Coming of Age Production Team Meets 

Ashby Village was pleased to be awarded one of the four 2012 grants from Coming of Age Bay Area. The $2,500 grants support volunteer teams addressing specific needs in the community by tapping into the knowledge, expertise and strengths of the over 50 population. Awardees will focus on helping or working with seniors in a meaningful way.

First mtg of the Coming of Age production team

Ashby Village will create a team of volunteers to be trained in video production. With these new skills to promote storytelling among members and intergenerational sharing and learning the first video will highlight the benefits that Ashby Village has brought to both members and volunteers.  

Over a dozen volunteers, some of whom are Ashby Village members, are working together to learn about all aspects of video production. The goal is to produce a three-minute video by March 2013.

Through this grant, Ashby Village has been able to acquire new video equipment.  With this equipment we will be able to document important Village gatherings and events as well as produce meaningful videos that  highlight Ashby Village. The grant awards were announced on CBS Channel 5.  

An Unexpected Benefit of Membership 

On Thursday, September 6, Hands On Bay Area (HOBA), Home Depot and Ashby Village partnered to renovate the homes of two Ashby Village members who are military veterans. More than 80 Home Depot employees, along with HOBA team leaders participated in the daylong event. Volunteers worked on gardens, kitchens, decks and much more, all in an effort to improve the homes of deserving veterans. Following are appreciations from recipient members: 

"The big day came and some 55 folks from Home Depot plus a dozen or more from Hands On Bay Area arrived. Home Depot took on the technical items such as replacing a kitchen faucet and installing floor covering in our small bathroom. Outside, work started in earnest to clean up the gardens, rebuild an irregular brick walk, install crushed stone on a walkways, install a couple of bricks for support of the front entry stairs handrail, and replace exterior shingles and insulation tubing on the solar hot water pipes. While all this was going on, the Hands On folks were painting all of my decks, about 1,000 square feet, and clearing years of accumulated junk from the side yard. If it hadn't been for Ashby Village, no one would have known I was a veteran. This gift is certainly another example of the benefits of our membership in Ashby Village."

Bob and Merle Davis

"We now have a 50-year-old wood deck that looks new again! The deck was completely cleaned and refinished. The uneven and dangerous to walk on brick work in our driveway and garden were reset and leveled. Three broken brick stairs were expertly rebuilt, and a handmade redwood bench and side table were presented to us as a gift. The volunteers worked quickly and efficiently and seemed to enjoy working together. We are thrilled with the results."

Judy Willett at TEDxBoston

Cecilia Hurwich and Don Ross

Villages in the Media

Judy Willett, National Director of the Village to Village Network, delivered an inspiring TED talk on the Village movement on July 17th. See if you can spot any of our members in the photos in this

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Activities sponsored by Ashby Village

Volunteer Jimmy Baker, Jr.'s appreciation of Member Jacqueline Bandel: "Just to give an update on Jackie, she is just adorable. I have been going over pretty much every Wednesday and working with her for a few hours. We have been doing such fun things -- filing personal paperwork, cooking liver (yuk), hanging pictures, cleaning out a freezer, cleaning out closets -- you know, futzy stuff! But my biggest reward is just visiting with her. She has so much knowledge and so many life experiences. I am enjoying talking and spending time with her!

Member Jacqueline Bandel's appreciation of Volunteers Jimmy Baker, Jr., Bob Kelly, and Luciano Corraza: "Every time I think that no new volunteers who come to help me can possibly be as nice as the ones who have already been helping me, along come more wonderfully kind, helpful volunteers. Jimmy Baker comes to help me with file sorting and to listen with interest -- and patience -- to my reminiscences with each letter and saved article he and I file. Bob Kelly hammers a deft nail, here and there, and a protracted session at my computer wore the two of us out. My neighbor Luciano never fails to accomplish the necessities of domiciliary dwelling. Such bounty!"

Member Matilda Stewarts' appreciation of Volunteer Kelli Green: "I wanted to let you know that we just had a volunteer fix our back door which was stuck.  She came twice, made a visit to the hardware store, and fixed the door so it was perfect.  She was very personable, professional and excellent, and very nice."

Member Elaine Hooker's appreciation of Volunteer Sondra Jensen: "I ran out of room on my small desk, and ended up with too (many) piles and stacks on the floor. Out of desperation, I called the Ashby Village office. "I need help getting organized!"

