California

When kids from Commerce, a small working-class city outside of Los Angeles, are asked who their heroes are, they will, more often than not, mention local residents Brenda Villa and Patty Cardenas. Villa and Cardenas were both key members of the Women’s Olympic Water Polo Team from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, and they are both products of the Commerce Water Polo Club. 

Eight partnerships in San Diego County were each awarded a "JumpStart the Conversation" grant on June 26, 2008.

The winning projects exemplify the use of innovative ideas focused on creating livable communities for all ages and the theme of "lifelong learning for older adults." These strategies, especially those aimed at the more than 11 percent of the San Diego County's population who are 65 years old and over, help strengthen "aging in place" services and help to create opportunities for older adults to acquire new knowledge and skills. Click here to view the grants below. 

The grants were introduced after a workshop, titled Enhancing Lifelong Learning: Developing a Livable San Diego County for All Ages, which took place in March at the San Diego Health Services Complex. The workshop was one of a series of regional workshops focused on creating livable communities for all ages. The workshops and grants are part of a national Aging in Place Initiative undertaken by Partners for Livable Communities (Partners) and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a), with funding provided by MetLife Foundation. 

The workshop was hosted by the County of San Diego Aging & Independence Services (AIS) department. Grantees were announced at Aging Summit 2008, held at Town and Country Resort on June 26.One grant recipient, Peninsula Shepherd Senior Center, will use the award to partner with Sharp HealthCare to create an Older Adult Healthy Lifestyle workshop, focusing on the theme of lifelong learning for older adults.The workshop will be presented at local senior centers, churches and libraries. 

"With the aging of the baby boomers, it will be important to develop an educational tool for helping people stay healthy," said Jean Durgan, director of Peninsula Shepherd Senior Center. "Through this workshop, we're hoping that older adults can make changes that can possibly extend their life expectancy and help people experience a better quality of life, while remaining in their own local community."

San Diego Jumpstart Grants 

• Alzheimer's Association 
  To expand the Memories in the Making Art Program to provide an art and brain health educational program that will target: 1) older adults who are interested in embracing their creative energies through art; and 2) caregivers seeking creative activities to enjoy with older adults they care for at home via an all-inclusive art kit.
• Bayside Community Center in partnership with San Diego Community College Continuing Education Department, San Diego Futures Foundation, and Temecula Valley Bank's Risk Management Department 
  To teach Linda Vista's diverse older adult population computer skills and financial basics in various native languages. This program aims to increase confidence in computer technology and independence for older adults in the community, which includes Pan Asian, African American, Chinese, Vietnamese, Latino and Caucasian populations. Instruction will highlight: financial scams targeting the senior population, Microsoft Office, financial literacy, online banking and bill paying. Local college students and professionals in the banking community will be engaged as well.
• Friends of Adults Day Health Care Centers in partnership with St. Paul's Senior Homes & Services 
  To launch a "JumpStart the Conversation Through a Language Curriculum" that will address the needs of non-native English speaking older adults. Older adults who attend adult day programs, specifically the program "This Day in History," will learn English through a curriculum customized to their language learning ability; become knowledgeable about events in U.S. history; enhance the health of their brains; and diminish their isolation from the majority population.
• Heritage Clinic 
  To develop a program for  clinicians and peer counselors to assist older adult clients in exploring their individual talents through conversation and  support groups; and to encourage clients to express their thoughts, ideas and expectations though a diversity of medium: painting, textile and photography and other art forms. This program aims to increase self-esteem and community awareness about older adults and their valuable contributions to the local community, and to decrease mental health symptoms. As part of this program, the clinic proposes to develop a multi-media exhibit of artwork that clients have produced. The clinic will widely promote this art exhibit at a local museum and/or a downtown San Diego venue that is well frequented.
• La Mesa Park and Recreation Foundation in partnership with the City of La Mesa and RhythmWorx
  To implement "Rhythm for the Ages," a weekly exercise and educational program utilizing a variety of percussion instruments to create rhythm and movement in educational, recreational, and entertainment venues for any age. The program is designed to reinforce the benefits of a healthy active lifestyle and engage older adult participants in an enjoyable activity that stimulates cognitive processes and encourages social interaction. As a highly visible project, "Rhythm for the Ages" will also introduce area older adults to the existing variety of instructional, recreational, and volunteer opportunities available in their community.
• Peninsula Shepherd Senior Center in partnership with Sharp HealthCare
  To create an Older Adult Healthy Lifestyle Workshop, focusing on the theme of Lifelong Learning for older adults. Coordinating with Sharp HealthCare, this workshop will be presented as a one-day conference or as a five-part series, each part a stand alone class.  This workshop will be presented multiple times at local senior centers, churches and libraries.  
• San Diego State University Research Foundation 
  To develop and pilot a university-based intercultural, intergenerational learning experience for older adults, called the Intercultural Conversation Partners Project (ICPP). This project will bring together a cohort of older adults and international students from the American Language Institute at SDSU for a semester of lunch programs that foster language acquisition; cultural exchange; and intergenerational learning.
• The Arc of San Diego 
  To pay for members of the Senior Program of The Arc of San Diego - Starlight Center to enroll in community art classes. This would enable these senior individuals to: develop creative art skills in a variety of media; connect with community art resources, studios, individuals and galleries; and place finished art works in these venues, at juried art shows and at retail sites

Bridge Builders Award

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and California Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez for collaborating across party lines to enact a bipartisan environmental agenda that disregarded the political maneuvering and biased criticism that often stalls progress and that will ultimately reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state.