VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 6 • JUNE 2010 Phoenix Resident Caps ... Words 6101.pdf · continue both his...
Transcript of VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 6 • JUNE 2010 Phoenix Resident Caps ... Words 6101.pdf · continue both his...
SHARING OUR STORIES
News of the American
Baptist Homes of the West
VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 6 • JUNE 2010
Mature Living Since 1949
George maintained his interest in woodworking throughout a
long life of service as an Episcopal minister. In April, trains, service
and woodworking all came together when he and fellow residents
of The Terraces of Phoenix built four wooden trains and donated
them to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Just three weeks later, on
May 5, he passed away unexpectedly.
Phoenix Resident Caps Lifetime of ServiceI N S I D E
Page 3 ABHOW receives awards
from Aging Services of California.
Page 8 National affordable housing
group honors Kelly Ridge.
Page 9 Seniority Spirit shines
during the Daily Huddle.
As a little boy in Belvidere, Ill., Dick George was fascinated with the Union Pacific trains that ran near his home. He also loved work-ing with wood. “It was during the Depression, when families didn’t have much money,” he explained. “My father helped me make wooden toys.”
Continued on page 2
Dick George shares the trains he built with a patient at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
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When he retired as Dean Emeritus of Trinity Episco-
pal Cathedral in Phoenix, George had looked for ways to
continue both his hobby and his dedication to commu-
nity outreach. With his wife, Mary, he worked for poverty
relief in Haiti and served numerous organizations. The
couple moved to The Terraces of Phoenix in 2005 and,
when the community transformed one of its casitas into
a combination art and woodworking studio, he took his
tools out of storage.
He made some small trains for his grandchildren and
then decided to go bigger. “I found plans on the Inter-
net and it took off from there,” he said in an interview
shortly before his death. “I’m former president of the
residents council, so I wasn’t bashful about asking them
to underwrite the project. Outreach is important for a
retirement community. As a clergyman, I had stressed
this — it’s important to give a percentage of your time
and talent outside the parish in the community. It didn’t
take a lot of persuading.”
Residents Tom Edwards, Jim Pyne, Bob Oliver, Joyce
Warner and Miriam Jacobs joined George in building,
sanding and finishing four 40-inch-long trains. In mid-
April, along with Director of Activities Andrea Schulte,
they took the trains to the children’s hospital.
“It was a wonderful experience,” Schulte said. “It
always does my heart good when I see those in our com-
munity really extend themselves to others, especially
when it’s outside the boundaries of our campus.”
“As we approached the playroom,” George said soon
afterward, “a little boy on a chemotherapy tree saw me un-
loading the trains and putting them back together. He came
in and he was just intrigued with the trains. You could tell it
brought a lot of sunshine into his life that day.”
Ben, the little boy, was 3, said Schulte. “It was his
third time in the hospital and even though the effects of
chemotherapy were evident on his little body, he was so
upbeat, so jovial. He had all these tubes in him, and he
just flung them out of the way so that he could play on
the floor. To Ben, being in the hospital was just a part of
his life, and he seemed to accept it as such. He touched
all of our hearts.”
George planned to make wooden trucks and cars next
and to get more residents involved in the project. Schulte
is currently looking for a woodworking instructor and
hopes the effort can continue.
What George said shortly after delivering the trains to
the hospital makes clear how much satisfaction he took
in the experience.
“At this point in life, as retirees, we have the opportu-
nity to give to others,” he said. “We’ve all been very blessed,
living here at The Terraces [of Phoenix]. In this metro-
politan area, there are zillions of opportunities to help.”
“It meant a great deal to him,” Mary George said of
the project. “It was combining his lifelong love of wood-
working with the opportunity to gift that skill and that
enjoyment to children who would also enjoy it, like little
Ben. It was a project he really loved doing.”
Train Project Continued from cover
“At this point in life, as retirees, we have the op-portunity to give to others. We’ve all been very blessed, living here at The Terraces [of Phoenix]. In this metropolitan area, there are zillions of opportunities to help.”
—Dick George
Delivering the wooden trains to Phoenix Children’s Hospital are (from left) Andrea Schulte, Jim Pyne, Tom Edwards, JoAnn Oliver, Dick George, Mary George, Joyce Warner and Bob Oliver.
