Gary and Mary West Center

Being able to visit the Gary and Mary West Center and interact personally with seniors was an enriching experience. I loved the organizational structure of the center. As I said in class, the hierarchy of needs - eque model is an integrated and effective approach to treating the perils facing current San Diego seniors. When someone checks in at the center, they are entitled to a meal, a very pressing stress that seniors and many more people deal with, sometimes daily. After nutrition is satisfied, resources to medical care, rehabilitation services, employment and housing services and more are accessible through the center. Being able to serve the seniors food was really sweet. It felt pretty natural, mostly because my job is serving people’s food at restaurants. However, there is a different gratitude that was expressed to the seniors, compared to my guests at the restaurant. It was heartwarming to see smiles and sincere appreciation for us being there. It makes me really excited for the senior prom that we plan to do there as well. I’m anxious to return. I also had a fun experience where one of the seniors read a quote that was on the back of my t-shirt. The quote is lyrics to a Frank Ocean song (I had honestly forgotten that it was there). A man asked me about it and told me he liked my shirt. I was able to tell him the artist. The super cool thing is he was able (possibly) to go to the internet cafe and listen to Frank Ocean’s music right after that! I’m thankful this resource is available to the seniors who use it. ​