About Us
Mission
Providing and coordinating services to engage, connect, and support adults in our community as we age.
Vision
No one ages alone.
Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (EDI)
The Council on Aging for Henderson County welcomes people of all backgrounds as clients, volunteers, and staff.
See complete EDI document.
Values
Community
We value members of our community who we serve, those who help us serve, and those who provide the resources for us to serve. We believe in a connected community, supporting one another through care and compassion.
Dignity
We believe everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect. We believe in the dignity of older adults and strive to create a relationship of mutual respect with those we serve and those who support our work.
Stewardship
We seek to make ethical and prudent decisions about our organizational and community resources. We believe long-term financial stewardship ensures that our organization can meet the growing demands for services over the years to come.
History
The Council on Aging for Henderson County was formed by a group of concerned local community members who wanted to ensure that an agency existed that focused solely on the safety and well-being of the older adults in the Henderson County community. This was realized on May 9th, 1969 when the Council on Aging incorporated as a private, non-profit agency and started operations at the Southern Railway Company’s old passenger depot.
Although originally designed as a “council of agencies” that brought together other organizations that provided services for older adults, it soon became evident that unaffiliated volunteers were willing to contribute money or time in aiding those handicapped as a result of infirmities attributed to aging. Starting with those volunteer contributions, and with the help of governmental funds from the several sources and organizations like the Land of Sky Regional Council and United Way, the Council on Aging began to grow and develop its own programs that provided services for the older adults in Henderson County.
The first program the Council on Aging developed was the Visiting Nurse program, where nurses would visit homebound older adults unable to leave their homes to go visit the doctor. From this program, such things as a Visiting Committee, a Hearing Aid Program, and the development of the first nutrition site were done by the Council on Aging.
In the fall of 1978, federal funds became available under the Older American’s Act to employ a director full-time to assist the Council in becoming the “Local Point on Aging” in Henderson County. This allowed the agency to take a larger role in providing services for the older adults in Henderson County.
Beginning in 1981, the Council on Aging initiated a home-delivered meal program to supplement the Meals on Wheels program at the time run by the Department of Social Services. By 1996, the Council on Aging was awarded Block Grant money for home-delivered meals and had taken over the county wide delivery of the Meals on Wheels program and have provided the service to homebound older adults ever since!
In 1998, the congregate meals program was started, and has provided older adults 60 and above an opportunity to socialize and enjoy a hot meal every Monday through Friday ever since.
For over 50 years, the Council on Aging has focused on making Henderson County a better place for the older adults in our community.