“We didn’t know you served more than seniors.”

Hearing this feedback over and over again prompted a local nonprofit to change its name to better reflect those it serves – and to connect its programs under one logo.

Senior Life Resources Northwest, the nonprofit that runs Mid-Columbia Meals on Wheels, Home Care Services, and the recently acquired Healthy Ages program from Kadlec, is rebranding as Generational Care. 

The change reflects the Richland agency’s broader scope: “We’re not senior exclusive; we’re senior-focused,” said Brandy Hickey, executive director of Generational Care. 

When she joined Senior Life Resources Northwest in 2023, it was clear to her that the nonprofit already served more than seniors, and many people she spoke to indicated that the organization had outgrown its name.

Additionally, while many community members are familiar with Meals on Wheels or Home Care Services, they might not recognize Senior Life Resources as the programs’ umbrella organization. 

Efforts to change the name took months of work and included focus groups, workshops and surveys.

Hickey said the new name is more inclusive of what the nonprofit does and can do. Each of its programs will keep their names but will now include “delivered by Generational Care,” so their connection is clear. 

Community connections

Part of Generational Care’s name change is a focus on the community as a whole, not just individuals. 

Serving more than just seniors isn’t anything new: “We were already doing it, but nobody knew we were doing it,” Hickey said. 

Meals on Wheels offers meals to those 60 and older at dining sites throughout the Tri-Cities, as well as delivering meals to those who are homebound, a group that includes adults under 60 who live with disabilities or special needs, Hickey said in a letter to the community. 

Clients of Generational Care’s Home Care Services, which helps people live safely and independently in their own homes by providing light housekeeping, running errands, respite care, companionship and more, aren’t all older adults, either. Twenty-nine percent of those clients are under the age of 39.

And along with the Healthy Ages program, Generational Care also acquired Kadlec’s Caregiver Conference, which took place in October in partnership with Heartlinks. 

Above are the old logos for Senior Life Resources Northwest and its programs Mid-Columbia Meals on Wheels and Home Care Services. Now, the organization and its programs, including the newly adopted Healthy Ages program, all share a new heart logo.

| Photo by Rachel Visick

In addition to serving more than seniors, interactions between volunteers, clients and families bridge the gaps between generations. 

Hickey spoke of a group of high school students who sit with seniors while they eat at the Meals on Wheels Cafe, gleaning advice. 

Those who volunteer range from young children to retired couples who do meal deliveries as part of a “date day.”

The effects of Generational Care’s services also reverberate beyond the nonprofit’s clients. One woman said she uses Meals on Wheels’ services to take the burden off her daughter, who would gladly help but has to take care of her own young children. 

In cases like this, taking care of someone is also taking care of those who love them, said Courtney Moore, marketing coordinator for Generational Care. 

That’s part of why Meals on Wheels launched its pet pantry a few years ago. Some of the volunteers taking meals to the homebound noticed that the clients gave their meals to their pets. It was bad for the animals and didn’t help feed the clients, so the pet pantry was launched to provide cats, dogs, birds and even turtles with food alongside their human companions. 

“Taking care of their animal is taking care of them,” Moore said. 

Rebranding

Since Generational Care was already serving more than just seniors, the new name better reflects the organization’s mission and helps expand the limits of what the nonprofit can do in the future, Hickey said.

The name also will help with fund raising. Hickey said it has already opened doors with its broader reach. Potential volunteers, too, will be able to recognize that it’s an organization they can participate in and that it’s not just for seniors. 

A new logo will be shared across Generational Care’s suite of services. Since the adoption of the Healthy Ages program, Hickey said many attendees of the program’s Medicare classes have been discovering Meals on Wheels and Home Care Services for the first time. 

The new Generational Care heart logo with an infinite loop stood out to the focus groups, Hickey said. It reflects the old logos of both Home Care Services and Meals on Wheels.

The name Generational Care has already spread through some of Home Care Services’ locations, including in Clarkston, Ellensburg, Walla Walla, Sunnyside and Yakima. 

So far, people have loved it, Hickey said. 

In the Tri-Cities, Generational Care will launch the new name with a radiothon on Nov. 7 on 95.7 FM. That’s also when the nonprofit’s website, social media and more will be updated. 

The new website will be gencare.org.