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Corporate
Stories ABHOW Receives Three State Awards
Aging Services of Califor-nia honored ABHOW’s legal counsel, one of its continuing care retire-
ment communities, and an ABHOW resident with awards of excellence May 5 at the state association’s annual meeting in Long Beach. The organization represents over 400 nonprofit providers of senior housing and health care.
ASC chose Senior Vice President and General
Counsel David Grant for its Social
Responsibility Award. Grant is a
passionate champion of ABHOW’s
social accountability program, which
documents the company’s community
service programs and charitable care.
The program is a model for organiza-
tions across the country.
“ABHOW is committed to social
accountability both as a fulfillment of mission and as an
important defense in its protection of exempt status,”
Grant said. “In fulfilling its mission and preserving its
exempt status, ABHOW demonstrates its commitment
to its residents and to the larger community in which
each ABHOW retirement community exists.”
The Terraces at San Joaquin Gardens in Fresno
received ASC’s Community Service Award. The
44-year-old community has long cultivated a culture
of volunteerism, and it recently created a program to
share cutting-edge principles of successful aging with
older adults and caregivers in the greater Fresno com-
munity. Through its Healthy Living Institute, The
Terraces provides education, tools and resources free of
charge to local senior networks, churches, universities
and other organizations.
“Our residents continue to give back to others and are
rewarded by the personal value that volunteering gives
them,” said Steve Case, the community’s director of life-
style enrichment. “We hope to demonstrate that through
giving we all receive pleasure that is immeasurable.”
Marian Chuan, who lives at Valle Verde in Santa
Barbara, won the Volunteer Service Award. She founded
and coordinates the Best Friends Volunteers program
so that she and fellow residents can provide one-to-one
companionship to those in The Village at Valle Verde,
the community’s skilled nursing center. A former social
worker and university professor, Chuan recruited more
than 40 volunteers to visit, chat and share activities with
residents.
“At age 83, I really understand that people can make a
difference,” she said. “For those at the end stage of life, it’s
the human companionship that’s most treasured.”
Volunteers convey that those they visit are not forgot-
ten and continue to be important and loved. Because
Best Friends Volunteers are themselves in their 80s and
90s, Chuan said, “we understand each other and we un-
derstand that tomorrow it can happen to me.”
Marian Chuan reaches out to other residents at Valle Verde in Santa Barbara.
Grant
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Community
Stories Rosewood Enhances Community
While the exterior of the high-rise at Rosewood Senior Living Community
has reached iconic status in Bakers-field, Calif., the look and feel inside the community is undergoing an ex-tensive campaign of improvements to keep the campus fresh and appealing to older adults from the region.
“Everyone knows Rosewood, both because of our
longevity and because our high-rise building has stood
out for many years,” says
Ellen Renner, executive
director. “What they may
not see from the outside
is the number of large
and small investments we
are making to continu-
ally enhance the lifestyle
our residents seek. Some
of the changes are to the
physical structure of the
campus, while others are accents to the programs and
amenities found here at Rosewood.”
One of the major changes at Rosewood is noticeable
as soon as you walk inside. Rosewood recently complet-
ed a total remodel of its main entryway and lobby.
“We wanted to give the community a new and different
feel from the moment you step inside,” says Renner. “The
changes provide a welcoming reception to Rosewood, as
well as a new fireside room for social gathering.”
Rosewood has welcomed residents for 35 years as
Bakersfield’s only continuing care retirement community.
The community offers residential living, along with a full
range of quality on-site health care services. This excep-
tional environment is complemented by a social atmo-
sphere that encourages engagement and wellness.
Rosewood recently completed a brand-new bistro
café, where residents can sip coffee while discussing the
news of the day. The community is also unveiling plans
to add a new heated outdoor pool, where residents can
partake in either individual workouts or group classes
such as aqua aerobics.
“One of our goals with many of our recent enhance-
ments is to continue building on the variety of lifestyle
choices our residents enjoy, so that our community fits
the way they want to live,” says Renner. “Our dining is a
prime example. Residents have the option of grabbing
something at the new bistro, or sitting down for a de-
lectable restaurant-style meal. We are soon planning to
expand the hours we offer dining, because many of our
residents are fitting meals into their busy schedules that
have them in and out of the community participating
in their volunteer activities or attending local events.”
