Something brilliant happened at the door of Wanda Zanders' mobile home on Friday.
Zanders doesn't venture far from that door. Severe back injuries make it nearly impossible for the Santa Rosan to shop and cook for herself, so she relies on the Council on Aging's Meals on Wheels.
When she answered the doorbell Friday, there stood Zack Brown, a developmentally disabled young man clearly pleased to be out in the world and doing something helpful.
He struggled a bit to get out the words, "Meals on Wheels." He handed Zanders a hearty lunch and, on this day so close to Christmas, also a couple of beautifully wrapped "Secret Santa" gifts.
"Merry Christmas!" he told Zanders, a broad smile on his face. "And ho, ho, ho, ho!"
Zanders was charmed. She said it's a joy to be beneficiary of a new partnership that has clients of Santa Rosa-based Becoming Independent delivering Meals on Wheels.
"It's been absolutely lovely," she said.
Each week, more than 25 participants in the employment, living-skills, art and other programs of Becoming Independent help to deliver nearly 200 meals to seniors shut in by their age or ailments.
Workers like Brown ride in a van with a Becoming Independent staffer and await the opportunity to carry food to an apartment or home and greet the resident. On Friday, Brown rode with fellow Becoming Independent participants Sayde Rodriguez and Daniel Hardie, and agency instructor Adalina DeLeon.
They had 18 stops to make, all in Santa Rosa. Brown, Rodriguez and Hardie took turns carrying the meals and gifts to the door.
"They absolutely love it," DeLeon said. "They love going out and giving their meals, saying 'Good morning.'"
The Becoming Independent/Meals on Wheels partnership grew from efforts by James Cox to find more opportunities for developmentally disabled people to perform meaningful work in the community.
Prior to hiring on as Becoming Independent's manager of Community Integrated Services in August, he'd worked 21 years for Lake County's People Services Inc., which also assists people with disabilities.
He asked Laura Colgate, the Council on Aging's director of senior nutrition, about her agency's need for volunteers. Together they seized upon the idea to see whether Becoming Independent clients would like to venture out with an instructor and deliver meals to seniors, some of whom have precious little human contact.
Cox said the opportunity has been a great hit with the people Becoming Independent serves.
"I have them stopping me in the halls and saying, "Today I'm doing Meals on Wheels! Today I'm doing Meals on Wheels!"
He said the partnership has not only been terrifically successful, it has led to Becoming Independent clients delivering meals also in Cloverdale. In January, they will begin making deliveries in Sebastopol.
Beyond that, people assisted by Becoming Independent are starting to find volunteer opportunities at senior centers in the county.
Marrianne McBride, chief of the Council on Aging, beamed as she watched the Becoming Independent team set out to greet and deliver lunch to seniors Friday.
"It's great when two nonprofits work together. It makes perfect sense."
It certainly makes sense to Meals on Wheels recipient Janet Cormier-Hilton, who roundly thanked Daniel Hardie for her food and Christmas gifts. Disabled by illness, Cormier-Hilton, a former Sonoma Developmental Center psychiatric technician, said it brightens her day to have Hardie and others come by.
"And it helps them, too."
Chris Smith is at 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.
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