a place where residents like Susan and thousands of seniors across Marin can connect with essential services and wellness programs that matter to them.
However, Vivalon still needs help to Open the Doors.
This building represents more than bricks and mortar; it’s a lifeline for Marin’s seniors. Today, you hold the power to ignite a significant change for the future. Every contribution makes a difference—and equally committed partners will match your gift, dollar for dollar. This extraordinary matching opportunity means that your $50 donation will immediately turn into $100, your $100 gift becomes $200, and so on.
Please join us in creating a vibrant, inclusive environment for seniors that respects their past, enhances their present, and invests in their future. Click here to learn more and donate.
