About Us

Mission

GGSS's mission is to provide programs and services to San Francisco's Seniors, particularly those underserved, within an accessible and welcoming atmosphere.

History

Golden Gate Senior Services (GGSS) was established in 1975 to serve the seniors and now, the younger disabled of San Francisco. We were part of the original group of service providers funded by the San Francisco Commission on the Aging. Starting with one donated desk in the back of an Economic Opportunity Council office on Haight Street, our original purpose was to provide outreach to the seniors of this neighborhood. We soon realized San Francisco needed a network of neighborhood senior centers. During the past 34 years, GGSS has established senior centers in the Haight-Asbury, Castro, Noe Valley, the OMI, and the Richmond districts. Presently GGSS operates the Richmond and Castro Multipurpose Senior Centers. Since the early 1980's GGSS has been integrating developmentally disabled adults into our Centers. In 1994, we established our own program to serve this population - Project Integration.

Our Board of Directors consists of a maximum of fifteen members. Eight of these fifteen are elected representatives from the participants at our two Senior Centers. This ensures that consumers have a majority vote in all Board decisions. Golden Gate Senior Services has been in the forefront of providing compassionate, high-quality, efficient and fiscally responsible services for over 3 decades.

Funding

Golden Gate Senior Services does not require membership dues from the participants who come to our two senior centers. There are also no fees for any of the activities provided at the centers. Occasionally we may ask for the cost of materials used in a program. There is also a cost to participants when we go on out-of-town trips. Project Open Hand, our meal providers, asks that seniors make a $2.00 donation for the daily lunch. This is strictly a donation, however, and no one is ever turned away.

GGSS has two major funding sources. We have a year to year contract with the city and county of San Francisco through the Department of Aging and Adult Services. Project Integration serves our developmentally disabled seniors. It is funded by the State of California through Golden Gate Regional Center. From time to time we apply for and receive grants for specific projects. An example of this is our Intergenerational Poetry Program.

We are also very grateful for individual donations. We are a tax exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit charity. Donors may deduct contributions to us and receipts will be given for this purpose.

Our Staff

Nick came to San Francisco in January 1968, and, almost immediately, found himself involved in the anti-war movement, the strike at San Francisco State University and many of the social change programs that were starting in the City. The area of health care became a special focus and, as a result, he got involved in the whole "free clinic" movement. He helped build and establish Blackman's Free Medical Clinic, The Tooth Trip (a free children's dental clinic), and a free podiatry clinic.

In 1975, Nick was on the Board of Directors of what was to become Golden Gate Senior Services. The following year he was hired as the Executive Director. In this capacity, he is responsible for the establishment, administration, operation, and evaluation of the programs we operate. Over the past 34 yeas, he has been blessed with a very supportive Board of Directors as well as a dedicated Staff.

"I can look up from my desk directly into the main room of our senior center and be constantly reminded of how our programs affect the lives of the people we serve. I am very grateful to have been in this position for more than half of my life. I can honestly say that I have never woken up in the morning with the feeling that I did not want come to work."

Patrick Larkin, Program Director, Castro Senior Center
Patrick has worked more than 30 years with seniors and persons with disabilities in support of their efforts towards maintaining independence and the best quality of life possible. With a professional background in counseling and adult education Patrick joined the Castro Senior Center in 2007 drawn partly by the potential for developing exciting new programs and services but mostly for the chance to meet and work with the diverse group of elders who visit the center daily and treat it as a vital part of their lives.

During his time at the Castro Center Patrick has developed a strong exercise curriculum, addressing the health and wellness of seniors. In support of the agency mission and in recognition of the needs of Lesbian-Bisexual-Gay Transgender (LGBT) seniors the Castro Center now offers unique programs and discussion groups for LGBT seniors monthly. Along with the other dedicated staff and volunteers Patrick welcomes all San Francisco seniors to stop by and meet us and see what makes the Castro Senior Center so special.

Karen James, Program Manager for Project Integration
Karen has a Masters Degree in Social Work from San Francisco State University. She has lived in San Francisco for 30 years and is originally from Pennsylvania.

She has worked at Golden Gate Senior Services since 1993. Her position is Program Manager for Project Integration. This program is unique in that its goal is to integrate seniors with developmental disabilities into two generic senior centers in San Francisco.

This program is her "baby". She wrote the initial grant proposal and nurtured it along over the years. It has been a challenge, but we feel she has achieved many small successes and have positively influenced the lives of the disabled individuals that have attended the center. Karen is most proud of the fact that, on a typical day, one could not differentiate our disabled participants from the non-disabled seniors that attend the centers.

Jim Patten, Program Director, Richmond Senior Center
Jim is a native of South Buffalo, New York, he graduated from S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo in 1970 with a B.A., in History. In 1974 after moving to San Francisco he became employed with the S.F. Public Health Department. Along with a number of other community organizers he assisted in establishing the North of Market Senior Service Center (now the Curry Senior Center ). While there, he worked to established the North of Market Senior Alcohol Program, and became the center's second Executive Director until leaving in 1980.

In 1980 after being hired by Golden Gate Senior Services, Jim responded to a request for proposals from the Mayor's Office of Employment and Training by writing an integrative art program for the Haight Ashbury Senior Center. The program ranked fifth among one hundred and fifty funded programs, and was the beginning of our attempt to bring the senior and disabled communities together.

At Stanford University in August of 1988 Jim presented our program at "Toward a Unified Agenda: Bay Area Aging and Disability Conference" (a gathering sponsored by the World Institute On Disability). Later in April of 1990 he made a similar presentation at a conference sponsored by both the American Society on Aging and the World Institute on Disability.

Jim's attraction to this vocation is the belief that we are all brought together by our limitations.

Crystal Booth, Life Skills Instructor
Crystal is a Southern California native currently working on a Master's degree in Gerontology at San Francisco State. She has been working with Project Integration at the Castro Senior Center since November of 2008. She recently became certified as a Geriatric Fitness Instructor through the University of San Francisco and enjoys co-leading exercise classes twice per week at the center. She also teaches computer class each week.