Mary Lee Anderson
Read about SSA’s highlights, expanded programming and financial picture:
Dear Friends of Senior Services of Alexandria,
It has truly been a memorable year at Senior Services of Alexandria.
What makes it memorable for me is how COVID-19 continued to dominate our lives and affect the needs of seniors in Alexandria. With current practices of service delivery challenged, SSA quickly came up with solutions. Paid staff took over some Meals on Wheels delivery routes, and Groceries to Go was restructured to give volunteers more flexibility in scheduling their shopping to accommodate grocery store shortages. Friendly Visitors found new ways of staying in touch with isolated seniors when in-person visits were prohibited. Senior Law Day became a 3-day virtual event. Our Senior Ambassadors didn’t miss a beat, continuing their outreach and communication to the community. SSA’s two major fundraisers, Oktoberfest and Gala, were held on Zoom. And perhaps the most memorable accomplishment of all was the ability of SSA to get clients vaccinated. With many of our senior clients still living without access to the Internet or e-mail, it was a herculean effort, but one that was completed with outstanding success.
If I had one word to describe the past 12 months, it would be gratitude. Gratitude for an SSA Board that pivoted so quickly to change how we met as a Board and how we solved problems. Gratitude for an SSA team that was flexible as each day brought a new challenge. Gratitude to the sponsors and donors who never forgot SSA during this year of extreme need. And gratitude for the clients we serve, who accepted the uncertainty and changes with grace and were our inspiration to keep going.
With the world starting to reopen, we can almost forget the challenges of the past 12 months. But our success story of not just surviving but thriving during this difficult year will always be remembered.
130,000 meals served, 3,300 grocery shopping trips and deliveries to 115Groceries-to-Go clients, 55 Friendly Visitors, 90 Senior Ambassadors, over 600 SSA clients vaccinated. Yes, the past 12 months have made for a memorable year…one that I will remember proudly for all that Senior Services of Alexandria was able to accomplish.
Sincerely,
Mary Lee Anderson
Executive Director