Sondra Jensen to the rescue. In less than two hours one morning, she showed me how to pack my stuff into existing containers and guided me toward a couple of file holders I could buy to make use of existing space. "You are a miracle worker," I said as she left. "Well, I bared your floor," she offered, ever so modestly. Thank you, Sondra!"

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New Offering to Ashby Village Members  

A new Ashby Village member benefit has emerged through our continuing relationship with Jewish Family & Children's Services of the East Bay Older Adults Services.  Members can now receive discounted rates for consults, care management and counseling:

Barbi Jo Stim (AV Board member & JFCS/EB MSW) and Rob Tufel (Director of Adult Services, JFCS/EB

• Consults: for advice in caring for an aging parent, spouse, or partner.
• Care Management: ongoing monitoring for older adults to assess changes and help make sure the older adult is safe.
• Counseling: offered in the Berkeley office.

For more information, members can call JFCS/EB at 510-558-7800, ext. 314. Identify yourself as an Ashby Village member to receive a discounted rate for services.

Members Learning the Benefits of MedPals

Ashby Village MedPal volunteers can provide the following assistance:

• Formulating questions for the medical provider
• Transportation to appointments
• Filling out forms
• Note-taking during the visit
• Scheduling follow-up appointments

"I recently requested an Ashby Village MedPal volunteer to come with me for a second appointment with a Kaiser surgeon. The volunteer who assisted me had been a visiting nurse and was able to ask questions I had been unable to think of before. She kept notes for me, accompanied me to have the X-rays taken, and then drove me home. It was a very helpful, comforting and supportive experience. I cannot recommend it enough."    

Home Safety & Accessibility Assessment

Is your home as safe, comfortable and accessible as it can be? Ashby Village has inaugurated a new program to help ensure that it is. The Home Assessment Team made several visits to Ashby Village members' homes recently. During a thorough walk-through, they looked for potential safety hazards such as dimly lit stairs and upturned carpet edges. The Team also provided suggestions that should keep the home accessible as the member ages. One such suggestion is to replace door knobs with lever handles.

Please take advantage of this wonderful, free member service. Find out how a few simple changes in your home can reduce your risk of falling and increase your pleasure and safety.  For more information or to set up an appointment, contact the office.

It Takes a Village Membership Fund  

We became members of Ashby Village because we wanted to remain active participants in this community, with its long tradition of independent and innovative thinking and sensitivity to diversity of income, ethnicity and lifestyle. Please give as generously as possible to help us build a Village that lives up to these high ideals. 

The It Takes a Village Membership Fund is available to provide reduced-fee memberships for prospective members who are unable to afford the full Ashby Village membership fee. The fund is also available to current members whose finances have changed since their last renewal and who are now unable to afford the full membership fee. This fund is supported by tax-deductible contributions from individuals, foundations, corporations and other sources. For more information, click here.

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Office Space

We have negotiated with our wonderful landlord, The First Congregational Church of Berkeley, to use two additional upstairs rooms and a meeting room in our Durant House building. Although we are set to continue operation in this space, we are searching for 800-1,000 sq. ft. Our ideal office would consist of three separate offices and a large meeting room which can double as a general work room. It should be wheelchair accessible with easy parking and somewhat off the beaten track. Contact our office if you know of an opportunity we can explore.

Writers Needed

Attention Wordsmiths! Ashby Village is seeking talented individuals who enjoy writing articles for use in informational and marketing publications. Please contact the office, and we'll put you to work almost immediately on a variety of fascinating topics.

COMMITTEE: Social Services

Roberta Pressman, Board Member and Chair of Social Services Committee

Ashby Village has a Social Services Committee comprised of volunteers who are current or retired social workers, psychologists and care professionals and who are available to assist members with a variety of health and wellness matters, family and individual crises, and planning for age-related issues. They foster linkages with community agencies which serve members and periodically review the Preferred Provider list of social services businesses. They research and select community resources such as rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, home health care agencies, and assisted living facilities for our Preferred Provider list. The committee is seeking volunteers who have social service backgrounds, are retired and would like to assist members.

