“It starts with connection,” says Ellin Ostler, a resident at Vista del Monte in Santa Barbara. “I believe that connecting with people, even during COVID, is extremely important,” Ellin says. “I met with several people each day, even if it was over the phone or through Zoom.”

As many of us learned this past year, connections do not have to be face-to-face to be meaningful. Well Connected, a Community Services program that offers phone and online activities such as group conversations, games, and education, has proven to be highly effective at building community. “The Well Connected community offers a sense of connection and belonging through volunteers who are committed, reliable and friendly,” says Jill Melchior, a Well Connected participant from California. “This has really made a difference in the lives of many, especially, during the pandemic when so many of us felt isolated.”

For those who decide to move to a physical community the sense of connection begins on day one. “We have residents who go far out of their way to welcome and integrate new residents,” says Joyce B. Friedman of San Francisco Towers. Retired kindergarten teacher Pat Ganje who lives at Villa Gardens in Pasadena says, “Because we have so many educators here from college down to early grades, those experiences have built much of our culture. We are used to welcoming people and being involved. So when someone new moves in, we find ways to get them involved, too.”

Adele Pickar found that same sense of hospitality when she moved to Spring Lake Village in Santa Rosa. “I noticed immediately the friendliness of the residents and staff,” she says. “Everyone smiled and said hello. It was a heartwarming welcome for me into this community. A culture of friendliness; nothing could be better in my book of beginnings.”

Adele explains that a strong community needs to be built on trust and mutual respect. “Many times, people wait for an opening to know you better and then begin to build a relationship of trust,” she says. “I believe these personal attributes make our community a very strong one. I also believe that these traits contribute to resilience, which we surely need and enjoy as we age.”

Welcoming new residents is just the first step. “At Spring Lake Village, the variety of ways to get to know each other and find common interests and new stimuli is terrific,” says resident Susan Drake. Beyond finding common interests, residents support one another. Susan recalled that when one resident had a serious health issue, an email list of 37 of her friends was set up to convey messages to her son about her progress.

Communities of strength find ways to help people through life’s changes as well. In 2014, members of the resident-led Spring Lake Village Wellness Committee began The Transitions Program in an effort to address the emotional, social and spiritual needs of residents. “Life experiences such as moving to our community, changes in our physical abilities, loss of partners, family members and friends, crisis events such as fire and attendant evacuation, have been addressed through the Transitions Program,” says program leader Janet Gelfman. “In providing an opportunity for residents to listen to, and to share their life experiences in honest conversation, Transitions makes our community stronger and more resilient to the effects of aging.”

Communities of strength also reach out beyond themselves to help others. Ellin shared how Vista del Monte hosted a “Turkey Trot” at Thanksgiving and “Bunny Hop” during Easter time. “We walked and we contributed to the food bank,” Ellin says. “On the Bunny Hop, we raised $3,725. I think the creativity and the willingness of our residents to get involved is really one of the strengths of our community.”

Spring Lake Village also extends its mission beyond its physical walls with a very active Community Outreach Committee, which has raised money for a wide range of local agencies. Members of the Community Outreach Committee explained how, along with Habitat for Humanity, the committee built a playhouse for a little girl whose family lost their home in one of the California fires of 2017.

For Pat Ganje, Camp Villa, a summer camp for local children organized by Villa Gardens residents and hosted at their community was a great way to engage both residents and neighborhood kids. “All my fellow residents wanted to volunteer, so our challenge was unusual.  We had more volunteers than jobs!”

“The best part of the experience was the mutual benefit,” Pat says. “We received as much, or more than, we gave.”

“Community that is created here, is genuine,” says Frank Marini, a resident of Fredericka Manor in Chula Vista. “The residents are very important, but it’s never been clearer to me than this past year that the staff here are a big part of this community.”

At San Francisco Towers, “We are blessed with an outstanding staff, who are helpful, kind, and supportive,” Joyce says. Susan from Spring Lake Village adds, “Staff goes the extra mile to make residents feel safe. Words aren’t enough to convey this appreciation.”