Rosewood unveiled ABHOW’s new lifestyle initia-
tive called Masterpiece Living, which focuses on helping
individuals reach their personal development goals. A
Masterpiece Living coordinator will work with residents
to identify things they want to accomplish in areas
such as wellness, lifelong learning or spirituality, then
Continued on back page
Rosewood’s enhancements include a new bistro café and a remodeled entryway and lobby.
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The reinvigoration of the Salishan neighborhood is
evident in the spirit of its diverse blend of residents, who
represent many ethnic groups and multigenerational
households. ABHOW will play an important role serving
older Salishan neighbors and their families by provid-
ing housing with floor plans that address the special and
unique needs of seniors.
Additionally, the neighborhood will have easy access by
foot and public transit — a high priority included in the
master plan. The community will also have laundry facili-
ties, an expansive multipurpose room, an exercise room, a
library, a computer learning center, and a patio area.
Salishan Gardens will be ABHOW’s second senior
community in Tacoma, joining Harbor View Manor, and
fourth in the Puget Sound, including Judson Park in Des
Moines and Shepherd’s Garden in Lynnwood.
Community Stories
New Affordable Housing Community Breaks Ground in Tacoma
A groundbreaking ceremony for Salishan Gardens, ABHOW’s newest affordable
housing community, was held May 24 in Tacoma, Wash.
The new community will feature 54 apartments for
low-income seniors and is scheduled to open in the spring
of 2011. The community will be open to low and very low
income seniors age 62 or older.
The $11.7 million project is being built by ABHOW and
co-developed by the Seattle-based Beacon Development
Group, a highly respected affordable housing developer with
multiple developments in the Pacific Northwest.
The project received $8 million in federal support and a
$2.25 million grant from The Washington Housing Trust.
Salishan Gardens will be a key component of the
Salishan HOPE VI Revitalization, an ambitious $225
million residential and commercial transformation of an area
built during World War II to house soldiers and civilians.
“We are hon-
ored to be part
of the Tacoma
Housing Author-
ity’s nationally
acclaimed Salishan
HOPE VI develop-
ment through our
sponsorship and
development of Salishan Gardens,” says Ancel Romero,
ABHOW’s senior vice president for affordable housing.
“ABHOW has been actively providing quality affordable
housing in Tacoma since 1996 and we are humbled by this
opportunity to expand our mission of service.”
The celebration begins as (from left) Paul Purcell, president and founder, Beacon Development Group; Nick Sam Sseba, board chair, Salishan Senior Housing; Mary McBride, regional director, U.S. Department of HUD; Dan McCoon, assistant director, Washing-ton State Department of Commerce; Scott Winship, board president, United Way of Pierce County; Dr. Marcia J. Patton, ABHOW board member; Marilyn Strickland, mayor of Tacoma; and Michael Mirra, executive director, Tacoma Housing Authority, break ground at Salishan Gardens.
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Resident
StoriesHillcrest Gardens Resident Survived China’s Cultural Revolution
In 1968, when Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution caused violent upheaval in China, Clara Chan and her four chil-
dren found themselves left nearly destitute in a portion of the large house in Guangdong province that had been their family home. Her husband, a comic actor with an opera company, was taken to a concentration camp.
“The Red Guard came and took everything from us,”
recalls Chan, a native San Franciscan who had moved
from the U.S. to Guangdong on China’s southern coast
to get married in 1947. She now lives at Hillcrest Gar-
dens in Daly City, Calif. “Nine groups of Red Guards
came to our house. The last group took our clothing,
our furniture, everything. They left us three sets of
underwear and three sets of summer clothes. By winter-
time, we didn’t have anything. They took all our money,
our savings, everything.”
Her oldest son, then 18, stayed in the dormitory at
his school, but the three younger children slept side-
ways on the one bed the Red Guard left behind. Chan
herself slept on the dining table. For about four years,
the family struggled to get by. They had to attend daily
meetings — “we were brainwashed,” Chan says — and
they could wear nothing but gray or blue pants and
jackets.
“After 1972, it got better. We were poor, but it was
not as bad as at first when nobody wanted to talk to us.”
Even after the Cultural Revolution eased, the family’s
possessions were never returned to them. Chan’s hus-
band, her children’s father, died in the camp.
She suspects the family was targeted because her
husband was well known as an actor and they were
wealthier than some. But, she says, “We’re not the only
ones that were hit hard. Anybody considered well-off
was hit hard.” The worst of the social and political cha-
os was over by the early 1970s, and as soon as President
Richard Nixon normalized relations with China, Chan
began trying to return to the U.S. with her children.
