The Pasadena Village. A community of seniors supporting each other as they age in their own homes

NEIGHBORHOOD MIXERS

The idea of creating neighborhood groups came out of the Social Connections committee. As the Village grew it seemed that organizing people is “neighborhoods” was a way to build connections that could be useful in the event of an emergency or simply the need to get in touch with a new friend. Barbara Madden took on the task of Neighborhood Coordinator and organized Village members into five neighborhoods that include areas beyond Pasadena where members live. Each Neighborhood group selected a leader and together they set their own meeting schedules. During the pandemic they all made the switch to Zoom and it proved to be a very effective way of keeping in touch.

Recently, Barbara and Fritzie Culick, who leads the Foothills neighborhood (Altadena, La Canada and La Crescenta) organized two multi-neighborhood Zoom gatherings, one comprised of two neighborhoods and one made up of three. The two groups planned their own programs using “break out” rooms to encourage participation.

The combination of Zoom technology and Barbara’s flawless manipulation of it resulted in a seamless flow back and forth between sessions in the break out rooms. Members answered the questions, “What is good about your neighborhood?” and “When did you first come to the Pasadena area?”

As Peter LeSourd, who along with his wife, Margo Halsted, is leader of the 91101-05 group, reported, “The result was an energetic, happy interaction in each break-out session, starting with the anticipation and then delighted recognition of who would be in each session, followed by a recognition of commonalities that the six-person group had as to Village interests and activities, followed by a discussion of a topic that had been given for that session to discuss. It was a fun game of anticipating what the "luck of the draw" would bring.”

By the end of the meetings, the members felt a greater senses of belonging and a deeper understanding of their fellow members in their neighborhood and beyond. All agreed that this is something we need to do again – and maybe we can do it in person at some point.

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