Moving With Dignity

The phone calls all ended the same way. Older adults who desperately needed to move would ask about the cost, pause, then quietly admit they couldn’t afford it. Some had less than $90 in the bank. Others had only a few hundred dollars left after paying rent. Jill Yesko, then working as a moving specialist in Pittsburgh, stopped turning them away. Instead, she began helping those seniors, covering what she could until one simple act of compassion grew into Safe Moves for Seniors, the nation’s only nonprofit dedicated exclusively to helping low-income older adults relocate with dignity.

Moving is stressful for anyone. For older adults, it often comes with downsizing a lifetime of memories, navigating health challenges, and leaving behind familiar surroundings. Add the financial burden of hiring movers, purchasing supplies, and coordinating logistics, and many seniors simply remain where they are, even when a safer or more affordable home is waiting. Safe Moves for Seniors removes that barrier by coordinating every aspect of a qualifying client’s move, from packing and transportation to unpacking and settling in. The mission isn’t simply to move boxes. It’s to preserve dignity during one of life’s most difficult transitions.

An Answer to a Growing Local Need

That mission has now reached Santa Barbara through Glenn Novack, owner of Moving Miss Daisy and Miss Daisy’s Consignment & Auction House.

After meeting Jill Yesko at a National Association of Senior Move Managers convention, Novack saw a natural opportunity to expand work Moving Miss Daisy had already begun, including several low- or no-cost moves for local seniors. Some of those residents moved into communities supported by Rona Barrett, founder of the Rona Barrett Foundation and driving force behind the Golden Inn & Village and Harry’s House. “This program supports those in need at the time they need it most,” Barrett said.

Moving Miss Daisy now carries out the work locally, coordinating move management, packing, transportation, unpacking, and settling-in services for qualifying seniors. The company also raises funds for Safe Moves for Seniors through its Santa Barbara resale store, giving local shoppers and donors a direct way to support vulnerable older adults in the community.

In a region where rising housing costs and an aging population have created a fast-growing need, this local connection allows seniors to transition into safer housing without sacrificing their independence.

That is the difference Safe Moves for Seniors and Moving Miss Daisy hope every older adult experiences. A move should never be determined by the size of a bank account. With the right support, it can become the beginning of a safer home, a stronger community, and a new chapter filled with possibility.