Jefferson Council on Aging, Inc.

About Jefferson Council on Aging

Jefferson Council on Aging (JCOA), a 501(c)(3) organization, is the front line resource for Jefferson Parish’s senior population. They plan, organize, and facilitate a comprehensive set of programs and services for improving the quality of life of Jefferson Parish’s 60+-year-old seniors—all of whom represent nearly one-fourth of the parish’s population. 

Some of JCOA’s services include personal care management, nutrition, in-home respite care, transportation, and even legal services for those who need it.  Nutrition Services provides hot and ready-to-eat midday meals every weekday to eligible seniors at their homes or neighborhood senior centers. The dedicated staff members are always looking for ways to engage and improve the lives of the seniors they serve.    

Driven by their mission of assisting the senior citizens of Jefferson Parish to age with dignity and independence, JCOA strives to provide seniors and disabled adults the guidance, empowerment, and support they need in order to thrive. 

Before beginning our WorkWave contract in May 2021, we were delivering approximately 1,100 meals per day. WorkWave’s RouteManager system has helped us increase deliveries to 1,500 meals per day. Our plan is to bring that up to 1,600 in the near future.

The Challenge

JCOA is responsible for a plethora of deliveries and transportation needs, so they understand the importance of an efficient and seamless routing system. Before encountering WorkWave, they were using a third-party software that they described to be tedious and time-consuming. 

When they needed to log mass amounts of new routes into their system or make small changes to current routes—while coping with an influx of delivery requests during the pandemic—they were unable to make these changes quickly and easily.  

JCOA knew it was time to look for an alternative routing system that could not only improve their current processes but also support their growth in the future. Upon learning more about RouteManager by WorkWave, JCOA’s Care Management and Nutrition Director, Jeanne Tripoli, told us, 

I liked how the software allowed us to have control of the routing process. Plus, the price point was really reasonable and as a non-profit, that’s really important to us.

The Solution

Since implementing RouteManager by WorkWave, JCOA has been able to gain more control over their delivery routes and is, therefore, able to assist their seniors better than ever before. Its efficiency and user-friendly experience make it easy to create more consistent delivery schedules, which is an extremely valuable feature for seniors who prefer to receive their meals at a specific time every day. JCOA was also happy to report a drastic reduction in delivery-related complaints.

From both the delivery drivers’ and administrators’ perspectives, RouteManager has improved JCOA’s day-to-day operations, particularly within the senior nutrition food delivery and transportation department. JCOA’s delivery drivers appreciate RouteManager’s ability to adjust routes quickly and seamlessly on the fly.

The administrators who are actively working with the software back in the office are still in awe of its ability to implement changes and new data quickly and easily.

For example, they recently needed to reassign 150 routes to different drivers. Normally, this task would have taken hours of careful planning and calculating. But with RouteManager, they were able to implement all of the route changes within minutes with no error or miscommunications amongst the drivers.

Having a smoother routing process also allows the delivery drivers to develop connections with the seniors they serve. They are now able to spend more time at each home, develop a connection with the customer, and refer them to other helpful JCOA programs and services. Some of the seniors have mentioned how much they appreciate this aspect, especially while being in isolation due to COVID-19.

Many of the delivery drivers and employees are seniors themselves, so JCOA was concerned that they’d face opposition from a less tech-savvy population. WorkWave, however, was able to quickly mitigate this concern, making it possible for JCOA to experience the benefits of RouteManager with or without utilizing the RouteManager Mobile App. This was one of the main reasons why they chose RouteManager.