The Social Services Committee is currently working on several projects. They are creating a focus group of members over 80 years old to learn how the village can be more responsive to their needs. A transitions group has started for people who are experiencing bodily changes, have spouses getting sick or dying, and people who are living alone or whose children are moving away. This will be a support group for people going through the normal transitions associated with aging.  

VOLUNTEER: Joan Cole

Joan Cole at last months picnic with her two granddaughters Julia Cole and Hannah Collentine Cole, and their friend James Barba

Joan Cole is a warm, charming and empathetic psychotherapist with an impressive history

in three consecutive careers over the last fifty

years. First, as a social worker and

community organizer she was Housing Director of the Cleveland Urban League and then Housing Director of a anti-poverty agency for the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. During those years she was also a consultant to a range of public and private agencies in the fields of social welfare and planning. She is now on the Ashby Village Sustainability Work Group working for a year to consider how we can best serve the needs of our members and the larger community.

For the past 35 years, and still going strong, Joan has been a psychotherapist in private practice and a much sought-after teacher and trainer of therapists. She teaches and supervises at The Psychotherapy Institute, where she has been in leadership positions for more than three decades, serving as its President during the early 1980's. She is also on the consulting faculty of The Sierra Institute Of Contemporary Gestalt Therapy, a training center started by her son and daughter-in-law. Working closely with them is one of her life's great joys! Joan's most treasured accomplishment was raising her three sons, all of whom are in the human services field in one form or another. Alongside these careers she has been active, as well, in the Civil Rights, Anti-War and Women's Movements.

Despite all these accomplishments, Joan is reluctant to talk about her own life. She would prefer to talk instead about how helpful Ashby Village has been to her and how much she enjoys being a part of it, and about her six grandchildren. Joan is now particularly excited about forming a partnership between the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare and Ashby Village. Tatiana Brennan, a second year graduate student in the Master in Social Work (MSW) Program has been assigned to AV where she will spend three days a week for the next nine months. Joan will be Tatiana's supervisor as she completes her field work requirements for her MSW. Joan will also serve as liaison with the School, representing Ashby Village and arranging for these interns on a sustained basis. These are eager, intelligent, dedicated students who will be enormously helpful to the Village and Joan will be there guiding them all the way.

Joan Bard

Deborah Blank

Patricia Brucker

Celeste Burrows

Sandra Butler

Frances Chiappetta

Eleanor Dahl

Frieda Dilloo

Jacob Feldman

Sam Fouchee

Veronika Fukson

Gary Gerard

Jean Goldman

John Hart

Deborah Kearney and Jeremy Feldman

Tobey Klein

Joyce Kraus

Clare Cooper Marcus

Virginia McNeill

Lisa Nelbach

Donna Owen

Betty Pigford

LaRae Schneider

Laurie Schumacher

Jeanne Segale

Lee Shapiro

Patricia Silver

Nancy Thomas

Walt Watman

Gene Weinstein

Ray Westergard  

CONTACTS

Committee Chairs

MEMBERSHIP:  Betty Webster,  [email protected] 

COMMUNITY-BUILDING AND EVENTS:  Laura Peck,  [email protected] 

                                                                             Barbi Jo Stim,  [email protected] 

SERVICES:  Joann Sullivan,  [email protected]  

                       Judy Boe, [email protected]

                       Shirley Haberfeld, [email protected] 

SOCIAL SERVICES SUBCOMMITTEE:  Roberta Pressman,  [email protected] 

NOMINATING COMMITTEE: Patricia Sussman,  [email protected]

MARKETING AND OUTREACH: Marcia Freedman,  [email protected]

LIVING ROOM CHATS SUBCOMMITTEE:  Jane Selby, [email protected]  

MEMBER SUPPORT: [email protected]

GENERAL INQUIRIES:  [email protected] 

MEMBERSHIP QUESTIONS:  [email protected] 

NEWSLETTER/DIGEST SUBMISSIONS: Sandy Simon - [email protected] 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Andy Gaines -  [email protected]  

PROGRAM/OPERATIONS COORDINATOR -  Andrea Mok: [email protected] 

Board   

CHAIR:  Patricia Sussman

VICE CHAIR:  Shirley Haberfeld

SECRETARY/TREASURER:  Andra Lichtenstein

Bob Davis

Marcia Freedman

Laura Peck

Roberta Pressman  

Barbi Jo Stim

Betty Webster