“I had to apply from 1973 or something until 1980,”
she says. “I applied five times. In 1980 I came back over
with my younger daughter. My sons didn’t have the
money to buy their airline tickets yet. My parents and
all my brothers and one sister and other relatives were
Continued on back page
Clara Chan remembers China’s Cultural Revolution.
7 J u n e 2 0 1 0ABHOW Words
Community Health Advocate Merry Montgomery
knows what it’s like to be blindsided by a diagnosis.
When Montgomery learned she had stage three breast
cancer seven years ago, she had no job and no health
insurance. She turned to the Women’s Cancer Resource
Center for support. The Oakland nonprofit helped
her arrange for a second opinion and the surgery she
needed. Now she helps the organization with outreach.
“We try to help people through the diagnosis of
cancer,” says Montgomery. The nonprofit also pro-
vides support groups and individual counseling. Most
women learn of the organization through word of
mouth. That’s why health fairs are so important, says
Montgomery.
Broadmoor Plaza resident Anita Leet collected a
large stack of pamphlets from the fair. She already uses
East Bay Paratransit, but she hadn’t heard of many of
the other organizations.
“I think most of the services they were offering I’m
not ready for,” Leet says. “But I’m going to keep the
information for future use.”
After Maxine Roberts suf-fered a stroke last summer, she was fortunate enough to have a niece who could
help with her day-to-day care. Roberts recovered, but the Broad-moor Plaza resident learned to stay informed about the services she might need one day.
Roberts attended her San Leandro, Calif., commu-
nity’s Senior Health and Resource Fair on April 28 and
spoke to most of the 17 organizations present. She and
other seniors learned about free or low-
cost aid offered by such groups as Pathways
Hospice, ComForcare, Lifeline, the Lavender
Society and East Bay Paratransit.
“I don’t think a lot of people realize the
services that are available,” Roberts says. She
picked up the information materials the ven-
dors handed out. She planned to give some of
it to friends and to keep some for her files.
“I take magnets and put them up on my
refrigerator so I’ll have them when I need
them,” Roberts says.
Susan Ruan, administrator of Broad-
moor Plaza, says these health fairs are a way
to bring services to those living in afford-
able housing communities. Two of the most
requested services are legal assistance and
transportation.
The afternoon was also a chance for the organiza-
tions to connect with residents about issues they could
face someday.
Community
StoriesBroadmoor Plaza Reaches Out to Neighbors During Health Fair
Maxine Roberts picks up pamphlets at the Broadmoor Plaza health fair in April.
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Open for less than a year, Kelly Ridge, an ABHOW affordable housing community, is
already being noted for its excellence by peer trade groups.
The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition
(AHTCC) recently announced that the South Lake
Tahoe, Calif., community received an honorable
mention in the senior housing category for the orga-
nization’s 16th Annual Charles L. Edson Tax Credit
Excellence Awards, which celebrate the best in afford-
able rental housing.
“It is an honor to receive an award as prestigious as
this,” says Ancel Romero, ABHOW’s senior vice presi-
dent for affordable housing. “These are the Oscars of
the tax credit housing industry.”
The field from which Kelly Ridge was chosen was
a narrow one — 41 entries from 22 different states, of
which only six first-place finishers and nine honorable
mentions were chosen. Kelly Ridge investor Merritt
Community Capital, which provides equity capital for
affordable housing projects throughout California,
entered the community in the national contest.
“Residents of Kelly Ridge are provided numerous sup-
portive services, allowing them to live a more independent
Community
Stories Kelly Ridge Wins Prestigious Award
and active lifestyle while receiving the care necessary to
ensure their physical well-being,” says Victoria Spiel-
man, executive director for the AHTCC. “Kelly Ridge was
selected for this award because of ABHOW’s commitment
to providing safe and affordable rental housing to the
senior community, allowing them to age in a place with
dignity and community support.”
The latest award comes on the heels of another honor
for Kelly Ridge; it was named Best Affordable Housing
Project in the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s 2009
“Best in the Basin” awards.
Romero says he is excited about adding another
feather to Kelly Ridge’s cap.
Kelly Ridge is named for David Kelly, president of
the Tahoe Area Coordinating Council for the Disabled
and a tireless champion for affordable housing.
