Shaping Our Senior Community
By AV Board Member Bryan Ricks
My name is Bryan Ricks and I have been a Board Member since 2020. I previously served on the Board of North Oakland Village, so I am an import that came along with our merger with Ashby Village in July 2020.
Working in the space of community support for seniors has been a defining moment for me. While working on a strategy team two decades ago, I became familiar with the demographic shifts that were projected to occur during this time. In those early meetings, the team proclaimed it the “silver tsunami” -- a term now considered outdated and ageist. We knew a time would come when the number of people over the age of 65 would become the fastest growing population group globally.
Even armed with that knowledge, it didn't mean that everyone was laser-focused on re-imagining what changes would need to occur to support an aging community. This reality compelled me to join the Oakland Mayor’s Commission on Aging, whose primary concern is to ensure that the needs of the senior community are presented to the Mayor’s office and acted upon. As the current Chairman of the Commission, I have the privilege to lead our group into key initiatives, strategies and partnership opportunities to better support the senior community of Oakland.
One such opportunity includes working with Ashby Village. During an assessment exercise across the different Council districts, we found that oftentimes the resources and structures necessary to meet community needs already existed. As such, Oakland Aging and Adult Services and the Commission on Aging are considering ways to replicate Ashby Village’s community support model and integrate it with Senior Centers and other similar organizations.
Having the opportunity to work with dynamic organizations provides the chance to mold and shape our senior community for the future. I look forward to the things we will continue to accomplish together!
Bryan Ricks is chairman of the Oakland Mayor’s Commission on Aging and was a board member of North Oakland Village. He is Executive Director of CareBuilders at Home-East Bay and a member of the Livable Oakland Committee. He has worked with the Commission to raise awareness around issues faced by people over age 65. At CareBuilders at Home-East Bay, he spearheads projects that incorporate non-medical home care and patient advocacy programs to decrease re-hospitalization. These services create a “web of care” to help keep senior patients at home.