ACC Senior Services has appointed Kyle Fredrickson as Administrator of ACC Maple Tree Village, ACC’s new assisted living and memory care center located in the Pocket-Greenhaven area of Sacramento, CA.
Kyle has more than 25 years of experience in long-term care, including assisted living and skilled nursing in both for profit and non-profit sectors. Prior to ACC, she held executive director positions at Westmont Senior Living, Carlton Senior Living, and Atria Senior Living, all in Northern California.
ACC Maple Tree Village will open in Fall 2019, offering 72 units of assisted living and 30 units for memory care. It joins ACC Care Center and ACC Greenhaven Terrace in fulfilling ACC’s mission to provide a continuum of care to older adults in a family-oriented, culturally sensitive environment.
As the Administrator of ACC Maple Tree Village, Kyle is responsible for coordinating, planning, implementing, monitoring, directing, and evaluating all aspects of operations. She has a BA in Sociology/Anthropology from Saint Mary’s College and an MA in Gerontology/LTC Administration from San Francisco State University.
Roast pork is a Chinese classic and it’s perfect for Chinese New Year, the Year of the Pig. Here at ACC Senior Services, Chef Nelly Shun shows students how to make it in a portable convention oven for perfectly crispy skin and a taste that’s to die for. All the ingredients can be bought locally. Anyone can make this dish!
Older adults face many challenges in finding employment. Outdated skills, lack of confidence and not being familiar with the modern workplace all conspire to limit their opportunities. Darlynn Meguiar joined the SCSEP program at ACC Senior Services and got the coaching she needed to find a job.
Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) is a federally-funded program that ACC manages to assist low-income seniors with job training and finding employment. Learn more about SCSEP at ACC Senior Services.
More 25% of Sacramento’s population qualifies for a senior discount at Denny’s. But they didn’t wake up one day and say, “Hey, I’m a senior.” They realized they were aging when they were much younger. Donna Yee, PHD, explains.
ACC Fund Development is now located in the Meals and Wheels building at 7375 Park City Drive. Watch the highlights of our Open House with Rod Malloy, Director of Development. A big thanks and a Happy New Year to our donors, staff, and volunteers!
December saw a flurry of construction activity at ACC Maple Tree Village. Framing for Memory Care Center and the second floor of Assisted Living were completed and now their roofs will go on. Phase 2, the middle section of the 102-unit complex, will have its concrete slab poured by the end of the month.
“We’re putting a lot of building on this land,” said Mark Williams, ACC’s Director of Plant Operations. Local residents who never noticed the empty parcel of land where I-5 meets Pocket Road, can’t miss the remarkable structure that is rising out of the ground. It’s visible from the freeway. “When the people move in, it’s going to feel like home,” said Mark.
ACC Maple Tree Village was conceived ten years ago, but due to the recession, the project was put on hold. It serves a long-standing need in the South Sacramento community to add more capacity for assisted living and memory care. It fulfills ACC’s mission to provide a continuum of care to older adults.
ACC is the Sacramento County office for the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), a federally-funded program specifically targeting older adults who seek employment assistance and job training.
Operating under the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA), SCSEP assists program participants who receive on-the-job training and career development at host agencies, which include other nonprofits and government offices. SCSEP Program Manager Dave Lin said, “We have had a very steady interest in SCSEP,” he said. “We usually have about 100 people on our waiting list at any given time.”
While there are currently over 50 host agencies that work with SCSEP participants, Lin states that there are unique challenges that affect older adults finding successful employment. Among these barriers is the lack of transportation. For many seniors, simply getting to a job site or interview is a hurdle that can hinder finding work.
According to a 2009 report released by the National Coalition for the Homeless, 25 percent of homeless people cite lack of transportation as a major barrier to finding employment. A similar 2015 AARP study determined that even in metropolitan cities with populations of 250,000 to 1 million people, 61 percent of seniors have poor access to reliable transportation.
ACC Program Director David Lin conducts quarterly training for SCSEP participants.
SCSEP hopes that providing bus passes for program participants will help them get to their respective host agencies or interviews, and reduce the stress that often comes with job hunting. Lin also hopes that the program will continue to help older adults develop valuable work skills. “What I would like to see is an increase in the number of participants we are able to serve,” he said.
How to help: A $50 donation would provide one monthly bus pass to a SCSEP participant and help him or her get to a job training site or interview. To donate, please make checks payable to ACC Senior Services and write “SCSEP donation” on the check memo or mailing envelope. You can mail your donation to ACC or donate online at www.accsv.org, where you can also find more information about the SCSEP program.
On Nov. 6, 2018, ACC volunteer Carol Ichiho was recognized at the 2018 Heroes of Human Services Awards, a ceremony honoring those who have shown outstanding commitment to the community through advocacy and service. The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors and Human Services Coordinating Council hosted this event, and Board Supervisor Patrick Kennedy (District 2) personally presented the award to Ms. Ichiho.
As a volunteer at ACC for over 12 years, Ms. Ichiho credits ACC’s positive environment and fellow volunteers and staff as reasons for her ongoing dedication to ACC. She said, “I’m surrounded by friendly and happy people and that’s what keeps me coming back.”
November was National Family Caregivers Month, a time celebrating the contributions of family members who support their loved ones in their medical needs and conditions. Since ACC provides year-round support and resources for caregivers, ACC Programs celebrated National Family Caregivers Month by hosting events that recognized the importance of family caregivers and their commitment to providing care and support for aging or ill loved ones.
Among these events was a free film screening co-sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association and granted in part by the APIs Rise fund. Viewers watched “Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me,” a documentary following late country singer Glen Campbell and his struggles with Alzheimer’s disease. Following the film screening, ACC Program Director Linda Revilla, Ph.D., moderated a panel that featured medical and social professionals, as well as a family caregiver who shared her personal experiences.