“This award would not have been possible without
the contributions of Kelly Ridge’s guiding light, David
Kelly,” Romero says. “Nor could the project have been
completed without the support of the city of South
Lake Tahoe, its redevelopment agency, Merritt Com-
munity Capital and ABHOW.”
“Residents of Kelly Ridge are provided numerous supportive services, allowing them to live a more independent and active lifestyle while receiving the care necessary to ensure their physical well-being.”
—Victoria Spielman, executive director for AHTCC
Celebrating the Kelly Ridge honor are (from left) Karen Smyda, acquisitions director, Merritt Community Capital; Charles L. Edson, after whom the awards are named; Ancel Romero, ABHOW’s senior vice president for affordable housing; and Brittan Specht of the Of-fice of Congressman Tom McClintock, whose district includes South Lake Tahoe.
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Corporate
Stories Seniority Launches New Initiative
Every morning at 9:30, members of the Piedmont Gardens and Grand Lake Gardens sales teams hud-
dle for 15 minutes to discuss the pressing issues of the day.
It’s a time to catch up on industry trends, share a com-
mon education topic and be inspired. The Daily Huddle
is part of a program
called Seniority Spirit,
a new hospitality and
culture formation
initiative that debuted
in December.
“Every Seniority
team member receives
the same message
every day,” says Teri
Conklin, vice presi-
dent of Seniority. “It’s
part informational,
part educational, and
part inspirational.”
Daily Huddles are held
in each sales office and
Seniority-managed community seven days a week, 365
days a year.
An e-mail containing the Seniority Spirit Daily Con-
nection is sent out each day at 3 p.m. for the next day’s
huddle. The Connection includes an educational topic, a
foundational highlight that reinforces the organization’s
service commitment, community announcements, birth-
days, and a quote of the day, with insights from leaders
ranging from Gandhi to George W. Bush.
Seniority, a wholly owned subsidiary of ABHOW,
provides management, sales, and development consult-
ing to senior living communities throughout the United
States. Seniority manages sales and marketing for all of
ABHOW’s continuing care retirement communities,
which include Grand Lake Gardens and Piedmont
Gardens, both located in Oakland, Calif.
When the group from Piedmont Gardens and Grand
Lake Gardens meet for a huddle, it’s a chance to make sure
the teams are on the same page.
“It’s expanded our lines of communication between the
two communities,” says Alison Tobin, director of sales and
marketing at Grand
Lake Gardens. “We
were already com-
municating well, but
this has definitely
enhanced it.”
The daily practice
has also minimized
voice messages and
e-mails because team
members know ex-
actly when they’ll see
each other.
On Fridays the
group shares a “Stellar
Story,” which features
a Seniority team member who has gone above and beyond
the call of duty to help a resident. Recently, they discussed
how Jena Jenkins, community relations manager at Valle
Verde in Santa Barbara, Calif., assisted a resident who
needed help by driving her across campus.
“This is a really great touchpoint,” says Robert Stivers,
director of sales and marketing at Piedmont Gardens. “We
can talk about any issues and encourage each other.”
Sales team members (from left) Emily Carrion, Alison Tobin, Robert Stivers,Teri Conklin and Jan Rudolph huddle at Piedmont Gardens.
10 J u n e 2 0 1 0ABHOW Words
Corporate
Stories ABHOW Staff Mark Major Milestone
Four ABHOW staff mem-bers celebrated a quarter century with the company this year. On May 5, Aging
Services of California honored their achievements with Silver Stars at a luncheon at the nonprofit trade association’s annual meeting in Long Beach.
Both Judy Lopez, a housekeeper at Plymouth Vil-
lage in Redlands and Gwen Hamilton, a housekeeper at
Piedmont Gardens in Oakland
came to ABHOW through family
members.
Hamilton, who is originally
from Savannah, Ga., moved
to California in the 1980s and
learned about Piedmont
Gardens through a sister who
worked there. She came to the
community in 1984 as a private duty nurse serving
residents.
“I wanted to get into housekeeping,” she recalls. She
took a position in that department in 1985. She enjoys
coming to work, she says, and she especially likes the
close relationships she has built with residents who
share their stories and their histories with her. Joey
Chui, her supervisor, says Hamilton is “well known and
well liked by all residents and staff.”
Lopez, born and raised in Redlands, was introduced to
Plymouth Village by her mother, who is now retired from
that community’s housekeeping department. “I love it
there,” Lopez says. “I enjoy working with the residents and
the workers. It’s a nice place to work.”
