Visual Eyes

S2 Ep 09 - Empowering Aging Communities: Collaboration and Innovation with Cresha of SOFIA

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Cresha, the visionary CEO of the South Florida Institute on Aging (SOFIA), joins us to share her remarkable journey and insights into enhancing the lives of marginalized communities. From her roots in Miami to leading impactful initiatives, Cresha's story is one of passion and dedication. We learn about the evolution of the Foster Grandparent Program, originally a collaboration with the Broward County School Board, and explore the transformative work of the AmeriCorps Senior Programs, which provide mentorship, companionship, and essential technology training to older adults. Discover how Cresha's innovative strategies and commitment to service have driven positive change and effectiveness within the nonprofit sector.

Listen as we explore the power of collaboration in reducing community isolation, with a focus on strategic partnerships and volunteer engagement. We discuss the challenges of providing technology education, the role of organizations like Wisdom Care and Heart2Heart, and the inspiring work of volunteers like Olga Benjamin, who fosters community connections and cultural exchanges. Highlighting the importance of overcoming post-pandemic isolation, we celebrate initiatives that enhance well-being through face-to-face interactions. Future goals include expanding partnerships with institutions like Holy Cross Hospital to further support aging communities, underscoring the critical role of connection and health education for older adults.


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Special Thanks to Stacy Daugherty for the beautiful wall artwork in the background. Socials: @artographybystacy

Chris Baker:

Welcome to Visual Eyes, the podcast where collaboration fuels change. I'm your host, Chris Baker, and each week we'll explore incredible connections between nonprofits, businesses and the community. This is a space where we highlight inspiring partnerships, uncover strategies for creating meaningful impact and share stories that show how working together can make all the difference. Whether you're a nonprofit leader, a business owner or someone just passionate about building connections, this podcast is for you. Welcome back to Visual Eyes today. I am welcoming Cresha to our show. Can you share your journey and what inspired you to become involved with South Florida Institute on Aging?

Cresha Reid:

Well, I'm from Miami, born and raised in Miami. My background is just working in nonprofits, working for government agencies, just supporting people in need. That's always been something that's been a part of my life, a passion um led by faith. So it's funny enough that I was not doing that originally. When I was going to school, I was more focused on animals, and then it switched to people, so I always tell that as a funny joke to people because, like I switched from um animals to people.

Cresha Reid:

But anyways, yeah, like my background has really been working with marginalized communities for the past 13, 15 years and then the way I made my way back to South Florida. I had lived in Michigan for four years after graduating from college and then kind of working jobs here and there still supporting people in need. But I decided to move to Michigan to go to grad school and then came back and I was on a mission like okay, did my time there. I want to come back and kind of still work with older adults. And that's when I found Sophia and found the. They had a position for the foster grand parent program and that was seven, eight years ago. So I actually started off as a foster grand parent program director and then during the pandemic I transitioned to the vice president of programs and interim CEO and now CEO. So that kind of happened relatively fast from 21 all the way to 22 when I became CEO. Wow, that's pretty fast.

Chris Baker:

Yeah, really really fast.

Cresha Reid:

But I mean, you know, I attribute that to my passion for serving others, and I really made it a point with every organization that I went to how can I make our services more effective, how can I make processes easier? And I think that led me to the position that I am today, because I'm always looking for ways that we can be innovative and creative and leveraging the resources that we have, especially non-profits. We know that resources are limited, so got to do what we have to do to serve people.

Cresha Reid:

And so my passion has always been to focus on that, so that's kind of what brought me to Sophia.

Chris Baker:

So you talked a little bit about the Foster Grandparent Program. Can you tell me a little bit more? How did that start? Was there a collaboration that made it all go?

Cresha Reid:

Yes, so our agency, prior to it be calling the South Florida Institute on Aging, it was called the Foster Grandparent Program Committee and that was a collaboration between individuals in the community that felt that there was a need to serve older adults and then the school board. So Broward County School Board 50 years ago in 1970 was like hey, we want to collaborate with you all to start this Foster Grandparent Program. So Foster grandparent program actually started in 1965. And this is a program that is a national program. That's through AmeriCorps seniors where you utilize anyone that's 55 plus to mentor and tutor kids. They get a stipend as a volunteer. They also get access to medical resources, so they get a full well check through our program if they don't have insurance.

