How it all began
Jeff's Ride to Close the Gap
Close the Gap in Senior Care began with a 9,400-mile journey to raise awareness of underserved aspects of senior communities across the country.
Close the Gap in Senior Care began with a 9,400-mile journey to raise awareness of underserved aspects of senior communities across the country.
Jeff traveled via e-bike on a cross-country journey.
He left from San Antonio, Texas, and rode coast to coast.
Jeff stopped at nearly all every Caring Senior Service office.
To celebrate 30 years of serving seniors, the CEO, and founder of Caring Senior Service, Jeff Salter, toured the country on an electric bike to visit 39 Caring locations and raise awareness of senior care needs in America.
This tour started on April 1st, 2021, and kicked off Caring’s 30th anniversary and the Close the Gap in Senior Care movement. The movement’s name is significant because in cycling, closing the gap between riders is crucial for top performance. Drafting off each other, cyclists get farther and faster as a team. Likewise, when caregivers, community leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs work together, we can “Close the Gap” in meeting the needs of America’s seniors. And what better way to kick off the movement than with a bike ride.
Jeff’s electric bike was more than transportation; it was a symbol of assistance, which allows us all to achieve things that we didn’t think were possible. For example, seniors can live happy, healthy, and fulfilled lives but they might need a little assistance at times.
At each stop along his 9,400-mile journey, Jeff met with city leaders, senior citizen activists, business members, and caregivers to bring attention and engagement to senior care. His primary focus when stopping in each Caring community was to:
By the time Jeff returned to San Antonio, he traveled across the US twice and visited 30 different states.
Throughout the ride, Jeff also helped raise money for a Close the Gap in Senior Care initiative called Grab the Bars. Within a few months, we raised over $170,000 to install grab bars in seniors’ homes. With such great support and engagement from communities across the nation, Jeff knew that the movement could be much more.
In late 2021, Close the Gap in Senior Care was established as a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of underserved aspects in senior care. We hope to address some of the following areas in the near future:
Watch interviews with Jeff and learn more about the Close the Gap in Senior Care movement in our video playlist.
501(c)(3) EIN number 87-3313335
Public charity status 170(b)(1)(A)(vi)
