Mission and Vision
Serving Seniors for 40 Years
Surrey Services for Seniors (Surrey) is a leader in providing aging-in-place services to help older adults in Chester and Delaware Counties navigate and thrive in each of the transitional phases of older life. Surrey inspires and enables all of us, as we age, to live with independence and dignity, and as engaged members of the community. Surrey holds as its vision to create a leading, dynamic community for aging adults by developing groundbreaking programs, services and activities that encourage and support older adults to live well longer.
What sets Surrey apart from traditional home-care agencies or senior centers is the ability to coordinate and wrap critically needed services like transportation, nutrition, geriatric care management, small home repairs, housecleaning, and laundry services around core home-care services while offering center-based services, including fitness programs, support groups, and educational, cultural and arts programming.
Our broad range of services is provided by nurses, social workers, experienced staff in the field of aging services,and a well-prepared volunteer corps, many of whom are older themselves. Surrey was founded in 1981 by Jeanne LaRouche on a “neighbor-helping-neighbor” model that remains the foundation of our organizational culture.
Jeanne had two objectives: to help seniors who needed services and to engage retired seniors in need of a new sense of purpose. Jeanne organized her Wayne neighbors to provide older neighbors with rides to doctors’ appointments and assistance with grocery shopping. Over the next four decades, this grassroots effort has evolved into a strong, community-based organization that serves thousands of seniors each year.
In 2011, Surrey assumed management through acquisitions from Main Line Health, of the Havertown and Media Senior Community Centers and Chore Connection, expanding its service area substantially in the Delaware County community.
In 2014, Surrey completed construction of its current headquarters and Center for Healthy Living in Devon, PA. Within its nearly 18,000 square feet, the Center for Healthy Living offers a state-of-the-art fitness center. Each of Surrey’s centers offer a range of exercise classes, health screenings, activities, congregate meals and social events.
In 2017, the café, which is the hub of the Center for Healthy Living, was renamed Jeanne’s Place to honor the legacy of Surrey’s founder.
Led today by President and CEO Jill Whitcomb and a dedicated 20-member Board of Directors, Surrey operates centers in Devon, Broomall, Havertown, and Media and the Surrey Consignment Shop in Berwyn. Three of Surrey’s community centers are accredited by the National Institute for Senior Centers (NISC), a distinction held by only about 200 centers nationwide. In addition, Surrey has been awarded the Standards for Excellence certification by the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO) for its diligent adherence to organizational governance.
Hybrid Model of Services
Providing services for seniors during the pandemic, we learned it is essential to devise multiple pathways to reach and engage our seniors where they are. To accomplish this, we developed and instituted a hybrid model that includes center-based, virtual, and home-based services. This approach is now our standard of service. The cornerstones of our hybrid model are: (1) Activities and programs offered at our centers in Devon, Broomall, Havertown and Media; (2) A full range of transportation, home-based and home-care services; and (3) The expansion of virtual (online) programs and integration with center-based activities via live streaming to inspire, engage, connect and inform our members.
Our Technology Lending Library makes this service available to more seniors by providing tablets, training and support, and free internet connectivity for adults who do not have or cannot afford this technology.
Surrey has earned GuideStar’s Platinum Seal of Transparency for sharing important information about ourgoals, capabilities and progress, and achieved Charity Navigator’s Four-Star rating, which is awarded to nonprofits that “exceed industry standards and outperform most charities in its cause.”
Surrey is primarily supported through private donations, grants, volunteers, and a small percentage of government funding.