Cresha Reid:

They also get training and get resources that's available to them in the community all different type of resources, stuff that's related to them, working with the kids, so working with students that have behavior issues, working with students that have emotional issues, literacy, math, any of those things but then also things that are related to them, any financial support that they need, housing. We try to bring that in as a resource. So that is how we started through that collaboration with the school board and, like I said, that was from 1970. And now in 2024, we have grown to have all three AmeriCorps senior programs, so foster, grandparent senior companion program and the retired senior volunteer program and we've had other collaborations and programs in between as well Explain all three of the different programs Like.

Chris Baker:

How do they differ from each other?

Cresha Reid:

So the senior companion program, that one is focused on providing companionship and respite services to isolated individuals or caregivers that are in need of support. So again, we use volunteers that are 55 plus to go into the homes of individuals that are isolated and need companionship so they can be homebound. They could be someone that have limited mobility, have some cognitive issues and need someone to work with them. It's kind of like what a friend would do with a friend.

Cresha Reid:

When your friend is sick, you check in on them. You might do some light meal prep, some lighthouse cleaning, go walking with them, doing activities with them.

Chris Baker:

Watch a movie. Just have a fun time. Just have a fun time with them, okay.

Cresha Reid:

And then, of course, if they're the caregiver in a home, that's respite for them.

Chris Baker:

They can go out and do their own medical checkups. They can go out and take care of themselves, take a break. That's really what it's for, because you know, as a caregiver, it can be a lot. Yeah, I really can, if you need a break sometimes, right, yes, I understand.

Cresha Reid:

And then um, our retired and senior volunteer program. Um, that program is basically open to meet the needs of the community, depending on um community.

Cresha Reid:

So it's again 55 plus and our focus is on tech services, our technology program. It is also focused on supporting veterans and military families, as well as community centers. So we have three components to our retired and senior volunteer program. So, like I said, the tech services we teach technology classes. So we have individuals that are also 55 plus that are teaching their peers how to use their devices, so their phones, their laptops, their tablets. We have a help desk through the partnership with the Damarino Foundation. That's how it got started.

Chris Baker:

Oh, so that's actually how it got started.

Cresha Reid:

The help desk program. Okay so it was an internship program, so we used some of their interns to start the help desk program. So it was an internship program, so we used some of their interns to start the help desk and now we were able to hire two of their interns. They're now part-time staff that provide the tech support, so you can call them over the phone or meet them at a community center or even a senior high rise to get tech support.

Chris Baker:

How did the collaboration between Sophia and the Dan Marino Foundation begin? Do you know that story so?

Cresha Reid:

it started with the director that was over the program at that time. She connected with the Dan Marino Foundation and was able to utilize their services because they were looking for interns. Well, to have interns participate with us. And so obviously, we had our tech services program and they had a tech component. So that is how that collaboration started. I believe in 2021, no in 2020, I believe. Try to remember the dates.

Chris Baker:

Don't worry about it. Yeah, try to remember the dates.

Cresha Reid:

But yeah, that director at that time, cassie really took the charge. She led the charge with that to say, hey, you know, we can utilize these interns to start a help desk, and especially during a pandemic where we know that people needed some support. And while we didn't have the in-person classes anymore, everything was virtual. But guess what?

Cresha Reid:

We had to transition everybody to virtual services and understanding their tablets and understanding any device that they use to be able to get on zoom, to do video calling right so that partnership really helped to start that help desk component and then after the pandemic and we had a new director take on the program, we still continued it and it expanded. Obviously now we're in person and we are at different community centers. We are scheduled every week at a different community center. People can call in and get the assistance that we need and we still partner with the Dan Marino Foundation to have interns as well as the part time staff that we hired.

Cresha Reid:

So our hope is to make that part, those part time staff, to be full time so we could provide more hours of service.

Chris Baker:

Oh, that's fantastic. And then the third is the foster. That's kind of changed, correct, yeah?

Cresha Reid:

So the foster grand prep program is the third thing and, like I said, the senior companion and then RSVP has three components the tech and the supporting veterans and military families. So we have veterans that are at the va clinics, that provide resources to individuals and they actually run the va clinic like in the front, I would say so they're in the front, in the front, but they're like their first point of contact.

Cresha Reid:

You come in there, you say you have an appointment. They try to figure out what where you need to go. Do you? You know, are you looking at the social worker? You? Do you have an actual doctor's appointment?

Chris Baker:

Okay, and then other resources, some more triage in that space.

