These past two weeks have been amazing. These past two weeks we were able to take virtual tours of different housing complexes for the elderly. After each of the tour days, I felt emotionally drained. There were parts of each of the tours that made me very emotional and held it in until the visits/classes were finished.
On February 2nd, we were given tours by the staff from Serving Seniors, Wakeland Housing, and Community Housing Works. For me, one of the main reasons I wanted to joining the Life Course Scholars Program was to focus on the healthy aging of Queer and Trans Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (QTBIPOC) folxs because of the lack of QTBIPOC individuals that are still alive reaching their elder years. I was able to hear that there is housing for people part of community from Community Housing Works (CHW) that works with North Park Seniors, an LGBTQIA+ affirming housing community that houses elderly LGBTQIA+ folxs. Hearing about North Park Seniors made me want to cry because of the amount of LGBTQIA+ folxs I heard living there (in their later years) made me think I can one day be able to live my truth and reach a very old age. What has stuck with me from the tour is from Tiffany La Mar (the Resource Development Associate for CHW). She especially talked about using the residents storytelling to advocate for the needs of the residents. That really hit me because I strongly believe in the art of allowing for your narrative to be heard and for your narrative to be heard by others in the future through the work of archiving them.
The following week (February 9th), we had the honor to have a quick tour and talk with current residents at Casa de Mañana located in La Jolla, CA. In the beginning, we were given a short presentation on Casa de Mañana. Then, we were broken into smaller groups with current residents. I had the honor to be in the group with Alice and Dot. Alice is one of the oldest residents at Casa, and she had so much advice to give us. Specifically, to not quit until you have to. In her beginning intro, Dot made me cry a little bit inside when she was talking about when she went back to get her Bachelor’s Degree at the age of 50. This was because of the talks of my mother who wants to go back to get her Bachelor’s at the same age as Dot after getting her Associate’s to provide for my brother and I all these years. At the end of the conversation, as a closing question, Alice and Dot asked my group: What do you want to get out of this course? All academics aside, I said, “I want to get my connection back with the older population. Ever since my grandmother died, I have no connection to older folxs. My grandmother was my last link, and I have no other surviving grandparents.”
After that class, the next week was really rough on me. I can’t wait to present my Oral History Project though
On February 2nd, we were given tours by the staff from Serving Seniors, Wakeland Housing, and Community Housing Works. For me, one of the main reasons I wanted to joining the Life Course Scholars Program was to focus on the healthy aging of Queer and Trans Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (QTBIPOC) folxs because of the lack of QTBIPOC individuals that are still alive reaching their elder years. I was able to hear that there is housing for people part of community from Community Housing Works (CHW) that works with North Park Seniors, an LGBTQIA+ affirming housing community that houses elderly LGBTQIA+ folxs. Hearing about North Park Seniors made me want to cry because of the amount of LGBTQIA+ folxs I heard living there (in their later years) made me think I can one day be able to live my truth and reach a very old age. What has stuck with me from the tour is from Tiffany La Mar (the Resource Development Associate for CHW). She especially talked about using the residents storytelling to advocate for the needs of the residents. That really hit me because I strongly believe in the art of allowing for your narrative to be heard and for your narrative to be heard by others in the future through the work of archiving them.
The following week (February 9th), we had the honor to have a quick tour and talk with current residents at Casa de Mañana located in La Jolla, CA. In the beginning, we were given a short presentation on Casa de Mañana. Then, we were broken into smaller groups with current residents. I had the honor to be in the group with Alice and Dot. Alice is one of the oldest residents at Casa, and she had so much advice to give us. Specifically, to not quit until you have to. In her beginning intro, Dot made me cry a little bit inside when she was talking about when she went back to get her Bachelor’s Degree at the age of 50. This was because of the talks of my mother who wants to go back to get her Bachelor’s at the same age as Dot after getting her Associate’s to provide for my brother and I all these years. At the end of the conversation, as a closing question, Alice and Dot asked my group: What do you want to get out of this course? All academics aside, I said, “I want to get my connection back with the older population. Ever since my grandmother died, I have no connection to older folxs. My grandmother was my last link, and I have no other surviving grandparents.”
After that class, the next week was really rough on me. I can’t wait to present my Oral History Project though