Emily Gutierrez
Recently, our Social Justice and Vocations class visited the Chicagoland Methodist Senior Center. Those who inhabit the center are mainly elderly people who are retired and either in their 60s, 70s, or 80s. The first man I came in contact with was an artist throughout his life. He told me he attended Lane Tech and he was accepted into a college for his academic standings and his appreciation for art. The man did not want to paint or decorate the birds because he preferred sketching in his pad where he has completed multiple drawings in the past. As I moved tables, I met another older woman. She suffers from Alzheimer's disease, which made her forget how to speak English. She understood when I spoke to her but when she tried to speak to me, she spoke in Spanish. Majority of the time when she spoke, I was capable of understanding because of my background in Spanish classes. The assistant nurse would help me communicate with. She could still understand when I pointed to thing or by the expression on my face. When I helped the woman paint her bird, she finished her project quite quickly. She painted her bird with a baby blue with a smile on her face. She seemed happy to be living in this center because she was still accepted, loved, and cared for.
Society is left to believe that those who are left in nursing homes/centers do not have families to take care of them. This is often a problem for many senior citizens. Sometimes they do not have the proper care meeting their mental, physical, and emotional needs insinuating they must be put into certain facilities. Without care for senior citizens, they would not be able to thrive . The elderly are often marginalized because people do not necessarily want to come in contact with them as most are very old-fashioned, opinionated individuals, but society must break that belief to be capable of accepting the elderly. They must be cared for unconditionally regardless of their age and mindset.
In Acts 20:35, it states: “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” This clarifies that Jesus has stated that it is better to give than to receive because we must work together in harmony to better ourselves. Everyone seeks help, but everyone must be willing to lend a helping hand without assuming one would receive something in return. The elderly are referred to as the “weak” because they can no longer provide for themselves nor can they do every day actions without assistance.
As a person of the Catholic faith, I do not wish for anyone to be marginalized in society, but it has become a problem that many people of different ages and races must endure. When my grandma became older and fell sick to cancer, I found myself spending more time with her. The elderly deserve the equivalent attention a newborn receives. It’s disheartening to see the elderly in nursing homes, but often it’s the only place where they will receive the proper care and attention. When humans reach a certain age, they can no longer provide for themselves, so they must rely on others, such as families or homes. Most families will have private care for the elderly if necessary, but others might not be able to afford it which would lead them to the decisions of putting them in a nursing home. Most nursing homes are covered by the elders’ insurance. I feel society devalues the elderly because they have lived a full-length life up to this particular point which seems like they no longer have a purpose, which I believe is completely false.
To bridge the gap between the social reality and what we hope for, we must take into account that the elderly still have purpose. They must be able to cherish their life time from start to end, regardless of their age. As creation of this earth, we must be unified and be willing to help those who feel marginalized in society simply by visiting the elderly who don’t have families who visit them often or those who don’t have any other family living. I long for the elderly to no longer encounter discrimination and and hope people would be willing to reach out to those who are aging meeting with loneliness.
Felixia Rivera
What I saw was that everyone at the senior center was very happy to meet everyone. They all just wanted to share their story and talk to someone new. The way they had the craft set-up for us was very efficient for us. The craft we were doing was very simple, so our senior could participate without it being a struggle. Each group of 3-5 students was paired with 2-3 seniors. The way everyone interacted was also very efficient because the seniors we were with were very open with what they wanted and how they would get things done.
Looking at the way people are left here it is evident that the people in their lives do not have time for them, or in better words, society left them. Now that they are seen as useless because of their age they are thrown aside like trash. Back in other cultures, the seniors are seen as the wise people you go to if you have a problem with something. Now that society has changed and you can just go on the internet to look things up these people are no longer seen as wise. These people are also sent here if the families do not have the means to support them like they should. Whether that is they cannot take care of them or they just do not have all the supplies they may need, all of this is just based on society and what the abilities of the family are.
“A gray head is a crown of glory; it is found in the way of righteousness.” (Proverbs 16:31) This shows us that we should respect our elders and give them things that they deserve. They spent all their life giving us things, so we should return the things they gave us. It also says that they are righteous because they have been around for a long time. They have lived life and know what has to be done and what is right and wrong. We should respect that and know that if they tell us something they are a majority of the time right. If we do not believe in their judgement instead of fighting with them we should respectfully decline their idea.
With seeing these seniors and then comparing them to seniors in my life it made me grateful. It made me grateful that I can see them everyday and talk to them whenever I feel like. Seeing that some of the seniors there rarely see their children or grandchildren made me sad. To see that they are essentially stuck with the same employees everyday that already know their stories. That was just heartbreaking. When we walked in their faces just lite up with joy and enthusiasm that you would see in a young child. That was the best thing I have seen in a long time.
What we can do to help these people is we can go in and see them. We can set a day aside to spend it with them doing crafts or just to listen to them. That is all they want is to have some listen to them and show them some love. Even though they get that from the staff it is nice from time to time to get attention from other people. So we can act by just going to your locale senior center and volunteer there or even just going and seeing the seniors in your life that you do not always see.
Note: Minor grammar/style edits have been made to each post not affecting the content or perspective of these students.
