Who are the Solon Senior Advocates? Asked and answered! The Advocates were organized in 2000 primarily to support Solon Senior Dining, a program that was established at the Solon Methodist Church in 1980.
In the early days Johnson County SEATS ferried seniors to and from Senior Dining five days a week but pulled back to serving three days a week around 2000. A community van fund drive was initiated to purchase a van to fill in the other two days. An Advocate Board was founded to provide support and transportation to and from Senior Dining. A monthly newsletter of events and information was created with a menu on the back, which was inserted in the Economist. Volunteers helped serve meals and ferried seniors to and from Senior Dining for many years. Meals were prepared and picked up daily from the Johnson County Senior Center.
Federal funds provided from Heritage Agency on Aging supported the meals and site managers who directed the daily meal service. In 2012 the Heritage Agency director and Johnson County Senior Center administrator met with the Advocates and senior dining representatives to announce Senior Dining would no longer have a site manager and meals would be provided in a tv-tray form called “Olivers.” The Advocates believed this would seriously reduce senior dining attendance and arranged to meet with the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to request funding to hire a site manager. The Board agreed to meet half the amount requested if the City of Solon would fund the remainder. The City agreed and a site manager was hired. The meals continued to be collected from the Johnson County Senior Center but some issues arose. The Advocates approached the Solon Care Center to provide the Senior Dining daily meals and an agreement was reached. Today Senior Dining is totally locally supported. The Senior Dining Site Council now directs the Senior Dining program.
Around 2007 van ridership had dwindled and the Advocate Board decided to utilize the van to take seniors on monthly day trips to nearby places of interest. Day trips became popular over the years and bigger buses were chartered to go farther afield to visit area cities, theaters and events of interest. The Senior Advocates mission to provide mobility, companionship, entertainment and information in order to sustain well-being and independence a monthly senior Meal and a Movie was introduced at the library, monthly restaurant runs made to various establishments and an exercise class was introduced
Since 2007 the Advocates elect a local senior who has volunteered to serve the community as Senior of the Year to celebrate May as Older American Month with an Open House and a convertible ride in the Beef Days Parade. During COVID the Advocates organized meal deliveries to seniors from local restaurants for over a year. To provide seniors with a local vaccination clinic the Advocates teamed up with Solon Town Crest Pharmacy for the initial vaccine dose and later held a Booster clinic at the Solon Methodist Church.
The Advocates continue to work with and support Senior Dining and serves as their tax-free umbrella as well as the Solon Community Pantry while each entity manages their own program and finances. The Senior Advocates’ mission to provide for Solon seniors is furthered by initiating ways to enhance their well-being.
The Advocates only source of income is through donations.