After 30 years of dedicated leadership, Serving Seniors offers President & CEO Paul Downey warm wishes on his retirement after 30 years of service. Paul’s vision and efforts on behalf of Serving Seniors have been nothing less than transformative for the organization and for the thousands of older adults whose lives have changed for the better.
Paul began his association with Serving Seniors as a volunteer serving meals, four decades ago. He found a deep appreciation for the organization and especially the people it supported. Following Paul’s appointment as President and CEO in 1995, Serving Seniors has grown into a nationally recognized organization leading the effort in San Diego County to ensure older adults are kept housed and enjoy healthy, purposeful lives regardless of income.
Advocacy leadership at the national, state and local levels has been a hallmark of Paul’s tenure, including serving as chair of the National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs, advocacy chair and board member for the American Society on Aging, and chair of the California Commission on Aging. Paul was invited to participate in two White House Conferences on Aging and has testified hundreds of times before Congress, the California State Legislature, Board of Supervisors and local City Councils.
During his tenure, Paul also:
- Built Serving Seniors’ nutrition program to serve 1.5 million meals annually.
- Conceived the concept for a state-of-the-art senior wellness center with philanthropists Gary and Mary West. The result is the Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center, a center that has received national and international accolades.
- Oversaw Serving Seniors’ development of more than 700 units of affordable housing for low-income seniors.
- Recognized the hidden epidemic of older adult homelessness more than 25 years ago and initiated Serving Seniors’ robust efforts, including transitional housing, to address the problem.
- In 2021, Paul led the Serving Seniors Needs Assessment report, a groundbreaking study focusing on older adult homeless in San Diego, with its findings and proposed solutions driving community conversation and public policy with a new recognition of the realities of aging and poverty.
- Initiated Serving Seniors’ innovative wraparound service model including case management, healthcare, meals, social activities and civic engagement, now a national standard.
In lasting recognition and thanks, the Board of Directors named Serving Seniors’ newly opened housing community in Clairemont the Paul Downey Senior Residence. “I never imagined seeing my name on a building. I am overwhelmed by this honor,” Paul shared with GB Magazine. “It represents a lifetime of effort to deliver the high-quality affordable housing our older adult neighbors deserve in San Diego.
Chief Operating Officer Melinda Forstey will assume the President and CEO role upon Paul’s retirement, with his enthusiastic support.
For three decades, Paul Downey has been a tireless and dedicated advocate on behalf of the growing population of older adults experiencing homelessness in San Diego County, in California, and beyond throughout the United States, serving as their voice and their champion in the belief that housing and dignity in aging are fundamental human rights.
www.servingseniors.org