Cresha Reid:

And other resources that they may need and really understanding their benefits. The VA clinics to try to train our volunteers on using my Healthy Vet, which is the online portal that all of the vets have to use to set up their appointments, to understand their medications, the referrals, all of that stuff. And that was also a big transition again during the pandemic to teach everyone that and that that's something that we are continuing to use. So we've always collaborated with other individuals and other organizations to start that. And then the last is the community centers. We have volunteers that are at community centers that they run the congregate meals program, the food pantry. They facilitate the programming there. Some of them are also in the front as well. So we got a lot of volunteers. They do a lot of stuff.

Chris Baker:

I I was going to say that, like for me, when I'm looking at Sophia, I'm really kind of just getting the grand scope of it now in the fullness, like there are so many different things that you guys offer. This is fantastic. Yeah, how many staff do you guys have with your team?

Cresha Reid:

So we have 13 at the moment full-time and part-time staff.

Chris Baker:

That's excellent, yeah, yeah. And then how many volunteers, roughly are you?

Cresha Reid:

We have a little over 300 volunteers.

Chris Baker:

Nice, that's fantastic.

Cresha Reid:

Wonderful.

Chris Baker:

So the other piece that I really want to like try to help visualize for people and that's why it's called Visual Eyes to talk a little bit about some of the challenges and lessons that you've learned so that hopefully other nonprofits and then other businesses can see how they can partner with or, you know, avoid some of those common misfalls that may not need to happen. So what are some of the challenges that you guys have experienced with dealing with the aging population in South Florida and kind of giving them that innovation?

Cresha Reid:

um, I would say obviously. Obviously, technology is a big piece on our end and then on their end, of course, making sure that we have the resources to be able to teach them, utilizing the volunteers, leveraging what our volunteers are currently doing. Funding is also a challenge which I had mentioned before because we need the funding in order to do the work.

Cresha Reid:

So, that includes staffing, that includes even, you know, the stipends that we provide to our volunteers, as well as the actual devices, because one of the things that we run into and this is specific to tech services and technology we have people that really want classes, but they may not have devices in order for us to teach. So we usually start off with like the phone, because that's the easiest thing. Everybody has a phone, but most people they're like no, I want to learn how to use a computer, not just my phone.

Cresha Reid:

So, working with community partners to say, hey, can you donate some laptops to us so that we can be able to provide these classes to individuals, or working with the city or working with another organization to say, hey, you know, this community center needs to have a computer lab. It's not only going to benefit just the individuals taking the classes, but the whole entire community. So those are some of the challenges I would say we face and really even strategizing. That's something that I learned recently, not to say I didn't think about it before, but I think I'll give you an example. So we currently have a wait list on our senior companion program. Last year, something that came up and we realized we didn't have enough volunteers to provide services to individuals that needed companionship and restful services. So we worked with Wisdom Care, which is a health entity. They utilize home health aides, cnas and everything to provide services as well as heart to heart. They also use volunteers, just like we do to provide services.

Cresha Reid:

I mean we use older adults and they use everyone to provide services. So we are still in collaboration with them. We sat down and kind of like, hey, here's all of the people that's on our wait list, here are the organizations that we currently work with, and how can we bring down this wait list? How can we really support the people that are currently getting services, the one that needs services? So what we found was like with Wisdom Care they were willing to provide a service if individual's insurance covered it.

Cresha Reid:

So they actually are the ones who called everyone and say, hey, let's verify your insurance and see what we can provide to you, because while you may not be able to get a volunteer, that doesn't mean we can't provide coverage for you right now. So that was one thing. And then now working with Heart to Heart to utilize their volunteers to provide services to the individuals that are in need, and I thought that was like the best collaboration, because I think a lot of times we just our first thought is to just refer people, give you a phone number, give you an email, and not really like do follow-up, like I don't want that like here's an actual plan that we have and I think, um, sometimes we miss that as organizations that we find that we want to work together.

Cresha Reid:

We might have the initial meeting and talk to each other and say here's our needs, here's, you know, some of the resources, but then not actual, not create a plan, and that plan was necessary for us.

Chris Baker:

Well, and plans like that actually help both of you expand and both of you grow, and so that's one of the reasons why we're here, like we're really trying to collaborate and figure out ways to make those more powerful, because, yeah, if you just get a resource and you get a phone call, yes, it could solve an immediate need, but long term, is it enough, right? And so that's yeah, that's definitely something that's good. So I'm glad that you guys are working with Heart to Heart. It's fantastic. We love working with Heart to Heart as well. And so let's talk a little bit more about Sophia Care Services. Sure, they're aimed to support the caregivers and enhance well-being for the older adults, but can you discuss the impact of these programs on the whole community and share any success story that stands out?

