Spreading Freedom with Elderly

by | May 16, 2015 | elderly

Spreading Freedom with Elderly

Spreading Freedom Where Freedom Is not Always Present

On Tuesday, September 14, Lisa, Jayna, and Bruce of WorldLegacy NC 123 Leadership visited the Brooks-Howell Home, a resident elder care facility. WorldLegacy in Morrisville, NC is a coaching company with personal development and leadership workshops. Affiliated with the Methodist Church, Brooks-Howell is located on Merrimon Avenue in Asheville. Our visit began at 9:00am and ended at approximately 9:50am. We visited residents, all women, in a day room as some finished their breakfast and others watched television. Several of these women had been Methodist missionaries. I visited individually with three women, Ilo, Francis, and Evelyn. Ilo and Francis had been missionaries, Ilo in East Asia and South America and Francis in Africa. Evelyn had been the postmaster in Swannanoa, a small community in eastern Buncombe County. Evelyn’s husband was a coach at the local high school and had been a Methodist minister at one time. Evelyn turned 100 last July 11.

I jokingly asked if it would be all right for a Roman Catholic to sit with them for a while. All three laughed and said that everyone was welcome at both Brooks-Howell and the Methodist Church. I said that the same applied for my church as well, though it was not always obvious. Francis, especially, was interested in talking about church and faith and, I think, Ilo would have been. Ilo had problems with her speech and it was difficult to understand her. Tracy, the Executive Director, said that Ilo could not talk, but she could be understood with a little patience and intention.

All of them said they appreciated the Brooks-Howell Home, particularly the beautiful flower gardens, and that they were well cared for. Tracy obviously cared about them and was very protective of them, so protective that she did not allow us to wear costumes, fearing that it might upset some of the women. While Ilo, Francis, and Evelyn were indeed frail, all lit up with smiles with a gentle touch on the arm or a handshake.

Ilo, Francis, and Evelyn have led long lives full of giving and, even though they are not very mobile and probably don’t get out very much, I experienced that they still wanted to give. It also struck me that giving creates freedom. It’s true that freedom is not always present in nursing homes, but freedom can come from the past. All three of these women beamed when they shared their lives and realized that their lives were inspirational for all of us and that they had made big differences in the world. And they still make differences for us by giving us the privilege of sharing in their life journeys.

Bruce Cahoon

Elderly

WorldLegacy Project SeeSaw Studio

by | Jan 9, 2015 | Press Release, SeeSaw Studio, seesawPR, Youth

SeeSaw Studio, Durham, NC

NC86’s Leadership project created a state-of-the art computer laboratory for this center that enables disadvantaged teens to develop professional skills in art and design. October 2006.

SeeSaw Studio

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 3, 2006

CONTACTS:
Pat Hoffman, Executive Director, SeeSaw Studio

pat@seesawstudio.org, phoffman6@nc.rr.com

SeeSaw Studio, a training center in Durham enabling disadvantaged teens to develop professional skills in art and design, is awarded a state-of-the art computer laboratory.

DURHAM – At SeeSaw Studio disadvantaged teens, some referred by the court system, have the opportunity to turn their lives around by preparing themselves for careers in the art and design professions. SeeSaw Studio’s new computer laboratory and state-of-the art design software will be inaugurated Monday, October 16 at a ribbon cutting ceremony at 6:00 pm at SeeSaw Studio, 326 W. Geer Street, Durham, NC. Students will display their portfolios and speak to the public about how SeeSaw Studio training has turned their lives around.

SeeSaw Studio’s mission is to teach design, entrepreneurship, and life skills to inner city youth and providing a safe haven and business and educational opportunities. SeeSaw Studio holds public workshops and an apprenticeship programs for more than 300 pre-teen and teenage youth each year. These workshops address the lack of opportunities for career training in art and design for low-income youth and the chronically high number of teen dropouts from Durham schools.

SeeSaw Studio is the only design and entrepreneurship program in North Carolina that makes available opportunities and training traditionally not found in public school curricula. The program offers opportunities for young designers to create and sell their own work and empowers them to dream big and take personal responsibility for their success. Young designers receive training and experience in a variety of skills including graphic design, Web design, silk screen-printing, welding, and illustration, as well as portfolio preparation, technical writing, and marketing and sales. Students practice interview skills where they dress in business attire, fill out applications, solicit references and apply for jobs.

The new computers, printers and design software were donated by a leadership team from The WorldLegacy in Morrisville, NC that chose SeeSaw Studio for their community service project to promote teen empowerment. WorldLegacy is a coaching company that provides personal effectiveness and leadership workshops for people to live extraordinary lives.