EngAGE Founder Tim Carpenter reflects on the earliest days of creating an organization that would revolutionize the way older adults live and thrive in community:
“I taught the first writing class at Heritage Park Duarte, a senior community. We did our first culminating event in Duarte, a night of personal stories performed by residents at the community center in town. Residents’ families and friends, politicians, people from the community/neighborhood, etc., came, and it was pretty revelatory that this could work to inspire people to change the way they aged and saw aging.”
That initial writing class eventually blossomed into the many classes we offer today on memoir writing, poetry, storytelling, play writing, and more. Here are a few photos from last year’s “Writing for Life” creative writing class at Burbank Senior Artists Colony, led by teaching artist Sarah Jacobus. EngAGE held a reception to celebrate the opening of a graphic display of the work from the class on the theme of “Where I’m From.” The installation was in the upstairs landing for two months for residents and visitors to enjoy.
