By Gina Mazza
Those who’ve worked with Linda Hall during her span of 39 years with the Beaver County Office on Aging know her to be a humble, behind-the-scenes person whose heart was deeply embedded in the agency’s mission to help older adults in the county have a better quality of life, stay safe and preserve their dignity.
“Linda has always been very much in touch with the problems and tribulations that affect the lives of Beaver County seniors, including the need for support and advocacy to navigate the wide range of issues they face,” comments Susan Lintz Pollack, Deputy Administrator for the Beaver County Office on Aging. “Creative solutions and compassion are an inherent part of Linda’s character.”
Linda officially retired from the agency on February 1. “It has been my honor and privilege to serve the 44,000 older adults in Beaver County, and to help grow programs and services over the years that better their lives,” Linda shares. “It’s always been my passion to work with older adults and continue the agency’s mission.”
Linda has seen a tremendous amount of positive changes since she began working at BCOA in 1985. “Back then, there were 11 employees and now there are 35, which is due in great part to the expansion of new programs and the increasing demand for services.”
Linda came into the agency as a care manager, then worked in the Information & Referral Department before moving into the administrative side handling contracts before becoming administrator in April 2015. Much has happened during her tenure as administrator in terms of the growth of the senior population and the agency’s response to meeting their needs.
“Many of us are living a lot longer nowadays, so our clientele gradually started to serve county residents into their 80s and 90s, as well as the caregiver population, which can be, for example, a 70-year-old taking care of their 90-year-old parent. Our clientele also grew to include serving grandparents who are raising their grandchildren.”
Because people are living longer and desire to remain in their own homes, BCOA has stepped up over the decades to support this goal, including connecting consumers to resources for assistance with home repairs, home modifications like ramps and grab bars, home-delivered meals, grocery shopping, transportation to doctor and other appointments, and other programs necessary for individuals to age in place.
“Within the next three years, there will be more older adults in Beaver County than children, so that tells you that there is an ever-growing demand for services,” Linda predicts. “Fortunately, the agency has been able to obtain a couple of local grants over the years to fund these new programs, especially for those living alone. BCOA has developed a lot of partnerships beyond the typical social service agencies. In recent years, those partnerships have included local municipalities, police departments, and the county court system. All of this has benefitted the agency’s ability to protect older adults from neglect, exploitation and abuse.
“I’ve also noticed that we get a lot many more phone calls than in the past, which I believe is due to seniors needing help with the technology and navigating through complicated applications when signing up for programs and services.”
The biggest challenge that Linda has seen in recent years is staffing in-home services to match the demand for them. She notes that the number of overall services that people request and use has increased across the board, particularly programs that enable them to be active, stay fit and socialize with other older adults.
“That is why our senior centers are steadily growing. Attendance is up. Ridership [to and from the centers] is up. Participation in lunches [at the centers] is up.”
The BCOA management, advisory council and staff celebrated Linda on her last day as administrator with cake and a special photo opp. “I asked that everyone show up with the BCOA T-shirts on, and they did!,” she says. “I was so lucky to have had a great staff and management team all these years. They are dedicated, caring, knowledgeable and an asset to not only the agency but to Beaver County and older adults and their families Everything I’ve been able to accomplish there has been a team effort. I didn’t do it alone.”
“Linda always has been a creative thinker on how we can offer services in a unique way that help our older adults to be healthy and active,” confirms Administrative Officer Angela Gentile. “She felt that this could happen by creating a state-of-the-art senior center in a non-traditional setting: a shopping mall. Now, we have Center at the Mall, which opened October 2010 in the Beaver Valley Mall. Moving to this new location resulted in tremendous growth in our senior center program. Thousands of Beaver County older adults have attended for the meals, fitness center, fitness classes, computer lab, classes, clubs, pool tables, coffee bar and more. It has become a safe haven for older adults to meet new people and to enrich their lives with activities.”
Now that she is retired, Linda very much looks forward to spending more time with her three children, who live in Louisiana, Atlanta and Las Vegas, as well as her five grandchildren.
“One thing on my bucket list is to do a cross-country trip and see all the friends I haven’t been able to spend time with over the years,” she says. “I look forward to reconnecting with them in Seattle, Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire and elsewhere on the East and West Coasts.”
Everyone at BCOA wishes Linda the best into the future. “The aging population in Beaver County is better off today for the groundwork that Linda has brought to the agency,” Susan says. “We wish her happiness, peace and good health in her retirement.”