JB Brown Fund Scholarships Ignite Hope!

When it comes to awarding JB Brown college scholarships, one USA Properties Fund community shines like a beacon on a hill, brighter than any other.

In the heart of San Jose, the Mayfair Apartments are home to an extremely diverse population; many are recent immigrants and are still struggling to learn English. However, this doesn’t stop Jasmine Carter, Mayfair’s Property Manager, from promoting the JB Brown College Scholarship Program and encouraging her residents to apply.

Jasmine posts flyers on community boards, puts one on every door, and even hosts a JB Brown Scholarship Program informational meeting to explain the program, the requirements, and how to fill out the application. She makes herself available to answer any questions they have and helps each applicant when they need documents copied or faxed.

At first it was a slow start to spread the word among the resident youth and for the youth to believe that going to college is attainable. Most have watched their parents work long hours in low wage jobs… most had no one in their family or circle of friends who would dream about something as big as earning a college degree, but eventually Jasmine’s efforts paid off. After the oldest in a family of five children applied and was awarded their first scholarship, the next sibling was excited to do the same. Today there are four siblings from this one family all going to San Jose State University and one will be graduating soon!

Incredibly, for the Spring 2017 semester there are eight Mayfair residents attending college on a JB Brown Scholarship!

Currently Hien, Anh, Luong, and Van Pham are all at San Jose State; four other individuals from different Mayfair families are now attending college throughout Northern California. Karla Mondragon is at UC Santa Cruz in her second year; Nguyen Tran is attending at Sacramento State University; and Alvaro Gutierrez and Victoria Rico have joined the Pham family at San Jose State.

Jasmine has witnessed a change come over Mayfair since so many families have a son or daughter in college. In her engagement with residents she sees more of a comfortable confidence; more residents are speaking English, more are being responsible and paying their rent on time.

Jasmine feels personal satisfaction from knowing she has played a role in the future success of her residents, “It makes me feel like we do WAY more than provide an apartment to families. We are helping these individuals create a better life for themselves – giving them an opportunity they might not have had otherwise, or that they would have struggled more to achieve. No one said we HAD to offer college scholarships to residents. We could simply be a property management company that moves people in, takes their rent, and fixes their work orders. But we’re NOT! We stand out from others, we CARE! In a money hungry world – where everything revolves around “what am I getting out of this” – we only want to see how others are benefiting and what they’re going to do to better themselves. We’re not asking for anything in return. WHO DOES THAT?! That’s why it’s so important to me, because it proves that we can stand out for the greater good.”

Community Love!

  Every once in a while, something happens in life that can be considered truly miraculous.

mr-duongHACSC resident Mr. Duong had a stroke in October 2016, which left him unable to eat solid food, walk, stand up by himself, or take care of any of his own needs. After a long hospital stay he grew weak and frail. His condition was deteriorating fast, and so his doctors approved him to return home with hospice care.

His family was told he would pass away in a short time. A few weeks or days were all they could hope for.

Mr. Duong was 92 years old then. He had lived a good long life. He had enjoyed his friends and neighbors at Lenzen Gardens, and up until his stroke, he had been an active member of his community. Mr. Duong loved to come to LIfeSTEPS events and potlucks. He was the resident who invited his neighbors to join him–and he loved to document all the events with his professional quality photographs. He even volunteered his time translating for other Vietnamese residents.

When Mr. Duong returned home with hospice, he no longer remembered his friends and neighbors–he didn’t even recognize some of his own family.  He didn’t remember Audrey either, LifeSTEPS Director of Social Services (DSS), but it didn’t stop her from reaching out to Mr. Duong and his family. She offered to rally his Lenzen Garden’s neighbors to come and visit him, to try and reconnect with Mr. Duong and bring comfort and companionship for the little time he had left.

Over the next month his neighbors stopped by his apartment to visit with Mr. Duong. They talked to him and he listened, though he never spoke. Audrey also made home visits to check on his needs and offer emotional support.

His neighbors didn’t stop coming and they didn’t give up. Towards the middle of November, Mr. Duong smiled. Then he spoke. Each day that passed he made more progress. He began to eat solid food, and his sense of humor returned. His neighbors helped him take short strolls outside–and eventually he started remembering people’s faces and names.

By the end of November Mr. Duong’s doctor took him off of hospice care. Instead, a plan for home health care was needed. Audrey referred him to Asian American Home Health to help assist with getting his services started.

Mr. Duong attended the Thanksgiving potluck just like he had done many times before. He was there smiling, telling jokes and taking pictures. Audrey presented Mr. Duong with a Certificate of Appreciation from LifeSTEPS for his many years of service and community engagement. It was an emotional moment for everyone there. “If not for all of you here, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy this potluck today,”  Mr. Duong said in his acceptance speech.

For Audrey and everyone who supported Mr. Duong’s recovery, it was a powerful lesson in love, community, and life.  

Even when he was “supposed to be” dying, Mr. Duong engaged his community; together, they helped him live.

 

National Staying Healthy Month!

la-southsolaira-at-pavilion-park-senior2016-06-13id20108yoga-exercise-classgood_photo2017 is well under way, and many of you – just like our residents – have made new goals for the new year. Last year, we taught 3,500 classes for our families and older adults on health and wellness (and we counted more than 36,000 people in attendance over the course of the year). We’ll keep that momentum going this year and do our part to help residents live healthier lives, through classes like the one pictured here, healthy nutrition workshops, and our recently launched nurse case management program (check out this story here for one example of the impact an on-site nurse case manager can have)!

 

Changing Lives Together, Thanks to You

As we rapidly approach the last days of 2016, we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge all of the incredible work we’ve accomplished in 2016! None of this would be possible without the support of our donors, partners, volunteers, staff, and of course, our residents. Thank you for allowing us to serve, and here’s to changing even more lives in 2017.lifesteps-2016-impact