tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post906609201059589995..comments2024-03-17T12:16:42.048-07:00Comments on Civic Center: Institute on Aging's Parking CloutCivic Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-2038617994365961462007-12-11T16:40:00.000-08:002007-12-11T16:40:00.000-08:00Dear Ms. Peterson: Thank you for the correction ab...Dear Ms. Peterson: Thank you for the correction about the Buck Institute/Institue on Aging confusion. I've gone back and corrected it.<BR/><BR/>As for all the good you are presumably doing with your Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention, good for you, but I really don't give a damn. That still doesn't mean you and your organization should feel entitled to requisition a very busy neighborhood's parking all day on a Sunday (when you don't actually have to feed those meters and there are many competing uses for those places). I can say with some certainty that there is an equally deserving charity event taking place in the Civic Center neighborhood every week of the year, and yet somehow they don't feel compelled to be hogs with parking. There's an AIDS Christmas Event in the Green Room next week that's been going on longer than your fundraiser, and somehow they manage to put on the all-day event without having the police put up "No Parking" signs everywhere.Civic Centerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-27685842982032178372007-12-11T15:43:00.000-08:002007-12-11T15:43:00.000-08:00Your post requires a somewhat lengthy response to ...Your post requires a somewhat lengthy response to clarify some of your points and correct some incorrect facts. I do apologize to the neighborhood for the inconvenience of reduced metered parking spaces. But please rest assured it was for a very important and meaningful event for more than 100 homebound and isolated seniors in San Francisco. <BR/><BR/>Cable Car Caroling is an event put on each year by the Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention, a program of Institute on Aging (IOA). This program provides a free, 24/7 Friendship Line, a phone hotline for isolated, depressed, lonely, and sometimes suicidal seniors. The Friendship Line also makes daily scheduled outgoing phone calls to participants, providing an important connection for older adults who may receive no other phone calls or visits in the day (http://www.ioaging.org/services/special/program_friendship_line/). Each year, the Cable Car Caroling Event brings together supporters to visit homebound seniors throughout our city, sharing song, connection, and friendship. <BR/><BR/>I would like to dispute your post that one needs a “ranking friend at the police department” to acquire parking/street closures. In fact, anyone can apply for a special event permit/street closure permit through the Traffic Engineering and Operations Division of the Municipal Transportation Agency (http://www.sfmta.com/cms/vhome/hometraffic.htm). IOA did nothing unusual in this matter.<BR/><BR/>Your post on Institute on Aging’s history also needs to be corrected. IOA is not affiliated with the Beryl Buck Trust. You are mistaking us for the Buck Institute, a research institute in Novato. IOA grew out of Mount Zion Hospital, where our founder saw a need for providing alternatives to institutionalized care when a person was discharged from the hospital, but no longer able to live independently at home. Out of this concern, one of the nation’s first adult day health centers was established. IOA became an independent non-profit in 1985, and provides programs to help older adults live independently in their own homes. Our programs serve over 20,000 disabled adults and seniors each year, and is a major provider of Medi-Cal services in San Francisco. In 2010, the new building you mentioned (site of the former Coronet Theater) will provide sorely needed independent housing managed by Bridge Housing, for low and moderate-income older adults, as well as be the home for adult day health care, the Center for Elders and Youth in the Arts, care management services, a Neighborhood Resource Center, and many other programs that will both provide needed services, as well as strengthen our community by allowing older adults to stay in independent housing, rather than moving prematurely to assisted living units.<BR/><BR/>To learn more about IOA’s work in the community, I encourage you to visit our website at http://www.IOAging.org. <BR/><BR/>Kind Regards,<BR/><BR/>Cecily Peterson<BR/>Director of Communications<BR/>Institute on Aging<BR/>cpeterson@ioaging.orgAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10243940008243548405noreply@blogger.com