This Thanksgiving, Listen To (And Interview) Your Elders

Posted on November 16, 2016 by EngAGE

RADIO

In 2015, StoryCorps began a project that is right up our alley. Here’s the scoop:

The Great Thanksgiving Listen is a national education project that empowers high school students to create an oral history of the contemporary United States by recording an interview with an elder over Thanksgiving weekend using the StoryCorps App.

Interviews are entered into the StoryCorps archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and on StoryCorps.me where they become an invaluable resource for future historians and provide families with a priceless piece of personal history.

Not a teacher or a school? You can still participate & make history.

Download the StoryCorps App, select your questions, and take some time to listen and record a loved one this Thanksgiving. Their stories will be preserved for future generations to discover. Check out more “Recipes for Success” and share your interviews with us by tagging #TheGreatListen and @StoryCorps.”

EngAGE knows the value of preserving stories told by elders. Why not share yours during this Thanksgiving holiday? Get details from StoryCorps here.

 

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Holiday Depression Alert

Posted on November 15, 2016 by EngAGE

healthThe holiday season is upon us and, although it is supposed to be a joyful time, it is often just the opposite, especially for older people who may feel disconnected from family or isolated. Warning signs of depression include withdrawal, along with feelings of apathy and hopelessness, as well as loss of appetite. There may be physical symptoms, too, such as headaches and chronic joint or back pain. Depression should not be taken lightly. Click here for more information as well as links to resources that can help.

 

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News from NoHo SAC: Poetry Reading on the 17th

Posted on November 14, 2016 by EngAGE

You’re invited!

poetry-reading

 

 

 

 

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Genetic Testing Fraud

Posted on November 13, 2016 by EngAGE

SENIOR-SERVICESOne of the latest ways that fraudsters have come up with to target older people is to offer free genetic testing. Scammers approach visitors at local health fairs, even canvas senior housing and community centers looking for targets. Supposedly, all you have to do is provide them with your ID, Medicare card, and a cheek swab. They may imply or even promise that your doctor will get the results of your test. Instead, they use your information to bill Medicare for the test as well as other services you never received.

If you want genetic testing for health reasons, be sure to get it through your doctor (who may tell you that it’s unnecessary). If you want genetic testing for learning more about your genealogy, be sure to order a test from a reputable company, such as 23andMe.com, Ancestry.com, or FamilyTreeDNA.com.

 

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Worth Repeating: Michael Graves: Good Design Empowers Patients

Posted on November 12, 2016 by EngAGE

“Worth Repeating” is a weekly feature on the EngAGE Blog that will bring
you previous posts that we think are still timely, interesting, or just plain
fun! From 11/06/12:

WORTH-REPEATINGFrom Wired Science:

Michael Graves lost his ability to walk in 2003 when a sinus infection infiltrated his nervous system, impairing his spinal cord. As he learned to navigate the world from his wheelchair, Graves noticed that places meant to empower patients, like rehab centers and hospitals, weren’t.

He felt powerless in rehab when he couldn’t reach the faucet to brush his teeth or the outlet to plug in his shaver. Everything about the room was designed for people who could stand. Since then, the award-winning architect has been on a mission to revamp hospital furnishings and living spaces so they fit the patients, families and medical staff who use them.

“I decided that since I was a designer, and architect and a patient, I have the credentials to do this,” Graves said Oct. 15 . . . at the inaugural Wired Health Conference.

Learn more about Michael Graves Design here. Learn more about his partnership with Stryker Medical Division here.

 

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EngAGE Launches Programming in Minneapolis!

Posted on November 11, 2016 by EngAGE

Exciting news from Tim Carpenter, Founder and Executive Director of EngAGE:

I’m delighted to announce our first project in Minnesota, where we’ll be known as EngAGE.MN. We have partnered with the affordable housing developer, CommonBond, to offer a 10-week storytelling class in its Riverview Senior Housing community in Minneapolis.

Riverview provides 42 comfortable one-bedroom apartments for low income residents, as well as resident meeting spaces, a computer room, and offices for staff.

“The Power of Storytelling” class, which will explore the power of personal storytelling, will be taught by T. Mychael Rambo, a regional Emmy Award-winning actor, vocalist, arts educator, and community organizer who has made an indelible creative mark in the Twin Cities. The class begins this week.

“The Power of Storytelling” will culminate in a performance by participants in the “Artful Aging Radio” project, two live shows that will be performed and recorded on January 23 – 24, 2017, at the Pillsbury House + Theatre in Minneapolis for radio broadcast and podcast. “Artful Aging Radio” is a collaboration between EngAGE’s radio show, Experience Talks; Pillsbury House + Theatre, Hippocrates Cafe, and Aroha Philanthrophies.

