Music “Hot Pursuit” did an amazing job providing the musical classics. The photo booth was a nice addition to the event. Most of the seniors enjoyed themselves in the dance floor. The seniors dressed up with their vintage theme clothing. Being part of the greeting at the entrance of the red carpet was so much fun and seeing the seniors happy and feeling positive made the room bright. Interacting with the seniors. They were guiding my classmates and I how to dance. I am not a good dancer myself, with their guidance and optimism they made it feel comfortable and easy to follow.
During this class session we discussed about the planning arrangements for the Senior Prom for both Casa de Manana and Mary West Center. Photo Booth, T-Dance, food, music from the seniors time period, such as the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, decorations, assembly line to grab food. Figure out the role before hand. Interact with the seniors and converse with community members. I also was in charge of making a flyer for the senior prom which is title LCS Program presents: Night on the Red Carpet with an Oscar theme for Casa Manana. Also, the decorations will be Saint Patrick’s day theme for Mary West Center. During class we discussed the type of prizes the seniors can possibly win in the raffle and the awards trophies recognition for a couple seniors for their personality or talent.
During class we talked about Book presentation This Chair Rocks. During the presentation my group members discussed about how the author Ashton Applewhite advocates that people should be aware about agesim around them and embrace about growing older. In class we also addressed the issue about ageism, which is a socially constructed idea that has changed overtime that serves a social and economic purpose. In addition, we also addressed how people can experience agesim by being called “too old” or people making a judgement based on a persons age. We also connected with the book Selling the Foundation of Youth about the terms how taking advantage of the negative ideals of ageism and using beauty anti-aging products to appear young and youthful looking to avoid the natural aging process.
During class we discussed about looking into community planning groups to look into the specifics of land use, zoning policies etc. maps, demographic, outlines the specific area, caption why is it important. Went over method how we can get data through SANDAG, UCSD Social Explorer to investigate specific traits about the site in its boundary, and benchmark data. The professor’s also gave advice how to explore and investigate more about the site. For example, if my group had a site at Downtown East Village. We can investigate about the older housing units, expand out of land use changes. It was also mentioned that it’s important to give contrast to other sites and compare how each site are different
The Bayside Community Center is a non-profit located in Linda Vista is known to be a diverse community in San Diego close to a Catholic social institution USD. Linda Vista is known to be the sixth distress poorest neighborhood in San Diego. The issue was that the directors who runned the community center had to leave due to the lack of funding in the center. However, community members fought for the center to stay in the neighborhood, because community members felt a sense of belonging and most programs helped to educate and empower all age groups from children to elders. Its heartwarming that even from the poorest neighborhoods community members contributed funds to keep the programs running. Visiting the bay side center I experienced in person one of the many activities offered in the center “Zumba”, which is a friendly dance and exercise activity followed by a dance instructor. The Zumba session was fun and can see many people particularly elders that can be able to follow the dance/exercise routine. Most people does zumba twice a week for an hour I thought many of the community activities like zumba was a fun way to incorporate dance and exercise. After the exercise activity was over the elders felt great. It’s nice to see that activities with the public can create social networks where not only people can come together, but also an opportunity to bond with other people from many different diverse cultures. It’s amazing how that a community center can grow and stand strong by the power of the community members. Now the community center will establish a public charter school as linda vista community campus. A thrive bayside partnership opening august 2018.
The retirement home consisted with breathtaking scenery, spacious lounge areas , resident’s artwork, and friendly staff. Casa offer’s group activities for residents to interact with their neighbors, which promotes residents to feel inclusive and part of the community. There is a common misconception about senior retirement homes as an unwelcoming place to live in and generalization that elders who live in these retirement homes experience depression. However, visiting casa manana in person I witnessed a caring and happy community. The staff in casa manana are very attentive to the residents needs, as a matter of fact, they offer medical services and coordinate social events. The staff members interact with the residents with a warm greeting and would call each other by their name. The vision for this home is to create a lively environment and a thriving community. Seniors form friendships and learn from each others diverse cultural background. Elders are not alone they have their house members to socialize with and participate in events together. Seniors feel a sense of belonging and continue to stay socially connected with the group of people they interact with. In comparison with Gary & Mary West Center and Casa Manana. Gary & Mary West have affordable services for low income and as for for Casa Seniors will have to have a comfortable income. Nevertheless, both facilities have a common theme of a safe welcoming warm environment that creates trust and fosters positivity.
