EngAGE changes lives by transforming affordable senior and multigenerational apartment communities into vibrant centers of learning, wellness, and creativity.
Brenda is the Program Director for The Jasmine at Founders Village, The Grove Senior Apartments, and Coventry Court Senior Apartments in Orange County, CA.
Brenda Garcia, Program Director: Brenda was born and raised in Orange County. She graduated from the University of California Merced with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a double minor in Creative Writing and Literature. She is currently taking communications classes at Santa Ana College because she says she needs to be constantly learning something new. She enjoys reading, creative writing, traveling, comedy, music, painting, and well-deserved naps. One of her passions in life is helping or at least inspiring others to work toward their full potential.
Our music-loving residents at Long Beach Senior Arts Colony inLong Beach, CA, rocked out with EngAGE teaching artist Lauren Wright, vocalist Malek Sammour, and Frank McIlquham, Director of The Rock Club/Music is the Remedy. EngAGE Program Director Helene Weinberg delivered music bling bags to each of the fifteen older adult participants, which included song lyrics, earphones, and rock star sunglasses that they donned for this photo. Our special guests for this first rehearsal were the amazing team from the NAMM Foundation whose support is making this special music program possible. A culminating Zoom concert event is scheduled for Friday, September 25. Contact HeleneEngage@gmail.com for more info and an invitation.
Yolonda Yvette Wilson is a 2019-2020 fellow at the National Humanities Center and a 2019-2020 Encore Public Voices fellow. She holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests include bioethics, social and political philosophy, race theory, and feminist philosophy. She is broadly interested in the nature and limits of the state’s obligations to rectify historic and continuing injustice, particularly in the realm of health care, and is developing an account of justice that articulates specific requirements for racial justice in health care at the end of life.
Her recent article, “Intersectionality in Clinical Medicine: The Need for a Conceptual Framework,” is a consideration on applying intersectionality’s intellectual approach (how race, gender, and other social identities converge in order to create unique forms of oppression) in the clinical environment. Professor Wilson is the lead editor of a forthcoming special issue of The Journal of Social Philosophy entitled Exploring Racial Injustice. Her article, “A Postmortem on Postraciality,” will appear in that issue. Presently, Professor Wilson is at work on a monograph, Black Death: Racial Justice, Priority-Setting, and Care at the End of Life. She uses racial disparities in end of life care to argue that, given historic and continuing racial injustice leading to African Americans being unfairly burdened with ill health, African Americans have a special justice claim on health care.
Additionally, Professor Wilson’s public scholarship on issues of bioethics, race, and gender has appeared in The Hastings Center’s Bioethics Forum and The Conversation and has been republished in outlets such as The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, Salon.com, and The Philly Voice. Her article for The Conversation, “Why Black Women’s Experiences of #MeToo Are Different,” was re-published internationally and forms the basis for an edited volume on feminist philosophy and #MeToo. Her media appearances include outlets such as Al Jazeera English and The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Radio.
Professor Wilson has worked as a visiting scholar in the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD. She believes that the philosophic endeavor is enriched when diverse voices are at the table, and she is committed to broadening the discipline.
Tim Carpenter, EngAGE CEO/Founder, will be on the panel along with Thomas Cudjoe, MD MPH, Geriatrician; Amy Greensfelder, MLSW, Executive Director Pro Bono Counseling Project; Scott Kaiser, MD, Geriatrician and Chief Innovator Officer at MPTF; Patrick Arbore, Founder of Institute on Aging Friendship Line and Director and Founder of the Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention and Grief Related Services; Kelly Hodge-Williams, President, KHW Consulting, Development Director, PCs for People Overcoming the Digital Divide for Older Adults.
EngAGE COO Nancy Goodhart reports: EngAGE Staff met virtually for our twice annual Staff Development Meeting. A Virtual Drum Circle was facilitated by John Fitzgerald, a Village Music Circles Global Certified Trainer. The instructions were to find something that makes a noise, have a seat, and join the beat. This was an opportunity for the team to be participants in a class, which is a reversal of our daily roles with our community residents. Stepping outside our individual comfort zones, being present, and working collaboratively towards a common goal was cathartic and rejuvenating.
Village Music Circles brings rhythm-based events, trainings, and experiences to organizations and communities worldwide. The organization is dedicated to facilitating human potential and building strong communities unified through the joyful experience of music.
EngAGE’s Websites & Social Media Manager, Cynthia Friedlob, is in the spotlight with an interview about her art practice, which focuses primarily on drawing and painting geometric art.
One of her digital drawings is in the new online gallery, “Art Made During the Pandemic.” Link is in the first paragraph of the newsletter.
Fun project in this photo: “I was one of fifteen artists invited to participate in the first U.S. exhibit of painted wine barrels made for Botart International, as part of the collection of Can Ribas Winery in Mallorca, Spain, under the sponsorship of the Minister of Culture of Spain and the Presidency and Insular Council of the Balearic Islands. I gave my barrel a Mardi Gras theme, and titled it, ‘Tipitina,’ after the traditional New Orleans jazz song made famous by Professor Longhair. It’s just about impossible to make sense of the lyrics, but the last lines are: ‘We gonna hoola tralla walla malla dalla, Drink some mellow wine.'”
You can learn more about Cynthia’s art at her website: ArtByCynthia.com.
This video montage of Book Club discussions at The Magnolia @ Highland Senior Apartments about “The Help,” by Kathryn Stockett, shows a perfect example of EngAGE virtual programming. Thanks to Program Director Alma Wright for creating the wonderful video.
She reports: ” The Book Club members are immensely enjoying their meetings on Tuesdays. They are eager to answer the questions in the study guide, and often share their personal stories, directly relating them to the stories in the book. We also talk about the historical/political events happening in the ’60s, and about how much things have/have not changed today. All in all, it has been a rewarding experience for all involved.”
The Magnolia @ Highland Senior Apartments are located in San Bernardino, CA.