Lopez is “a very good worker and very attentive
to the residents—that’s her main concern,” says Irma
Fernandez, her supervisor. “She works wherever and
whenever we need her. She never
says no.”
Thomas Du, lead cook at
Plymouth Village, and Sindy Lee, a
housekeeper at Piedmont Gar-
dens, also received Silver Stars on
May 5.
Du has received other rec-
ognition in his long service at
Plymouth Village, but he doesn’t like the limelight, says
Executive Director Keith Kasin. “Everyone knows when
he has prepared the meal because of the extra attention
to detail and sprinkling of love that is somehow present,”
Kasin says.
Piedmont Gardens’ Chui says
Lee is extremely devoted to the resi-
dents at the East Bay community.
“She takes care of residents like she
takes care of her family,” says Chui.
Jeff Glaze, ABHOW senior vice
president and chief operations
manager, praised the recipients for
their dedication and hard work.
“Our employees never cease to amaze me,” he says. “I
am so proud of these four employees who have served
ABHOW and its residents for so many years and I am
honored to have them on our team.”
Hamilton
Lee
CORRECTION
The May edition of ABHOW Words incorrectly stated the password for the communications box. The password is box2010.
Lopez
11 J u n e 2 0 1 0ABHOW Words
ABHOW, National and State Web Sites: ABHOW: www.abhow.com
American Association of Homes and Services for
the Aging: www.aahsa.org
Aging Services of Arizona: www.azaha.orgAging Services of California: www.aging.orgAging Services of Washington: www.agingwa.org
“American Baptist Homes of the West, as an expression of Christian mission, seeks to enhance the independence, well-being and security of older people through the pro-vision of housing, health care and supportive services.”
Published by the Strategic Planning and Communications Department Kay Kallander, Senior Vice President e-mail [email protected] ABHOW Communications Box: http://www.abhow.com/about/communications_box (username: communications; password: box2010)
American Baptist Homes of the West 6120 Stoneridge Mall Rd. 3rd Floor Pleasanton, CA 94588 phone: 1-925-924-7150 or toll-free: 1-800-222-2469 fax: 1-925-924-7232
Sign Up for ABHOW E-News at www.abhow.com
Clara Chan Continued from page 6
assist in finding the resources necessary to make
those goals happen.
“Maybe someone always wanted to learn to
speak Spanish, but they never could seem to fit it
into their life or didn’t know how to get started,”
says Renner. “We’ll work with them to identify the
proper path, which could be finding a computer
program they can use privately in their own apart-
ment or taking a class at a local college. Masterpiece
Living is centered on personal fulfillment and devel-
opment at any age.”
While much of the focus has been on improving
Rosewood’s campus and lifestyle, the community is
also investing in its continuum of care. Rosewood
is upgrading its assisted living and skilled nursing
areas with new flooring, new staff work areas, and
new paint colors that create a warmer environment.
“For someone who knows Rosewood only from
seeing our building while passing by, there are a
lot of surprises awaiting them on the inside,” says
Renner. “We get people walking through here each
day saying, ‘I never knew this was such an attrac-
tive and active community.’ Our recent investments
only extend our commitment to surpassing people’s
expectations.”
This article originally appeared on www.rosewood-
retirement.org.
Rosewood Remodel Continued from page 4
all living in the U.S. My brother gave me airfare,
and I lived with him when I came over.” By 1981,
her other daughter and her two sons joined her.
Though the family was reunited, they still faced
considerable challenges. Chan’s English was rusty,
and she had not taught her children the language
because it was forbidden under China’s communist
regime. Because of the political climate, she had
been unable to find anyone willing to hire her in
China, so she lacked work experience. The best she
could offer a U.S. employer was the five years’ work
she had done at a San Francisco insurance firm
before she left for China in 1947.
Finally a niece found her a job cleaning apart-
ments in Oakland. Chan later worked in fast food
and as a sales clerk before retiring in 1988. When
she moved to Hillcrest Gardens in September 2008,
she says, “It was just like I won the lottery.”
She had happy times in China before the Cultur-
al Revolution, and she seldom looks back at the dif-
ficult years, she says. “If you’re sad, it doesn’t help.
You just have to see the bright side of everything. I
was not the only person affected at that time. Now
I’m happy here, and that’s the main point.”