Great Plates Delivered For Older Adults & Restaurateurs, By June Smith

Great Plates Delivered For Older Adults & Restaurateurs

By June Smith

On April 24, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the launch of a first-inthe-nation meal delivery service called “Great Plates Delivered” for California’s older adults. Santa Cruz County began the program on Memorial Day weekend and has since delivered thousands of meals.

Great Plates Delivered serves two purposes: To help seniors and adults at high risk from COVID-19 to stay at home by receiving three nutritious meals a day, and to provide essential economic stimulus to local businesses struggling to survive.

Vendors must meet certain standards. Nutritional requirements for lunch and dinner must offer a piece of fresh fruit or vegetable in each dish, be low in sodium, and contain no sugary drinks.

A Santa Cruz County committee first chose four local restaurants and one caterer — The Back Nine, Johnny’s Harborside, Roaring Camp, Pearl of the Ocean, and Swing Time Catering — to prepare the meals. Other providers have been added, including Collectivo Felix and Teen Kitchen Project.

After learning about the program, I applied and was teamed up to receive meals from Team Kitchen Project. TKP’s Executive Director Angela Farley is grateful to be able to serve local seniors through the Great Plates Program, offering hearthealthy and diabetes-friendly medically tailored meals to local seniors who qualify. My first delivery included soup, a roasted vegetable salad with Feta cheese, balsamic vinaigrette, plus three more entrees.

The meals come with a fact sheet outlining the ingredients included and nutritional data.

Farley says, “TKP brings young people into the kitchen to learn to cook delicious and nourishing food. The meals are delivered free of charge to individuals and families who are in crisis due to a lifethreatening illness or those now observing the Stay at Home orders. We have an interview process that includes committing to adhere to Health Officer recommendations in and out of the kitchen. We have a stable group of youth with our team of adult chefs who work four days a week preparing meals. Work stations are at least six feet apart with no more than eight total people in our large kitchen at a time.”

Their organic suppliers are Smart Chicken, Mary’s Chicken, and major funder Lakeside Organic Garden, who because of their monetary and in-kind donations, Teen Kitchen Project has been able to scale up dramatically to serve those suffering from COVID-19.

A social worker from Dominican Home Health applied to Great Plates for local author and film critic Lisa Jensen when she learning that cooking and cleaning was often difficult for her due to multiple sclerosis.

Jensen has been getting three deliveries a week with seven tasty dinners from Colectivo Felix. She says, “I still like to cook, but I’m always so curious to see what the next one(s) will be!”

Chef Diego Felix says the program has been a huge help and source of income for his business. His summer season was almost fully booked with weddings, winery dinners, and private events, which have all been canceled.

This program of the Human Service Department of the County has local support from the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County as well as partnerships with other local organizations.

Susan True, Chief Executive Officer of The Community Foundation, says, “Donors’ gifts to our COVID-19 Response Fund meant we could offer the local matching funds that helped millions in federal dollars come back to feed and protect our community. Great Plates Delivered lets older adults at higher risk remain safe at home and also gives timely business to local meal providers struggling to stay afloat.” n

Photo Credit: June Smith Jesus B. is ready for a signature after delivering my meal.

“Hospice” from page 6

Hospice programs failing to meet the requirements will be surveyed every six months.

If program deficiencies jeopardize the health and safety of the participants, the HHS Secretary can levy a penalty of up to $10,000 a day, suspend federal payments, appointment temporary overseers, or terminate the program’s certification. n •••

To read the bill language, go to https:// www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr5821/ text. My first meal (Cabbage and Leek Gratin).

Photo Credit: June Smith

•••

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Public Assistance program originally authorized the service through 2020, but extensions were made due to the ongoing severity of the COVID-19 virus. The program was extended until Feb. 6, 2021, with the plan to have more extensions if necessary.

Great Plates Delivered: covid19.ca.gov/ restaurants-deliver-home-meals-for-seniors/

To apply: 831-454-4406

Master Plan Solution

Adding to the congestion is the 49-unit Village Creek townhome complex was built in 1990 on Village Creek Road, a one-way street feeding into Aptos Creek Road — providing much-needed housing in a desirable location with walking distance to Nisene Marks, but also bringing more traffic to a road never designed to handle it.

Historically, the narrow dirt road was created for the Loma Prieta Lumber Co. to access the forest and operate a mill at the headwaters. The gentle grade of the road today is evidence of the standard-gauge railroad that once entered the canyon during the logging era.

Al Hughes is one of the homeowners living on private property with acreage on west side of Aptos Creek Road two miles past the kiosk. About 50 people own property in the park, half on the west side of the road and half on the east.

Hughes’ property and that of his neighbors was never acquired by the state. Similarly, the state has a right-of-way for Aptos Creek Road but doesn’t own all the property the road exists on.

For Hughes, illegally parked cars have created a dangerously constricted road — an accident waiting to happen.

“Every day, they risk their lives to go in and out of their deeded access,” Edwards said.

