John Zabawa

John Zabawa (pronounced Za-BA-va) is President/CEO of Seniors' Resource Center in Denver, Colorado, a 32-year-old private non-profit organization that provides home- and community-based services to enhance independence, dignity and quality of life for seniors. Last year (2009), the organization served 18,655 older adults, their caregivers and the disabled through transportation, in-home care, adult day and respite services, care management, job training and placement, information and assistance, and volunteer opportunities. Seniors' Resource Center operates five facilities and serves residents of 10 counties in the Denver metro area and the foothills.

John has spent the last 28 years working in the field of aging and is now providing leadership to an $8.7 million capital campaign to renovate the organization's headquarters facilities and create a new, 17,000-square-foot adult day complex in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, astride the boundary between Jefferson County and western Denver. He previously led a capital campaign to create a well-known community hub in Evergreen, Colorado, popularly known as the "Yellow House," for the benefit of elderly foothills residents and their caregivers. Three other adult day care locations are operating since John began executive leadership at SRC; two opened in the last two years.

John is past president of the Colorado Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, which represented the first time that post was held by a leader of a community-based services provider. He also served with the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) as a member of its new cabinet (Fall 2007) promoting home and community-based services for the elderly. He is chairman emeritus of the board of directors for the Jefferson Center for Mental Health, an executive committee member of the Tri-County Workforce Development Board, and has been an active member of the Jefferson County Council on the Aging for over a decade. John is currently serving on the State Long Term Care Advisory Committee under the Health Care Policy and Finance Department.

John served as a delegate representing Colorado at the 2005 White House Conference on Aging, appointed by the president of the Colorado State Senate; and he is a leader in its ongoing Silverprint Colorado initiative to create a statewide strategic plan for aging services. In 1996, he traveled to China as a U.S. Delegate studying aging issues. John has served on a Colorado Medicaid Long-Term Care Reform committee and the Governor's Interagency Coordinating Council for Transportation Access and Mobility. John is a Charter member and Past President of the Evergreen Rotary Club. In 2009 he was selected by Jefferson County City & Mountain Views Magazine as one of Jeffco's 150 Most Contributing Citizens.