This year, Milestone Senior Services celebrates sixty years of service. Although our agency has seen many changes over those years, our mission to support people in living as independently as they care to at home has remained steady.
We got our start in 1963 when Helen Coover began delivering meals to older adults in the Kalamazoo area who had limited resources. This established the first “Meals on Wheels” program in the state of Michigan. At that time there was no public funding for the program, it was completely run on the generosity of individuals in the community and a small but dedicated team of volunteers.
While our programming has grown and changed significantly since those early years, one thing that has never changed is our commitment of treating people with dignity and respect while providing services that allow people to continue living at home while enjoying an improved quality of life.
Milestone Senior Services continues to grow in three significant ways: an increase in services provided, an expanded service area, and a significant increase in demand. Today Milestone Senior Services, now under the direction of CEO Richard Kline, offers five core services to support people with living independently at home. These are: nutritional services, home safety & accessibility, managed care, behavioral health & wellness, and volunteer engagement. In addition to our expanded programming, our territory has grown as well. While the majority of our programming is available in Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties, we also reach Branch, St. Joseph, Van Buren, Allegan and Barry counties with many of our services. The third factor is an increased demand for our services. The fastest growing population segment in the United States is people 65 and older. As our population ages and lives longer, more people are in need of our services.
We have been making an impact on the community for sixty years! Celebrate this amazing accomplishment with us by sharing your time, talents, and treasures. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to be a part of the next sixty years of service with us!
