The Florida Council
on Aging is
committed to serving
Florida's diverse
aging interests
through education,
information-sharing
and advocacy.
FCOA's Core Values

Founded in 1955, the
Florida Council on
Aging is Florida's
only statewide
association
representing virtually
all aging interests
and many different
disciplines.

The Third Decade
1975 - 1985

FCOA's bylaws were changed on a piecemeal basis year by year. In 1974, Dr. Albert Hardy was given the responsibility of developing and recommending a comprehensive set of bylaws that would answer some of the questions relating to the existing bylaws. These bylaws were completed in October 1974 and submitted to the FCOA membership. This resulted in a number of additional changes being made and approved in 1975. The process also included changing the structure of FCOA's organizational chart. Sectional meetings were set up to provide small group meetings of members. This made it possible for all FCOA members to have an active part in council activities by meeting together to concentrate on specific areas of concern in which they had a special interest. The new organizational chart also made clear the levels of responsibility from the membership to the board of trustees down through the executive committee, including the establishment of subcommittees for education and public relations.

By 1977, FCOA had a total of 157 members.

In 1980, the Tallahassee office of the Florida Council on Aging was established and a part-time secretary was hired. Lifeline became FCOA's first corporate member that year.

In 1981, the Quality Senior Living Awards (QSLA) began, with SuperX Drugs as a co-sponsor. The QSLA was established to recognize the outstanding contributions of an individual Florida senior citizen working on behalf of older Floridians. SuperX Drugs and FCOA agreed that an effort should be made to enhance the image of older Americans and aging. Due to the growing response to the original "Super Senior" Award, additional categories were added beginning in 1983, starting with the "Media" Award.

The FCOA Board of Trustees created the Hall of Fame Award in 1983. The purpose was to recognize extraordinary contributions to the field of aging statewide for a period of ten years or more. The first recipient of the award was Senator Claude Pepper.

In 1984, the HRS Aging and Adult Services Program Office joined with FCOA to hold coordinated statewide annual conferences attended by staff of the entire aging network of agencies serving the aging population and members of other professions that serve older people. The FCOA conference continued to be an annual event and helped bring more members into the organization.