Each show in the “Artful Aging Radio” project will feature inspiring older artists and performers who will share their valuable lifelong experiences as creators of art, music, dance, and theater. Minneapolis is a vibrant center for the arts, offering a wealth of talented older people from which to draw as guests. EngAGE is currently in the process of expanding its artful aging programs to the Twin Cities and these live radio shows will provide a mechanism to not only entertain and educate listeners, but also to promote our “The Power of Storytelling” class.

t-mychael-ramboT. Mychael Rambo, Instructor

A regional Emmy Award winning actor, vocalist, arts educator, and community organizer, T. Mychael Rambo has made an indelible mark in the Twin Cities performing principle roles at such theaters as Penumbra, the Guthrie, Ordway Theatre, and Minnesota Opera, to name but a few. Nationally and internationally, his stage credits include Carnegie Hall and performances abroad in Africa, Europe, and South America. He has appeared in local and national television commercials, feature films (including The Cure, Justice, Crossing the Bridge, Wooley Boys), HBO mini-series (Laurel Avenue, Equinox), and other television programming. Additionally, T. Mychael is an accomplished residency artist (COMPAS, Young Audiences, MN State Arts Board, VocalEssence) and an affiliate professor in the College of Liberal Arts, Theatre Arts, and Dance at the University of Minnesota. As a recording artist, T. Mychael has released two popular CD’s: “Simply” – a collection of jazz standards, and “The Gift, A Christmas With Love” – a selection of original and holiday classics. He also has had the great honor of singing the National Anthem for both President Barack Obama and former President Jimmy Carter.

logo_sq_borderEngAGE is a non-profit that transforms aging and the way people think about aging by turning affordable senior apartment communities into vibrant centers of wellness and creativity. It provides arts, wellness, lifelong learning, community building, and intergenerational programs to senior and family apartment communities in Southern California; Portland, OR; and now in Minneapolis, MN.

Experience_Talks_logo_FB-WEExperience Talks is a weekly public radio program that shares and celebrates the experiences of older people.

 

common-bond

CommonBond Communities, the Midwest’s largest nonprofit provider of affordable housing with services, has served the region for over 40 years. It is considered a national leader and innovator in the affordable housing and community development field.

 

 

hippocrates_logo_0

Hippocrates Cafe uses actors and musicians to create performances that explore health care topics through story and song.

 

pillsbury-housetheatre-logoPillsbury House + Theatre is a popular venue that attracts local and national attention as a model for arts-based community development, bridging the non-profit theatre world and the human service world.

 

Aroha Philanthrophies is devoted to the transformative power of the arts and creativity, inspiring vitality in those over 55.

 

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Experience Talks 11/13: Jeanne K. Russell

Posted on November 10, 2016 by EngAGE

Experience_Talks_logo_FB-WE

01 - KPFK ListenLiveButtonTune in to Experience Talks, our weekly “Radio Magazine for the Experienced Listener,” on Sundays at 5:00 PM PT on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, 98.7 FM Santa Barbara, 99.5 China Lake, 93.7 N. San Diego, streaming live online, and now syndicated on up to 100 Pacifica Network stations! Experience Talks is produced by the non-profit EngAGE, Inc.

 

PODCASTMiss the show? You can always hear it as a podcast on the Listen Page of our website! You’ll also find an archive-in-progress of all of our previous shows there for you to enjoy. New shows are usually posted within 48 hours after broadcast.

 

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13 @ 5 PM PT
JEANNE K. RUSSELL
with host JOHN SEMPER JR.

Jeanne RussellJEANNE K. RUSSELL is best known for playing Dennis’s playmate, Margaret Wade, in the television series Dennis The Menace, which was based on the Hank Ketcham comic strip of the same name and aired from 1959 to 1963 on CBS. She was the favored choice of Jay North, who starred in the role of Dennis, to play his nemesis playmate. She appeared in 31 of the series’ 146 episodes over the four-year run of the show. She and North still occasionally appear together at celebrity events.

Jeanne also appeared in other popular TV shows of the era, including, The Deputy(1959), Assignment: Underwater (1961), Death Valley Days (1961), and The Dinah Shore Show. She also provided a singing voice in the 1961 Disney movie Babes in Toyland and made an uncredited appearance in the 1963 popular suspense horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, The Birds, in which she played a school child.

Since 1978, Dr. Russell has been practicing chiropractic medicine in the North Hollywood/Toluca Lake (California) area. She also counsels and coaches patients, assisting them with intuitive eating skills to embrace a healthy lifestyle. In addition, she has developed a powerful posture building series of movement and strengthening exercises, which draw from her career in show business. (She is also trained in ballet and jazz dance.)

Dr. Russell co-chaired the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Young Performers’ Committee for several years, and was instrumental in the positive changes made to protect child actors. To help achieve this, she worked extensively with her friend, Paul Petersen, and his group, A Minor Consideration.

Russell is the sister of the late Bryan Russell, who was also a child actor from 1959 to 1967. He appeared in such feature films as The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) and Emil and the Detectives (1964), and as Ann-Margaret’s younger brother in Bye Bye, Birdie (1963).

Visit Jeanne’s website here.

 

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