Aging, Cities and Us

My grandpa is an 82 year old widower.  He lives alone in a quiet community in the hills outside of Redlands and is still a full time practicing lawyer.  On weekends, he commutes 74 miles to San Clemente where he sees old friends, runs errands, and enjoys the ease of life that a compact, ocean side community offers.  It’s not that Redlands doesn’t have these amenities.  It’s that San Clemente offers a certain type of community that my grandpa prefers on the weekends.  In Redlands, where his job is, his home is isolated, quiet and his primary acquaintances are his cats.

Recently, my grandpa had surgery and, although the surgery went well, the recovery has left him tired and slow, which has led him to realize that where he lives really matters.  As my grandpa and our family face the fact “Grandpa really is getting older,” it’s made the question of how younger generations and how our cities will grapple with aging baby boomers all the pertinent.

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January Volunteer of the Month – Barbara Jue

Barbara has only been volunteering with RTSF for a year now but boy do we really appreciate her time and hard work! Her consistent and enthusiastic demeanor have supported our Home Safety program operations in a big way – from phone interviews to filing and preparation for Build Days.   We could not have served as many homeowners in 2012 as we did if it wasn’t for Barbara’s continuous!

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November Volunteer of the Month – Cibele Ortiz

Cibele first volunteered with RTSF in 2007 and has been hooked ever since, not missing a single build day! Cibele has volunteered on 7 project sites, including Fall Build Day, where she led a group of volunteers at Mr. S’s home. Cibele’s leadership skills, construction skills, and overall flexibility with our projects are always greatly appreciated. On Fall Build Day Cibele stepped up to the plate, lead a very successful project and we thank her for that.

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Fall Prevention Month: How RTSF saves seniors haunted by fall risks

I stopped in at Target last week to pick up a couple of things for the house and happened to walk past their seasonal section which was chock full of Halloween candy and decorations.  My first thought was, “Halloween already?  What happened to Labor Day?”  My second thought was, “If I buy Halloween candy now, how much will remain by October 31st?”  When I was a kid Halloween couldn’t come fast enough but now Halloween signifies the first slip on the holiday season slope that whisks us to the New Year in a dizzying tornado of activity.  My have things changed!  Read More »

San Francisco’s Favorite Twins Separated by Alzheimer’s

Vivian and Marian Brown are one of San Francisco’s favorite local icons, both for their penchant for dressing alike in snappy outfits, including smart hats atop perfectly coiffed hair, and their friendly and playful attitudes.

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Fall Build Day: RTSF Delivers

“You kept your word! And I sure am grateful!”

I couldn’t have said it better myself Ms. B.  This past weekend RTSF launched its inaugural Fall Build Day with 35 volunteers spending their Saturday providing free home safety repair and weatherization services to 10 low income homeowners in the OMI neighborhood of San Francisco.

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Senior Programs Are Community Programs

Picture courtesy of Light Rider Images

I can’t stop thinking about a recent article about adult day health centers being slashed (see here) - heartbreaking on many levels. Many of our senior clients struggle with loneliness and isolation, either as widows, because family has moved away, they don’t feel safe in their neighborhoods or because of limited mobility.Last year, during my oral history interviews, I asked every senior interviewed what they were most surprised about at this age – 9 out of 10 said being this alone, that they hadn’t expected to be so lonely. *heartbreaking*

Often times, adult day health centers are one of the few opportunities for seniors to take free classes, have a nutritious meal, learn about useful resources or socialize with their community. Read More »

We Did It!

Phew, we did it! And by ‘we’ I mean our amazing Captains, volunteers, sponsors, community partners, homeowners and facility representatives, coworkers, board members, City partners, local businesses and churches, neighborhood groups, unions, students and even staff sweeties! Our official numbers aren’t in yet, but we had an estimated 1,4oo volunteers on over 50 projects this past Rebuilding Day.

Isn’t it shocking how many people it takes working together to drive the Rebuilding Day train? But even more amazing, is how many of our volunteers, sponsors and partners return every year, committed and passionate about the work that we do. This short blog from an extremely exhausted (and equal parts thrilled) staffer is a basically a love letter to all of those who helped us make this happen. Read More »