Hughes suggests that when the park’s parking lot capacity is full, park staff put up a sign before the Steel Bridge saying “Residents Only Beyond This Point” so people don’t try to turn around later at the Winter Gate, where they frequently end up in the ditch.

His wife Bella noted the 1989 earthquake put Nisene Marks on the map, as it was the epicenter of that temblor, but with COVID-19 restricting indoor activities and December stay-at-home order, the number of vehicles, bicyclists and walkers at the park has quadrupled.

With Epicenter Cycling at the foot of Aptos Creek Road since 2009, the one-lane road is promoted by mountain bikers as a “legal” and “pretty” trail for aficionados.

The 2005 master plan for Nisene Marks calls for a visitor center and a parking lot near the kiosk and the Emmett Reed picnic area, and identifies five more locations — the Dedication Tree, the West Trailhead, and the Mary Easton, George’s and Porter picnic areas — where a total of 66 to 95 parking spaces could be added, improving access for people with disabilities.

Spaces were added in the Porter area, but not in the others.

“Funding and timing are an issue,” said local historian John Hibble, who’s with the Aptos Chamber of Commerce.

Proposed Remedies

Among the remedies proposed by residents: Ticketing cars parked illegally, posting warning signs about parking fines in areas where it is illegal to park, and assigning state park staff near the mailboxes with radio communication to the entrance station to restrict parking to the capacity of the lot.

It was agreed that ticketing cars parked illegally would discourage people from doing so.

State Parks has hired four new officers with enforcement ability and have increased patrols inside Nisene Marks, according to Walters.

Parking tickets issued by State Parks rangers bear a fine of $51.50 to $96.50, depending on the violation, according to Gabe McKenna, public safety superintendent for State Parks, and the penalty rises as processing fees are added on.

Asked if State Parks plans to add parking, Walters said 10 spaces were added in 2019, but no other expansion is planned.

Al Hughes suggested people park at the Aptos Village County Park, which has about 26 spaces. It’s not clear whether county park staff would approve.

Move Kiosk?

Another idea was to move the park entrance station closer to Aptos Village to address the hazardous illegal parking on the road.

Steinbruner looked up the conditions of approval for the Aptos Village project, approved by county supervisors in 2012, in which the Swenson development company agreed to provide new entry signage and a kiosk for Forest of Nisene State Parks. The design details are to be approved by State Parks: http://www.scco planning.com/Portals/2/County/Planning/ env/063.pdf?ver=t6XR52ZLmBGugVMOsz Vcjw%3d%3d

It seems the Aptos Village Project developers could be of real assistance in moving the kiosk closer to the Village, as was agreed would be the best solution to control crowding and hazardous illegal parking along the roadway, Steinbruner concluded.

Walters also agreed to: Look into restoring the payphone service at the Steel Bridge for emergency use, work with the sheriff to address the illegal campers along Aptos Village Way and in the dirt parking lot, ask the State Parks Roads & Maintenance Division about plans to fill potholes and improve road edges for safety turnouts.

Aptos Creek Road actually is in two jurisdictions, Santa Cruz County and State Parks. There’s no marker on the road to indicate where the jurisdiction changes, so Walters agreed to find out. That would help clarify where the county Public Works Department is responsible for repairs.

Hughes raised the issue of old trees potentially falling on the road, and Walters agreed to ask the State Parks’ Resource Division to assess whether any trees along the road are hazardous and should be removed.

Walters agreed to host a virtual followup meeting in February to report back and discuss safety solutions.

The 2005 State Parks master plan notes that since the Marks family donated the land, the county population has tripled.

It also point out the location on Aptos Creek Road next to Aptos Village and a future development (which is not quite finished), saying, “The entrance at Soquel Drive, signage, and parking solutions

Photo Credit: Patrice Edwards Multiple cars parked in no-parking areas along Aptos Creek Road. remain issues for the Department in this area.”

Nisene Marks is not the only park suffering from unchecked tourism.

In 2019, Yosemite National Park began limiting entry at Wawona Road because of feces and trash on the side of the road after two campgrounds closed. Joshua Tree National Park closed campgrounds when bathrooms were at capacity and Death Valley, strained by overused outhouses, got help when a nonprofit donated money to reopen the Furnace Creek Visitor Center.

This month, Palo Alto began closing the 1,400-acre Foothills Park nature preserve on weekends when the parking lot reached its 750-car capacity.

If the Marks family could see this situation now, what would they expect to be done to maintain public health and safety? n

Next time: Progress on solutions. •••

To read the 2005 Nisene Marks Master Plan, see: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/ download?doi=10.1.1.362.5218&rep=rep1&ty pe=pdf

Cover Photo: Cars line up waiting to get into Nisene Marks State Park. • Photo Credit: Patrice Edwards

Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz People walking dogs stroll on Aptos Creek Road share the road with cars because there is no pedestrian pathway or bike lane. Illegal parking narrows the road for first responders.