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"Where flowers bloom, so does hope."—Lady Bird Johnson
Hi Everyone,
This is a quick email update to say Hello and offer a few ideas for Palisades seniors as we start the summer during this fourth month of the Covid-19 shutdown.
We miss you, and look forward to the day it will be feasible to meet in person again, to sit together and enjoy birthday cake and a program, and catch up with how all have weathered this strange time.
It would be great to be able to announce plans for the resumption of our programs. But, clearly, we're not there yet. There is no word on when the library will reopen; even when it does, community gatherings, particularly for the "at risk" population, are not likely to resume immediately. We are trying to reimagine how we might meet, and are still working toward the day we can proceed with these events; however, the upshot is that Palisades Alliance for Seniors programs continue to be suspended for the foreseeable future.
In our last email newsletter, we listed some resources that some people have found useful, in the areas of safety, food, improving tech skills, entertainment, and charitable donations. Those suggestions are all still valid. (If you're looking for that newsletter but can't find it, you can find the content here.) This time, we thought we'd list a few additional ideas you might find interesting:
- Free webinar, "Caring for Your Mind Health During a Pandemic", Wednesday, July 8. Offered by the UCLA Longevity Center. This will be a Zoom meeting. (For a refresher on using Zoom, click here.
- Be an (Internet) pen pal. Reach out to a friend; forward a cute video; or just say, "I miss you."
- Free webinar, "Dementia Specific Strategies in a Time of Social Distancing" , Monday, July 13. Monica Moore, MSG, Community Health Program manager at the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research at UCLA, will discuss the challenges that people with dementia and their care partners are faced with due to social distancing. She will also discuss strategies to alleviate these challenges and adapt to the new normal of these times.
- *The Front Porch Center for Innovation and Well-Being has prepared a resource guide, "Staying Home and Staying Connected" to help engage and connect older adults through technology. The guide is separated into three parts: tech-related resources (mostly for those who use Alexa), a huge list of interesting online resources , and a short COVID-19 primer on internet safety and scams. Front Porch is a chain of senior communities, so there's a bit of "residents may enjoy..." language, but the guide includes a lot of good information.
- Always meant to learn Spanish? (Or French / Italian / German, etc.) This is a great time to take up language-learning. Duolingo offers free classes online.
- The UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC) offers free weekly online "drop-in" meditation sessions . "Mindful Awareness is the moment-by-moment process of actively and openly observing one's physical, mental and emotional experiences. Mindfulness has scientific support as a means to reduce stress, improve attention, boost the immune system, reduce emotional reactivity, and promote a general sense of health and well-being."
In closing, we wish you a happy Fourth of July. Although the community's traditional Independence Day celebrations have been canceled, the Palisades 4th of July committee is organizing a festive virtual concert for the evening of the 4th. More info here. The finale will be a rousing community-wide sing-along, wherein neighbors step outside their doors at 9:00 p.m. sharp and together sing “This Land is Your Land.” We hope you'll join in.
Till we meet again,
Palisades Alliance for Seniors Board of Directors
- Esther Brudo
- Therese Funk
- Claude Goodrich
- Iris Kaphan
- Steve Lantz
- Christine Odionu
- Ron Segall
- Karen Stigler