Napa County has some 45,000 adults age 60 and older — 28% of the population — and they have an advocate.
The Napa County Commission on Aging meets monthly to discuss issues affecting the county’s older citizens. Its mission is to help seniors have a good quality of life and remain independent.
Food, housing, transportation and elder abuse are just some of the commission’s concerns. The commission is a clearinghouse for programs and activities affecting older adults and advises the county Board of Supervisors.
“It’s a group that sort of helps keep the resources moving in the right direction,” Commissioner Dan Woodard said.
Some older adults have the money and good health to enjoy the Napa Valley lifestyle. Others struggle to pay for food and housing on fixed incomes, and need rides to medical appointments.
In April 2024, the Board of Supervisors, during a Health and Human Services Agency presentation, heard about the plight of some local seniors.
They heard about Ruby, a widow worrying about the day she can no longer drive and the day she will need more care, given she has no local family. They heard about Juan, who lives alone and has a car he struggles to maintain.
The Napa County Commission on Aging is interested in such stories. Those are the kinds of lives it’s supposed to impact.
Marc Frankenstein has been on commission since the COVID-19 pandemic and is its chair. The retired attorney recalled driving older adults to appointments as a Molly’s Angels volunteer. His passengers wanted to talk – and Frankenstein listened and learned.
“There is a plethora of older adults in the (community) who have a knowledge and stories to tell and information to tell, if we would just tap into them,” he said.
Older adults don’t receive the same attention in the United States as they do in other cultures, according to Frankenstein.
Woodard joined the commission a couple of years ago. He had been a member of a county grand jury that addressed elder abuse. The research had him interviewing people who worked on older adult issues, and that piqued his interest.
“l liked a lot of people I talked with, and it seemed like there was a lot of good work being done,” he said.
The commission usually meets on the fourth Monday of the month in an office complex on Imperial Way in Napa. Attending are representatives from local nonprofits and other organization serving older adults.
A county supervisor gives an update on county affairs. Commissioners hear reports from Molly’s Angels, Share the Care, the Elder Abuse Task Force and others.
Perhaps commissioners will discuss ways to improve broadband internet access for local seniors. Or maybe they’ll hear a presentation on homelessness or the Rianda House senior activity center in St. Helena.
There’s no shortage of issues affecting Napa County older adults. Frankenstein mentioned affordable housing.
“It is especially critical for older adults as we try to age in place,” he said. “Our incomes are fixed and costs continue to go up. It gets to a point where it becomes financially very difficult to age in place.”
Some communities integrate a college-age population with older adults. That provides mentors to the younger people and helps give older adults a purpose, he said.
Woodard said elder abuse remains an issue. Funding has become one.
“It’s a difficult time for funding, so making sure food resources get out there so people are getting the right nutritious meal” is a priority, Woodard said, adding that’s happened so far.
Both thought Napa County’s older adult population is doing well overall, with some caveats.
“Well, I think generally speaking, pretty well,” Woodard said. “There’s a range, particularly people who are economically in pretty good shape, that I think are doing very well. People who are at the fringes and don’t have as much money, I think, are struggling. Caregiving is difficult … it’s a tough one; it is very expensive and hard to get here. Generally speaking, I think people are doing pretty well.”
Frankenstein said things depend on a person’s economic status and health.
“As a general rule, I think Napa does a very good job for its older adult population,” he said.
He’d like to see more of the public attend Napa County Commission on Aging meetings. He wanted to make certain people know they are welcome.
“I think there’s a lot of people out there who may have ideas and thoughts on how we’re doing and what needs there are out there,” Frankenstein said.
Go to napacounty.gov/1000/Commission-on-Aging to learn about commission meetings and how to attend, both in person and virtually.
The county Commission on Aging is almost a senior citizen itself. Napa Valley Register articles show the Board of Supervisors establishing the commission around 1977, though there was a version of it as early as the 1960s.
Nearly a quarter of the California population is expected to be 60 years or older by 2030, according to the state Department of Aging website.
Napa County isn’t bucking the trend. A county study predicted another 5,864 older adults will be added locally between 2020 and 2030.
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