About Us

Mission and History

ELDERGIVERS began, in 1985, as a faith-based effort to respond to a surprising statistic: More than 60% of nursing home residents never have a visitor. The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin in the Cow Hollow neighborhood of San Francisco gathered several of its members, trained them and started the Volunteer Visitor Program. This was the core of what has become a multi-faceted organization dedicated to fostering positive connections between elders and the wider community.

Twenty one years later, St. Mary’s members – along with members from other faith congregations around the San Francisco Bay Area – are still visiting residents in local nursing homes.

ELDERGIVERS is now a community-based effort drawing a variety of people from five Bay Area counties into meaningful connections with an equally diverse number of elders. ELDERGIVERS partners with corporations, public and private schools, arts and civic organizations and affinity groups such as the Girl Scouts, in addition to faith congregations, to ensure that elders remain as active in the community as they wish to be and that the public has ready access to the rich gifts of age.

ELDERGIVERS has grown from its original Volunteer Visitor Program to include five other initiatives.

We welcome everyone’s participation in our mission. Review the Programs menu on this website; see what interests you. If you wish to volunteer for any of our programs, please complete and submit the on-line Volunteer Sign Up and we’ll respond as quickly as we can.

If you can’t volunteer your time, we would welcome your financial and in-kind gifts. ELDERGIVERS is a 501(c)(3) entity, recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt nonprofit, dependent on contributions from supporters. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent of the law. Please see the Contribute menu for further information.

Board of Directors

ELDERGIVERS is governed by a board of community volunteers who accept responsibility for maintaining the organization’s mission and financial integrity. We invite inquiries from board candidates who are capable of helping us expand public awareness of ELDERGIVERS’ mission and public involvement in its programs, and who are able to effectively broaden the organization’s funding base. Contact us to discuss your experience and qualifications (415.441.2650 or info@eldergivers.org)

Current board members include:

Rebecca Hicklin , President
Christopher C. Chirarella, Vice President
Randall S. Farrimond, Secretary
Carol L. Coffman
Peter C. Karp
Lorna Lathram
Emily D. Lewis
Brent H. Nettle
Stephen P. White
Ned Schaub
Monica Schmid

Arts Advisory Group

ELDERGIVERS’ art programs enjoy a prominent place in the Bay Area art scene. This is in large part due to broad and generous community support, strategic partnerships with other arts organizations and on-going counsel provided by the Arts Advisory Group which is comprised of the following individuals:

Chris Bratton
President and CEO, San Francisco Art Institute

Kate Eilertsen
Executive Director, Museum of Craft and Folk Art

Wendi Norris
Partner, Frey Norris Gallery

Nathan Oliveira
Visual Artist and Professor Emeritus Stanford University

Michael S. Roth
President and CEO, California College of the Arts

Richard Whittaker
Owner, Editor, Publisher, Works & Conversations

Staff

ELDERGIVERS’ professional staff consists of

Brent H. Nettle
Executive Director

Eugene Murphy
Program Director, Art With Elders

Mark H. Campbell
Program Director, Art With Elders at Laguna Honda Hospital and
Program Director, Elder Arts Celebrations

Kathryn Werhane
Assistant, Art With Elders at Laguna Honda Hospital