Cresha Reid:

So on the whole community, you know, like I shared earlier about what our senior companion program does. On average, we have about roughly like 90 volunteers that serve over 300 individuals in the community and sometimes even more for the year. But yeah, they really focus on reducing isolation, because that's the top thing and this is even beyond the pandemic. We know that this is the issue that people face as they get older because they're losing family members, they're losing friends and now they become isolated, and obviously our top goal is to reduce that isolation. Our goal is usually between 85 to 90 percent of individuals serve that. They report feeling less isolated, feeling more independent and have an increased social support. And that is the case also for the caregiver have an increased social support. It's something that they report as well. Over 85 to 90 percent of them report that.

Chris Baker:

And there was another piece that she asked your success story a success story, so what's a good one that you might have?

Cresha Reid:

I'm gonna say, and I know probably, if my staff hears this, they're gonna say I harp on her too much. But olga benjamin is one of the volunteers that I love. Her nickname is patsy. I actually met her as patsy. So then when we had like a in-service meeting or something and they were like Olga Benjamin, I'm like who is that? It's like oh, that's Miss Patsy. I'm like that's two completely different names. That is such an island thing because island people will have nicknames for you that do not match with your name.

Cresha Reid:

So I should have known better than that. But she is a wonderful volunteer and she is super active. She sees individuals in her building um in her community. She likes to go out to different community events because she wants to learn even more about what's happening in her community, around her and bring resources to individuals. So one of the um clients that she has worked with has talked about how meaningful it is to share stories with someone that is also from the Caribbean, so she's from Guyana and some of her clients are like Jamaican and she has, you know, black American clients too, but they talk like reminiscing is important.

Cresha Reid:

So being able to talk about your childhood, talk about some stories, how you grew up, they really say that they love being able to do that with her and how resourceful she is. She really works with not only the individual but then also the caregiver that's in the home and then sometimes there's also a nurse that's there. So they love having her around because they can give her information like hey, you know, remind, you know such and such that she needs to take her medication, or here's some exercise that she needs to do during the week, and she'll do it with them. And she really represents what all of our volunteers do. So it's not just that one piece of service that they do, like what we highlight a lot. It's a lot more than that, because we really try to make them integrated in people's homes, into the school system, into the VA system, whatever it is. Really try to integrate them, because we're all people that have so much that's to us. We're not just, you know, one thing we're a lot of things, we are.

Chris Baker:

We are definitely a lot of things, and one of the things that you keep mentioning, that I'm hearing a lot right now, is that isolation piece. Like we are human beings and we thrive on connection Right. And, like you had said, during the pandemic everybody got a lot more isolated and then we had to like start it, like the whole world changed.

Cresha Reid:

Right.

Chris Baker:

And so now we need to kind of pull that connection back. Like, how do we have this one on one communication? How do we get together with friends, play board games, whatever that connection is, and not just be virtual, get out of your house. Get out of your house, listen.

Cresha Reid:

I could attest to, especially being an introvert that a lot of times I just want to lay on my couch and watch TV and like very specific, like I just want to watch anime and watch some Chinese drama or some Korean drama.

Cresha Reid:

But, can't do that, have to go outside and honestly, just looking at my volunteers and even looking at the clients I think about, like you know, I want to be like them, I want to be super active, I want to, you know, be healthy, I want to have my right frame of mind and know that connection, like you said, is important. So really just going out there and finding things to do that you like, or even new things that you want to do, and we try to have our volunteers do the same thing. So for us, the way that we um encourage people to do that through our in-service meetings and through our events so we have bi-monthly in-service meetings for our volunteers that I had mentioned before, that we provide training and resources, but a part of that is also social activities and having them invite other people from the community. We invite our community partners to attend. So they like.

Cresha Reid:

So we had our holiday party in december and so we had painting with faith. So they painted a wonderful painting. So, over probably like 250, 250 volunteers painting, they painted Christmas tree, painted a nice background with mountains, and they really enjoyed it. Even like we had a few of our board members, they had their own pages. They're like oh, I'm going to bring this back to share with my grandkids, so now they took that activity that they did and they're bringing it back to their family. So that's how we encourage people to really think about going out and doing something and staying connected.

