This week, we took two trips, one out to downtown San Diego exploring different affordable housing options and to the Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center. All of the housing options were catered to different needs of the elderly population; we went to a senior center that was primary for low income residents/elderly citizens who lived at Federal Poverty Level, a transitional housing unit that partnered with them, a beautiful subsidized housing area (Talmadge Lodge) and a LGBTQ focused apartment complex in Hillcrest. These housing choices revealed to us the limited array of options that were provided to elderly citizens that lived alone and did not have the social structure or support to ease their older years. Apart from requisite shelter, they provided two meals a day, and most importantly, a place to socialize. and Still, even within these scarce resources, the people who managed these places had done a wonderful job. Talmadge Lodge especially impressed me- it looked like a place that felt like home. Born out of a partnership with the government and a world-class architectural firm, Talmadge Lodge felt like a high scale apartment complex. We meet a resident, Bruce, who shared with us his story of being homeless, receiving medical care for his prostate cancer and going around the block to sleep at the nearby McDonald’s. Bruce’s home was so lovely- it is important to realize that an essential component in living is retaining that sense of dignity and self-control.
The Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center was also a great center. I was so inspired by the number of partnerships that they had developed over the years to gain access to free services for their elderly population. That kind of governmental and private sponsorship that they had, as well as being supplied by ample amount of donations, reminded me that interdependence of resources is key to the independence and happiness of an individual. The elderly folks seemed to really love coming to socialize and to eat the nutritious food that had been prepared for them. I met a wonderful woman named Beatrice, who shared with me that the reason she couldn’t go live with her family was because of the free access to healthcare she received in San Diego. Since the military covered her benefits, she was essentially tied down to here and fragmented from the rest of her family. Medical reasons is a key component in becoming homeless or even financially unstable- still, the amount of resources that the Wellness Center provides, ranging from psychiatric care to dental care, seems to be providing a thin veneer of support to their population.
The Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center was also a great center. I was so inspired by the number of partnerships that they had developed over the years to gain access to free services for their elderly population. That kind of governmental and private sponsorship that they had, as well as being supplied by ample amount of donations, reminded me that interdependence of resources is key to the independence and happiness of an individual. The elderly folks seemed to really love coming to socialize and to eat the nutritious food that had been prepared for them. I met a wonderful woman named Beatrice, who shared with me that the reason she couldn’t go live with her family was because of the free access to healthcare she received in San Diego. Since the military covered her benefits, she was essentially tied down to here and fragmented from the rest of her family. Medical reasons is a key component in becoming homeless or even financially unstable- still, the amount of resources that the Wellness Center provides, ranging from psychiatric care to dental care, seems to be providing a thin veneer of support to their population.