“Our strength has been expressed throughout the COVID isolation with residents finding ways to bolster one another’s spirits and to appreciate the incredible efforts of our management and employees to provide a safe and nourishing time,” says Janet of Spring Lake Village. “As we ‘open up’, we will once again be able to join together to share our stories, gaining strength and healing from one another.”

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WCE engages the community to shape its curriculum, with over 80% designed and 50% led by participants. “Facilitating WCE groups is very satisfying for me,” says Ana, a WCE facilitator and participant. “Connecting with other people who I do not personally know and to be able to cultivate a friendship and a strong affinity towards them is a great pleasure.”

Participation in WCE has more than tripled since its launch. More than 76 group conversation offerings include topics such as fitness, popular culture, games, and travel. With the onset of the pandemic, WCE responded to urgent demand for programming to reduce COVID-associated anxieties and included offerings related to stress management, gratitude, health, and wellness. As members of the Covia community, WCE participants also have direct access to a wide continuum of programs, including information and referral services. “I joined WCE out of curiosity. It has helped me so much and keeps me happy. In the group we all get along really well as if we were old friends,” says Ruben, a WCE facilitator and participant.

WCE has also been able to partner with other Spanish-speaking organizations to host virtual resource and learning events. Well Connected Español hosted Envejeciendo con Propósito (Aging with Purpose) for Spanish-speaking Older Adults in October as part the Binational California-Mexico Health Initiative. The event was hosted in collaboration with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, Alzheimer’s Association-Northern California, San Francisco AIDS Foun­dation – Latino Programs, ON LOK Lifeways, Mexico’s General Consulate and Health Initia­tive of the Americas. WCE also offered the Mente Sana Cuerpo Sano (Healthy Mind, Healthy Body) series in collaboration with Psicologia & Educacion Global. This four-week series focused on sharing ideas and advice on mental health that help to achieve well-being. Topics ranged from How to Keep Memory Active to strategies for dealing with Worry and Anxiousness, Sadness and Depression, and Loneliness and Isolation.

“We are grateful to all the new partnerships and collaborations we have been able to build during this last year and we hope they will continue to grow and flourish. We look forward to what the future holds for our Well Connected Español community,” says Lizette Suarez, WCE director.

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The webinar offered prospective residents the opportunity to ask questions about what is currently going on at Covia from a leadership perspective, including COVID-19 preparation, the upcoming affiliation, and adapting to socially distanced activities. Part 1 about Covia’s response to COVID-19 is below. Part 2 about the affiliation can be found here.

Preparation

Covia has approached the COVID-19 pandemic both from a community standpoint as well as system-wide. At the community level, Mary Linde, Executive Director at St. Paul’s Towers in Oakland, detailed how St. Paul’s prepared after hearing about COVID-19.

“When I first learned on January 20th that COVID-19 had hit Kirkland [Washington], we immediately brought our leadership team together to say ‘That’s two states up. How do we get ready for this migrating down here?’” Linde notes. “By January 27th, we had restricted outside visitation for travelers who had travelled out of the country to those tier 3 countries. And then progressively, through the month of February and by mid-March, we started sheltering in place.”

When California Governor Gavin Newsom shut down all but essential businesses, Linde says, “we looked at St. Paul’s Towers as though it were itself a village: What are the businesses that operate within this village, which of those are essential, and how do we carry those out safely?” She explains that initially care giving and meals were the essential businesses for St. Paul’s. With in-person dining not permitted, “we said, how do we do takeout at St. Paul’s Towers?” The team wrote guidelines for how to do safe takeout. “We set up two separate takeout staging areas in our community and we designated times for people to come at meals so we wouldn’t have crowding.”

From a system-wide perspective, Covia established a COVID-19 task force that met daily initially and now three times a week. Ron Schaefer, Covia’s Chief Operating Officer, who heads up the task force, explains that its role is to “keep in touch with the health directives that are coming from different locations and provides advisories to our communities to help the Executive Directors make sure that nothing gets by them that they need to know.” The taskforce also provides guidance around the evolving best practices for infection control and testing and ensures that each location has the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) needed.

Providing Connection

Even with visiting restrictions in place, prospective residents can connect with a community during this time.

