1973-74 In the fall of 1973 the county commissions in Muskegon, Oceana and Ottawa Counties adopted resolutions to designate the Region 14 Area Planning Council on Aging for the purpose of implementing the Older Americans Act.
1974 January 31, 1974, the Region 14 AAA incorporation was filed as a private, not-for-profit organization.
Rich Rienstra was the first Board Chair until 1980. Pastor John Brown moved into the position and provided leadership until 1996.
Jim Peliotes, the first director of the agency, held that position until retirement in 1984. The agency started with two staff, Jim and secretary Carolyn Latin, in a borrowed office in Brookhaven. They later moved to a couple rooms in the Downtowner Hotel and then on to the historical Torrent House. The office moved in 1990 to a location on Sherman.
1978 Recognizing the unmet needs of the state’s elderly, the Michigan Legislature supplemented the Older Americans Act funding by appropriating $2.5 million for home-delivered meals, in-home services (like homemaker and home health aide) and senior center staffing. In our area the AAA was instrumental in developing additional providers to provide these services. In rural parts of the region senior centers were given funds for staffing and then asked to develop homemaker programs. The health departments and private home nursing programs were recruited to provide home health aide services.
This was the beginning of a major shift in the focus for aging programs. More money is directed at the frail elders who need assistance to remain independent in their homes.
1984 Jim Peliotes retires, Rosanne Richards takes the helm.
A guardianship program was developed and sponsored by Cooperating Churches. Friends on Wheels, homemaking project absorbed into Visiting Nurses-Home Care Services.
Alzheimer Disease Support Groups developed in both Holland and Muskegon.
Pam Curtis is the CEO of Senior Resources and has been with the organization since 1990.
