Senior Center Recreation Coordinator receives City Manager Leadership Award

Acting City Manager and Fire Chief Dan Stefano presented Senior Center Recreation Coordinator Enyelber Franco with the City Manager Leadership Award for the month of July.

“Enyelber is an excellent leader and goes above and beyond for his team,” Stefano said as he announced his award at the monthly Meet and Greet. “He is thoughtful and has contributed to the Costa Mesa Senior Center culture of working hard to serve the community and also making it a point to celebrate his colleagues’ milestones, birthdays, and successes.”

Franco, who has an associate’s degree from Santa Ana College, began his journey with the City of Costa Mesa, Parks & Community Services Department in 2014 as a Park Ambassador before being promoted as a Recreation Specialist at the Costa Mesa Senior Center in 2016. He became a full-time Recreation Coordinator in 2019, where he oversees day-to-day operations at the Senior Center.

Franco has played an instrumental role in the Senior Center’s success by implementing new programs, operations and by building a rapport with his team and seniors.

During the COVID closures, he worked tirelessly to ensure that seniors were provided essential services and also some recreation. Franco didn’t hesitate to dress up as Santa Claus to cheer seniors up while delivering meals and stockings for the Senior Center’s home meal delivery program.

Franco has a keen eye for logistics and can map out an action plan for meetings and events after a quick walk through. Franco was responsible for creating the City’s first community drive in and drive up/walk up Senior Grocery Program. His new Senior Grocery Program model was so successful that community partner Second Harvest Food Bank recommended the Costa Mesa Senior Center as a site to visit for other cities to base their program after.

Franco is the primary administrator of the Senior Mobility Program, which allows qualifying seniors to use a free taxi service anywhere in the City to get to medical appointments all over Orange County.

Due to Franco’s success of running the Senior Transportation Program and his meticulous methods of record keeping, he has been asked by OCTA on several occasions to give presentations about Costa Mesa’s successes to all providers of Senior Mobility Programs within the county.

When the City was awarded American Rescue Plan funding for Meal Gap Services in November 2021, Franco developed an action plan to utilize the funding to purchase grocery gift cards for the community in a short amount of time. He worked with the Finance Department to develop a recording keeping plan to ensure tracking of the funds and gift cards. $157,000 worth of gift cards were distributed to qualifying members of the community. In addition, $50,000 worth of shelf stable meals were distributed to the community through this program.

Enyelber not only has a passion to serve the community and his team, but also has a passion for fashion. If you are lucky enough, you will get to see his collection of cardigans, boots, and tennis shoes.

In addition to being a fashionista, Enyelber’s hobbies include cycling, watching wrestling shows, collecting pins and vinyl records, and catching the latest Marvel or Star Wars movies. He is a sports fanatic and his favorite teams include the Los Angeles Football Club, New England Patriots, Anaheim Ducks, and Los Angeles Lakers.