Partnership Empowers Older Rhode Islanders
Age-Friendly Rhode Island is collaborating with a myriad of organizations, agencies and individuals across the state to build a community that supports and empowers Rhode Islanders as they age. A recent partnership, funded by Point32Health Foundation, resulted in 24 older adults enrolling in the inaugural Senior Fellows program at Leadership Rhode Island. The eight-week course prepared participants to be better advocates by working to improve their public speaking and networking skills. It also featured presentations by community leaders who are tackling challenges in the areas of transportation, housing and food insecurity.
At a graduation ceremony held in the House Lounge of the Rhode Island State House on August 8, Age-Friendly Rhode Island’s executive director Jim Connell expressed his gratitude to the Senior Fellows for bringing their talent, wisdom, experience, strength and enthusiasm to the fellowship. “You are taking a step forward to make Rhode Island a place where aging well and living well is a priority for all ages” said Connell who also thanked the older Rhode Islanders for thinking strategically about how they can make a difference for all Rhode Islanders.
Ignacio Quiles receives his certificate from Michelle
Several of the Senior Fellows had previous experience with advocacy but found the program helpful in expanding their network. For the past ten years, Ignacio Quiles has been involved in the activation of a Providence dog park which attracts an intergenerational crowd. Even with a decade of community experience Mr. Quiles relayed appreciation to the staff of Leadership Rhode Island for helping him navigate an interaction at his local senior center that he felt needed to be addressed in a different manner.
Hugh Lena III of Providence applauded the many research projects happening in Rhode Island citing Parkinson’s studies happening at Butler Hospital, cancer research at Lifespan and orthopedic surgeries at South County Hospital. Despite that momentum, Mr. Lena voiced concern that the medical system is not serving the basic needs of RI’s population as it should citing 20% of primary care health care workers have left Rhode Island since the pandemic. Mr. Lena called for better community-based health programs to meet the basic needs of the population and make the medical care system healthier.
Hugh Lena III present their civic commitment
Other Senior Fellows focused on issues in specific communities. Betty Bernal plans to advocate for the Latino community. Ms. Bernal shared that there are 11 million undocumented older adults (55+) living in the United States. Approximately 4.5 million of those people cannot access federal programs like Medicare or Social Security despite paying taxes over their lifetime. Ms. Bernal said she was lucky that her sister paved the way for her family to become citizens and vowed to help members of the Latino community find a pathway to citizenship.
Pawtucket resident Gilda Hernandez expressed dismay at the amount of focus the world puts on anti-aging. “The message is clear, getting old is something to avoid” cautioned Ms. Hernandez who suggested ageism is so engrained in our culture that we often don’t notice it. She proposed incorporating anti-ageism messages into Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs that are already established in schools, corporations, and nonprofit agencies as they foster a sense of acceptance and belonging. Hernandez’s civic commitment is to create a speaker’s bureau through Age-Friendly Rhode Island or AARP RI to combat ageism and generate social change among the younger generation.
Rebecca Allen Carter reads her certificate as Michelle Carr looks on
Newporter Rebecca Carter Allen focused her civic commitment around a tool of change, mediation resolution which she described as the business approach of the future. The technique involves solving disputes satisfactorily through a conciliation negotiation. Ms. Carter Allen will explore how to become a mediator and hopes to facilitate successful group mediations with police departments, governmental agencies, health care providers and citizens in the future.
The Senior Fellows program will reconvene in November so that participants can provide updates on their civic commitments and reconnect. For more information visit agefriendlyri.org.