Essential Kits Blitz: Senior Safety Initiative

Health care access

Long Beach

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Our most vulnerable seniors in Long Beach (many low-income, homebound, and medically fragile) are being left behind. Alarmingly, over 14 million older adults in the U.S. report falling each year, with falls being one of the top causes of injury-related death among adults aged 65 and older. While nonprofit programming exists, it often fails to meet these seniors where they are. Transportation barriers, limited mobility, and chronic health issues prevent many from attending resource events or accessing basic care. Through months of direct community engagement, I’ve witnessed an alarming trend: organizations expect underserved seniors to come to them. This disconnect creates dangerous gaps in access to life-saving healthcare items and fall-prevention tools. If we don't urgently pivot how we reach these seniors, we risk worsening isolation, preventable injuries, and declining quality of life for a population that deserves dignity and proactive support now.

Affiliated Worldwide’s Essential Kits Blitz: Senior Safety Initiative is a rapid-response project that brings critical fall-prevention and healthcare resources directly to vulnerable seniors across Long Beach. Unlike traditional outreach, our approach meets seniors exactly where they are, removing barriers like transportation, mobility issues, and isolation.
With grant support, we will host a 1-2 day resource event at the Long Beach Senior Center in partnership with Long Beach Transit, Access Services, and local senior housing communities. Round-trip transportation will be arranged for seniors who face mobility or financial barriers, ensuring they can attend with ease and dignity. Those unable to travel will still receive their Essential Kits through a coordinated delivery system via LBT and Access, guaranteeing no one is left out.
Each kit includes but is not limited to items such as slip-resistant socks and bath mats, night lights, foldable canes, and visibility tape. These items are carefully selected to prevent falls and injuries at home.
By removing access barriers and eliminating the need for prolonged programming, this event delivers immediate, tangible support to a population that needs it most, fostering safety, dignity, and lasting impact from day one.

If successful, Affiliated Worldwide’s Essential Kits Blitz will reduce preventable falls, injuries, and isolation among vulnerable seniors in Long Beach. Within the one-year grant period, 300+ seniors will gain immediate access to critical health and safety resources, improving quality of life from day one. By demonstrating the power of a well-coordinated, event-based intervention with transportation support and kit delivery, we aim to inspire a new standard for how nonprofits serve immobile or overlooked senior populations.
Short and Long-term, we envision replicating this model in underserved neighborhoods across Los Angeles County by partnering with senior centers, transit agencies, and housing providers—proving that with the right collaboration, care can be brought directly into the reach of every senior who needs it.