Chris Baker:

I love that. I love that, all right. So let's talk a little bit about future goals and vision and vision, um. So, looking ahead, what are the strategies that you're prioritizing right now with Sophia? That is going to help some of the aging community, um, and then really, how can other people join in on that impact to collaborate with you?

Cresha Reid:

so um you reaching out to us to talk about collaborations is so timely, because that's really been a focus.

Cresha Reid:

No, honestly, honestly I know we say that a lot when it comes to working with people.

Cresha Reid:

Like I said before, collaboration, collaboration, but then it really turns into just referral and I'm like no, no more of that.

Cresha Reid:

I'm really focused on how can I help our volunteers really enhance the services and resources when it comes to technology, understanding more for their health. So companionship and respite services is one component of it, but they need other things to help increase their health outcomes. So, really working with Holy Cross Hospital, because they have been a big partner of ours, working, hopefully, with other organizations to do the same, like what is it that we can do to help increase health outcomes? And then, even in terms of the students that we're working with, what other programs can we provide to them and their families? Can we provide a parenting program? How can we work with the school district? How can we work with, you know, other nonprofits that also work with children? So that's what we really have been looking at is enhancing our programs and services. But not only that. Advocacy is also a big thing for us Working with some of the cities working with, like AARP, because they also have a program to train individuals on how to advocate on policy that's important to older adults.

Cresha Reid:

So that's what we're looking forward to is really training our volunteers, giving them the knowledge and wisdom and then bringing them to the city council meetings, bringing them to the commissioner meetings, to voice from our volunteers and the programs and services and say, hey, here are the things that are happening in the community, come and work with us so that we can make things better because we serve. We have 300 volunteers. However, we serve between 1,500 to 2,000 people. That's a good sample size to really say like, hey, we kind of know what we're talking about here when it comes to serving the community, so we want to focus on that.

Cresha Reid:

So program enhancements, thought leadership and advocacy are the three main things I'm looking forward to.

Chris Baker:

Wonderful, so if anybody out there is listening, definitely reach out to Cresha Reed at Sophia reach out to crecia reed at sofia.

Cresha Reid:

It's the sofiaorg is their website. Did I get that?

Chris Baker:

right, yes, I got it right the sofiaorg. Um. So, yeah, let's definitely, you know, expand your collaboration efforts. Let's make sure that you have something that can expand and grow for years to come. So, with that, this is my legacy question that I always want to ask everybody.

Cresha Reid:

So as we wrap up.

Chris Baker:

What is the legacy you hope to leave behind?

Cresha Reid:

through your work.

Chris Baker:

And how do you envision it to inspire future generations?

Cresha Reid:

What legacy do I hope to leave behind? I think the passion and the thirst to really eliminate barriers for people, because so far in my 37, this year it's going to be 38 years of life, I don't think my passion has ever died for wanting to really figure out how can we, like work ourself out of business, like I no longer want to feel as if, like people don't have basic needs met, like having housing, having education, transportation, health, medical services. Those are things that are important. I think that's the legacy that I would like to leave is that I really took the time to be innovative and creative and really collaborate with individuals to see not just to see, but provide results in eliminating as much as possible. So that's what I hope to leave behind.

Chris Baker:

That's fantastic. So just to wrap up, how can people get a hold of you? I did mention the website already, but is there any other way that they can get a hold of you so they can collaborate with?

Cresha Reid:

you? Yes, so they can reach out to me by calling, so 954-484-7117. And you could actually say my name and it will direct you to me. So that nice little piece of technology that helps you recognize people's voices will direct you to me, or you can email me. So my email is my first initial C and then my last name, reed R-E-I-D at the Sophiaorg Perfect.

Chris Baker:

Well, Cresha, thank you so much for coming on to Visual Eyes today. I hope that you get tons of collaboration emails moving forward and this year turns out to be an amazing 2025.

Chris Baker:

Thank you so thank you so much, thank you, thank you, thank 2025. Thank you. So thank you so much, thank you, thank you. Thank you for joining me on this episode of Visual Eyes. We hope that the inspiration and practical insights can help you foster stronger connections and meaningful change. Don't forget to subscribe, share the episode and leave us a review. To learn more about Visuals by Momo and how we support collaboration and storytelling, visit visualsbymomocom. A huge thank you to everyone out there listening. Until next time, remember, collaboration fuels change and your connections can inspire the world.