Q&A: Saratoga Area Senior Center Executive Director Susan Huff

The Saratoga Area Senior Center, 19655 Allendale Ave., serves area seniors and older adults with more than 30 activities and classes specifically created for them, as well as other trips and special events. We recently chatted with Executive Director Susan Huff about the center's purpose, needs and services. 

Saratoga Patch: How long have you served as executive director of the Saratoga Area Senior Center?

Susan Huff: I've been here for five years, since January of 2008. I got the job by looking after it was posted and here we are.

Patch: What's your background?

Huff: I've worked in hospitality, restaurants and health care. I started in dietetics and sort of evolved into seniors and marketing. My last job was hospitals, serving seniors, doing marketing and customer service. I was born and raised in Saratoga. I graduated from Saratoga High School and Cal Poly. I have a bachelor's degree in dietetics and food administration. I'm married and have two daughters.

Patch: What is the Saratoga Area Senior Center's purpose and what are some of your services? 

Huff: We have two divisions. One is the Saratoga Senior Center for active adults. We do all kinds of programs and classes. We have a Wednesday lunch program, which includes speakers, or entertainment, or music. We want to give seniors in the area something to do. We want to get them out of the home. We want them to socialize and get them to stay active and thrive. The other is the Saratoga Adult Care Center for seniors who have lost some of their independence and need some assistance. It's a day program open from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Our purpose is to get people engaged ... and give them lots of things to do. They are provided lunch, exercise and activities every day. Much of it is as a group although we deal with them individually as well.

Patch: How are you funded?

Huff: We're a nonprofit so we're supported by individual donations. We receive grants and we're supported by fees, which are lower than standard recreation programs.

Patch: How can the community support you? What are some of your needs?

Huff: Like any nonprofit, we always have financial needs. We have been hard hit, as most nonprofits, by losing some of our funding. We lost our Community Development Block Grant funding. This year we were able to apply again, but it's much more competitive. We don't know where we're going to land. We've applied to Santa Clara County. We always need more volunteers.

Patch: What are some projects you would like to complete this year?

Huff: We want to refurnish parts of the center. We also need information technology help. We need bingo prizes for our adult day care center. We also need flowers every week for our Wednesday lunch. We could also use some fresh desserts.

Patch: How many seniors do you serve and what are their ages?

Huff: We accept anyone from age 50 and over. If they have a need for our program, and they're younger, we're happy to welcome them. Not 18-year-olds, but people in their 40s. We have a number of clients who are in their 100s. We serve about 750 seniors in the active arena. That number changes through the year. We have 750 members. In the adult day care program, we serve clients and their families with respite and we provide resources ... we have over 200 calls that come in a month.

Patch: What are your goals for the center:

Huff: We want to build awareness. We want people to know that we're here. We've been here for a long time, but we need to keep spreading the word because we do a big service and we want people to be able to be served.