EngAGE changes lives by transforming affordable senior and multigenerational apartment communities into vibrant centers of learning, wellness, and creativity.
EngAGE welcomes Sarah Davis, our Community for All Ages Program Director for Broadleaf Arbor in St. Helens, Oregon.
Over the past several years, Sarah has been a voice for the St. Helens, OR, community. As a parent and a community member, she has advocated for whole health community well-being through her work in school-based health centers, suicide prevention, and upstream prevention as the focus of her personal and professional life mission. Her focus on strength, kindness, and hope as core values bring a unique set of skills to provide services in her new role at EngAGE Northwest.
EngAGE is grateful for the $350,000 grant awarded by The Eisner Foundation which will provide two years of program support to create learning and mentoring opportunities for children and low-income seniors through intergenerational arts education and collaborations between affordable senior housing residents and schools in Southern California.
The Eisner Foundation identifies, advocates for, and invests in high-quality and innovative programs that unite multiple generations for the enrichment of our communities.
Northeast Oregon Housing Authority (NEOHA) and Community Development Partners (CDP) have started construction of La Grande’s newest housing community, Timber Ridge, a 4.8-acre, 82-unit affordable housing development designed to foster community and intergenerational living while providing the services and support needed for individuals and families to thrive. The development of Timber Ridge is critical to addressing the region’s affordable housing needs.
EngAGE Northwest (NW) will lead the resident services programming, in collaboration with NEOHA, with additional childhood education services provided by Eastern Oregon University’s Head Start program.
Maria Rojo de Steffey, Executive Director of EngAGE NW, offered these comments:
“It is very exciting for us to work with NEOHA and CDP to bring EngAGE programming to this Community for All Ages. Sometimes we forget that since the beginning of time our ancestors succeeded by relying on the strengths of all members of their tribes and clans. The wisdom of the elders helped guide the actions of everyone while imparting important lessons to the children. The children in turn provided help for the elders as needed. And the physical strength and skills of the adults provided for the welfare of all. This is what a Community for All Ages is all about. EngAGE Northwest looks forward to collaborating at Timber Ridge to achieve this kind of meaningful experience for residents.”
The Picerne Family Foundation supports programming at the North Hollywood and Burbank Senior Arts Colonies through a new Musical Theatre Movement class led by Marc Mantell, an accredited actor, director, and writer who has taught professional level acting, dance, and musical theater in New York and Los Angeles. A former Broadway dancer himself, he weaves stories of his personal experiences with the history behind Broadway musical productions, then incorporates dance movements and simple combinations from these shows into exercise routines that can be executed by people at any level of ability, including those using walkers and wheelchairs. Familiar songs from famous musicals such as “Chicago” and “West Side Story” inspire the routines. The class, which is also supported by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture, is an enormous hit with residents! See a 30″ video here.
Marc’s theatrical career as a performer and author is as diversified as his talent. He has appeared in films and has had guest leads on television with recurring roles on both soaps and a series. These acting credits have been combined with an impressive body of work in the theater. Within a short time after his debut performance on the New York stage at the age of fourteen, he was being acknowledged as a strong dancer and singer.
Marc constantly studied with the best teachers in New York. He was cast by some of the theater’s finest directors and performed leading roles in major productions and tours of such musicals as The Sound of Music; The Fantasticks; West Side Story; Fiddler on the Roof; Stop the World – I Want to Get Off; Promises, Promises; and Gypsy. A season with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada led to a series of dramatic leads in various productions of The Lion in Winter, Antigone, Satyricon, Spring Awakening, Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, and Macbeth, in venues ranging from the Public Theater in New York to the Ahmanson in Los Angeles.
Marc brings yet another vibrant and exciting class to our residents. We look forward to witnessing their growth under his tutelage.
Sebastian Le, a Business and Dance student from the University of San Francisco, joined EngAGE as an intern working with EngAGE Intergenerational Programs Director Liv Schaffer. Liv is also the Director of Dance Generators, the University of San Francisco’s intergenerational dance company, which we featured in a previous post.
Sebastian’s summer internship has come to a close. It provided him with valuable experience working with our older adult residents, and our residents benefitted from his enthusiasm and participation in the creative programming they enjoy. You can read his thoughts below and click here to watch a video of his final performance for the residents of Crescent Park in Richmond, CA.
Credit: Hillary Goidell, courtesy of Dance Generators
August 2022
Before Dance Generators, I did not have any experience with or understanding of intergenerational relationships. My friends and people that I interacted with most were all around my age. I never thought about connecting with older generations the same way I did with people my age, and was unsure if I would enjoy dancing in an intergenerational group. Honestly, the first thought that came to mind when I first heard the phrase “intergenerational dance” was simplified dance routines – I could not have been more wrong. Moving with Dance Generators’ members, I was able to learn from the unique qualities older adults brought to rehearsal every week. And more importantly, the time I spent with all the members allowed me to form meaningful relationships that I would not have even thought about before.
My time with the Dance Generators prepared me for my internship with EngAGE at Crescent Park. However, coming to Crescent Park felt like a different challenge. The Dance Generators is a group of people who all are connected through their passion for dance, and the community at Crescent Park is much larger and filled with people who have a wide array of passions and interests. Since joining the Dance Generators, I’ve grown very comfortable going to rehearsal and moving with everyone, but I never challenged myself to build intergenerational relationships beyond our group.
I felt a little pressure to give my best effort to get to know the residents at Crescent Park. During the first couple of weeks, I remember awkwardly approaching residents to introduce myself and hesitantly passing out the bingo boards. Although it felt uncomfortable and something that I was not used to, I tried to think of it like a dance with Dance Generators members to help open myself up. I was able to quickly bond with everyone, and now have so many great memories of talking with the residents as we worked on art projects or chatting before events that would not be possible if I did not experience those early uncomfortable moments. Connecting across differences can feel foreign at first, but can lead to meaningful connections.
The other end of the aging spectrum was reflected during my time at Crescent Park this summer, too! It was wonderful to see youth residents attend events such as the beat-making and percussion classes. The smiling faces of kids while they helped the teacher make a beat, and the intense focus of their eyes following along to the rhythm made me feel happy that these events are providing a good time for all of the residents, no matter their age.
I was able to get to know the vibrant nature of the residents at Crescent Park and found my time there meaningful. My involvement as an intern with EngAGE and dancer with Dance Generators has taught me the value of intergenerational participation. There are a lot of things that each generation can teach one another, and I don’t think that is valued enough in society. Intergenerational relationships are a beautiful part of life that have helped me grow personally and artistically. I am more open-minded to different approaches and ideas. I explore more than I used to. I feel my growth being prompted by these relationships and can sense the benefit across many aspects of my life. I will forever be grateful for the memories that the residents of Crescent Park and the members of the Dance Generators have given me.
EngAGE has received a generous grant of $39,200 for two years from the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture through its Organizational Grant Program. OGP is Los Angeles County’s longest-running arts grant program, providing funding for the diverse ecosystem of arts nonprofits that range in size, budget, and discipline—from arts education, to theater, music, and dance, to visual, media, and literary arts.
This funding will support EngAGE in Creativity, our community-based, multidisciplinary arts program taught by professional teaching artists with classes and events on-site at the affordable older adult and intergenerational apartment communities we serve. We are grateful for this acknowledgement of the value of our program.
