For nearly 20 years, the Senior Mobility Program (SMP) has offered transit options that help connect Orange County seniors with programs and services such as medical appointments, grocery shopping, and senior center nutrition programs. Through OC Go, also known as Measure M, OCTA allocates funds for these programs to participating cities and eligible agencies based on their senior population.
Due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, some of these programs have been suspended and others have been modified to meet the needs of senior communities in different ways. Some programs, for example, are providing home-delivered meals in lieu of transporting seniors to their nutrition programs.
To provide for the continued well-being of Orange County seniors, OCTA has approved temporary exceptions to the Senior Mobility Program guidelines to allow agencies to use funds to provide meal delivery to seniors who had previously used city-provided transportation to travel to nutrition programs. In addition, to help preserve funds for agencies with suspended services, OCTA will hold their bi-monthly distributions in reserve until the programs resume or the State of Emergency is lifted.
These temporary exceptions to the guidelines will provide flexibility and relief to agencies during the pandemic and allow Orange County seniors to continue to receive healthy meals while unable to attend nutrition programs at senior centers. For more information about the Senior Mobility Program, click here.