Alice lived during a time where women faces challenges by a male patriarchal society. To illustrate, men are known to occupy high ranking careers, while women were discouraged in applying these careers. Regardless of the gender social circumstance Alice continue to push through countless hurdles to pursue her dream as a dean at a university. Till this day she continues to have a positive outlook in life and always crave to learn something new. Alice also mentions that it is important to know about history and learn from its past experiences. She emphasizes that by recognizing historical patterns can guide people to make the right choices, as well as, acknowledging the empowering messages of past revolutionary leaders. What I learned through this conversation is that elders have the experience, wisdom, and the ability to pass on their teachings to the upcoming generation. These teachings are often not shared through common media and deserves to be shared amongst the public. Their stories matter and guide younger people to draw in valuable skills as well as connecting with people from a different age group. The greatest take away from visiting casa was that seniors are still capable to do the things they enjoy to do. Weather it be participating in women marches, keeping up to date with the latest news around the globe, or playing a sport. They are living their lives to the fullest. Wednesday Reflection: Gary and Mary West Center 1/17/18 The housing cost in San Diego is known to be very expensive. Elders depend on their pensions as their monthly income and financial stability. However, many elders are economically challenged to sustain themselves in San Diego. San Diego is one of the most expensive cities to to live in. Elders are using majority of their monthly income to pay housing expenses. The income that is left is not enough to pay for medical expenses and basic essentials to sustain themselves. The Gary and Mary West Center was opened to offer the elder population essential resources through medical and oral health, fun interactive programs, meals, and a vibrant warm communal area where elders feel welcomed. This center aims to keep elders off the streets and provide them with recreational services that makes them feel positive and get to know their community members.. The center is very diverse and speak languages from Mandarin, Tagalog, and Spanish. Also, brings people who are culturally sensitive to understand other individual cultural background. By having a diverse center where elders are able to communicate with other who come from different cultural customs will break down cultural barriers and provide a positive atmosphere where people can be themselves.
What I found interesting was that ever since the tax bill reform. Programs like medicare and medical will be cut. In other words, most of the services provided from the center will be defunded and shortage of resources. The dental services use funding for new technology to provide the best quality service. In example, elders can come in and don’t have to have a temporary crown. With the funded technology they can have a permanent crown and won’t need to return. In addition, the dentistry in the center looked professional and well built. During the board game activity it was interesting to see how a person's position can impact their lives. People with different backgrounds can either start as privilege, neutral, or disadvantage status in the game of life. What caught my attention was that people have the opportunity access to resources regardless of their position. For example, the neutral or disadvantage position encountered many challenges, but were able to preserve and live a well-off life. There were many helpful programs that were able to assist people, such as health care, governmental programs, and assistance from other people. This shows that there are programs and helpful resources available to assist people who are in need. In addition, it is also to show that people don’t have to face difficult hurdles by themselves and have the opportunity to seek for help.
Creating the river life timeline was a reflective activity. It was an opportunity to see an overview of my life experiences. By drawing it out, it was interesting how much a person can grow from different time periods in their lifetime. In the reflective piece seeing myself as a 80 year old. It was eye opening to think about life accomplishments and challenges progressed in my personal life. I acknowledged self-growth and understand the importance to self-reflect. This leads to the importance of reflective listening during a one-to-one with the extraordinary person. As the memoir partner it is essential to actively listen what the extraordinary person is saying and reflectively think afterwards about how they became the person they are now today. From the one-to-one with EP the goal is to find their values, traditions, and traits to understand who they are. This includes to hear their stories and what lessons they took from their learning experiences. I learned that by creating a memoir it is an opportunity for the newer generation to interact with elders as well as to capture a theme in a person’s life. |
Elizabeth gomezArchives
June 2018
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