The panel discussed the unique issues family caregivers often face in assisting their loved ones with day-to-day living or medical tasks. According to the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, about 65.7 million people in America regularly provide unpaid care to an aging or ill family member. This number is expected to rise with the aging population in America and a projected increase in Alzheimer’s disease diagnoses.
Panelists: ACC Social Worker Soojin Yoo, MSW; ACC Program Director Linda Revilla, PhD (moderator); Judie Higashi, RN; family caregiver Kathleen Yee; and Bonnie Rea, MSW, Alzheimer’s Association
Soojin Yoo, MSW, is the Care Coordinator of ACC’s Bridge to Healthy Families program, which provides caregiving support services for family caregivers and their care receivers. As one of the panelists, she said, “One thing I think of is how lonely it can be to care for someone with this disease. In this culture, independence is highly regarded, and many people feel like their life is just going to go downhill, so they suffer in loneliness.”
A panelist, Kathleen Yee, shared her story of caring for her husband Ben, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2012. According to Yee, her husband simply thought he was “just getting old and forgetful,” but the stress of caregiving often felt overwhelming for her. “At first I felt totally lost about where to find help and resources and who to talk to,” Yee said.
Along with taking family caregiver informational classes, Yee also found solace in attending support groups, where she met others who had similar family situations. And as a caregiver, she quickly recognized the importance of self-care. “I realized I needed respite,” she said, “even just for a few hours a week.”
ACC’s Bridge to Healthy Families program currently offers monthly family caregiver support groups, along with other various caregiving support services that include care assessments, consultations, management, and educational programs.
Another ACC program specifically designed for caregiver respite is ACC’s Friendly Visitor/In-Home Respite Service. This program is part of Legacy Corps and is overseen by Americorps. For a few hours each week, Legacy Corps volunteers visit the care receivers while their caregivers take a break and spend some time outside the house.
ACC carefully screens and recruits Legacy Corps volunteers and provides training on caregiver respite. In addition, Legacy Corps volunteers receive a stipend and an educational award once they complete 450 service hours within a year.
While Legacy Corps volunteers cannot provide any skilled medical, health, or mobility-related services usually provided by a CNA or RN, they can offer conversation and light activities like making art, playing board games, or watching movies.
Chris Leal is currently a Legacy Corps volunteer in the Friendly Visitor program. Leal, a gerontology student at Sacramento State University, felt compelled to join because of his previous experiences in caregiving. “Caregivers face many challenges with caring for another and their personal needs may sometimes be ignored,” said Leal. “I felt it was a great opportunity for me to give back to the local community.”
Leal visits a couple of families a week, and finds joy in the service he provides. He said, “I really enjoy hearing stories about their past, and I enjoy learning as much as I can from them.”
Currently, Friendly Visitors serve the following areas: Downtown Sacramento, Land Park, South Land Park, Pocket/Greenhaven, South Sacramento, and parts of Elk Grove. To receive respite services from the Friendly Visitor program, caregiving families pay a fee of $10 an hour, usually with a 60-90 minute minimum, and are billed at the end of every month of service. Priority is given to veterans and their families.
ACC Program Director Linda Revilla emphasized the importance of caregivers practicing simple self-care. She said, “I recall working with a caregiver who said that all she wanted to do was go see a movie. Just a few hours a week so she could feel like ‘her’ again.”
How to help: Donations of just $10 would provide caregivers an hour of respite in the Friendly Visitor Program. To donate, please make checks payable to ACC Senior Services and write “Friendly Visitor Donation” on the check memo or mailing envelope. You can mail your donation to ACC or donate online at www.accsv.org, where you can also find more information about caregiver support and resources at ACC.
Mas Hatano was born in Sacramento in 1928 and grew up near Isleton, CA, to parents who immigrated from Japan. In 1942, his family was uprooted from their home, school, and livelihood and incarcerated at Tule Lake concentration camp. “We stayed at Tule for about three years and were released around June, 1945, when I was 17,” he remembers. “I recall my older sister came home from school at camp and told me she was taking a typing class. She showed me a piece of paper with the keyboard drawn on it and told me she was supposed to practice typing on it.”
As Mas recalls the various chapters of his life, he’s grateful for family, his career, his volunteer opportunities and his health. He actively recruits ACC Greenhaven Terrace residents to participate in the Wednesday morning walking club. “It’s just a short walk, but I enjoy the camaraderie and conversations,” he commented.
Active at ACC and elsewhere
Recently Mas joined ACC’s Legacy Corps and participated in training to become a Friendly Visitor to provide companionship to other elders while giving their caregivers a respite. His impact on people of all ages reaches far and wide in Sacramento. He has volunteered for 26 years at the California State Railroad Museum, and 18 years with the California Museum. Mas has also been a docent at the State Capitol and taught the safe driving course to seniors for AARP. During the school year, he teaches children about his experiences at Tule Lake. He has developed a PowerPoint presentation that he shares with Sacramento State and local college students throughout the year.
Accomplished athlete
When Mas retired from his job as a civil engineer with the State of California, he pursued biking and travel. “In my 70s, I biked over 7,000 miles a year for a number of years and I’ve biked in France, Japan, South Korea and even Mongolia. Mongolia was not very interesting, it was like biking in Nevada,” he reflected.
ACC Volunteer Coordinator Kim Fujiwara shared said, “Mas is a phenomenal human being. He represents kindness, wisdom, curiosity and forgiveness. He challenges others to keep moving towards their dreams.”
Encouraging others
Mas is among the many older adults that have benefited from the healthy activities at ACC Senior Services. He regularly encourages others to take up walking, and other fitness classes, and to volunteer in the Legacy Corps program.