“If you are interested in a particular community, we encourage you to reach out and talk to people at that community,” says Mary McMullin, Chief Strategy and Advancement Officer. Community marketing teams are all ready to do a virtual tour that meets your needs, including walking you through the community, creating a special video with your specific interests in mind, and video conferencing.

The marketing team can also connect you “with residents who are living at the community and you can talk to them,” McMullin highlights. Another great option is the community Facebook pages, which post updates and photos about what is going on. They can provide great insight into what events are taking place as well as what precautions the community is taking.

All communities have embraced new ways to stay connected, adapting programming so that residents have a full schedule of activities. Linde shares that St. Paul’s Towers is “doing a lot of activities through the in-house television, like exercises and cooking classes where they deliver ingredients to apartments and residents can follow along on the in-house channel or on Zoom.” The St. Paul’s Towers chaplain has also transitioned her programming to Zoom for book discussions and more. “We do a happy hour on Zoom every Tuesday night,” Linde notes. “It’s such a gift of connection.” St. Paul’s Towers has also created an ice cream truck complete with a signature jingle that delivers ice cream and treats to residents in their apartments. Linde says “If the residents ask for it, we are really trying to find a way to do it.”

Covia also offers connection programs that are accessible to everyone, utilized by residents in Covia communities as well as the wider public. Well Connected provides a full catalog of sessions that are available over the phone or online and are completely free. Sessions cover everything from arts and yoga to armchair travel and wellness. The current catalog of sessions is available here. For connecting one-on-one, Social Call matches older adult participants with volunteers for weekly meetings over the phone. Participants enjoy talking with others from the comfort of their home and these weekly meetings go a long way toward fostering the connections that social distancing has proven are a crucial part of wellness.

Although the challenges of responding to COVID-19 are real, Covia is still finding new and positive ways to make healthy communities, build connections, and stay engaged.

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“The program was initially designed for low-income, extremely isolated, frail older adults who needed more engagement,” says Tracy Powell, Covia’s Vice President of Community Services. “It was a lovely but small support system rooted in engagement and volunteerism,” she notes, initially offering 10 free one-hour classes per week. Over the last few years, the programming has grown “in sophistication and audience.” Participants, who currently come from 46 states, can now choose from over 80 classes and groups that are offered every single week. The programs vary from support groups to topical discussions to interactive courses, all available by phone or online.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Well Connected participation has skyrocketed. Prior to the social distancing and quarantining requirements brought about by the crisis, Well Connected had about 2,000 participants. Then, in the first two weeks of April alone, 200 new participants joined — a 10 percent increase in just two weeks after 10 years of operation. Since the onset of COVID-19, Well Connected has had a total of 685 new participants. Now staff are getting calls from other senior living operators interested in enrolling their residents.

“There has been a huge increase in terms of enrollment and interest,” Powell says. “There have been 50 to 75 organizations so far just through the end of May that have contacted us and asked if they can join and find out more about what’s involved in virtual programming.”

Social Call, another Covia Community Services program, matches individuals for one-on-one social connections. Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, many of these friendly visits were conducted in person based on shared interests and geographic proximity. Now, Social Call happens entirely by phone, lifting the geographic limitations and significantly expanding the possibilities for connections based on interests and compatibility — especially since the program has seen a huge increase in volunteers as well as participants.

Another project that Covia has spearheaded in response to COVID-19 is “Enduring Inspiration,” a worldwide call for art made by older adults. The program was developed in partnership with Ruth’s Table, an arts center named in honor of the internationally-known artist Ruth Asawa that is a part of Covia’s Bethany Center affordable housing community in San Francisco.

Seniors around the world are encouraged to make any kind of art and send it in — a recipe, a collage, a painting, a drawing, or anything else that can be easily mailed — for a juried exhibit that will be held at the freestanding gallery space at Bethany Center once it is safe to do so. Covia is also developing art packets and embroidery kits to send out to seniors in their communities so they can create their own art.

“At the heart of it, this is all very central to our mission as an organization: building community wherever people are,” says Ron Schaefer, Covia’s Chief Operating Officer. “These programs help bring people together and create connections.”

*This article was originally published in the Summer 2020 edition of Community Matters

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