Posts in category: blog

We are pleased to share that the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine has enabled a handful of in-person activities, classes, and visits to resume at ACC Senior Services. The light at the end of the tunnel is shining brighter as people in the ACC community connect once again. 

That being said, this is not the time to relax our diligent efforts to protect our staff, volunteers, residents, and our community.  With the spread of the Delta variant, we have continued to employ best practices and follow guidance from the CDC and health department.  We have successfully vaccinated over 90% of our current staff and require new employees and volunteers to be fully vaccinated. In doing so, we have joined the growing number of companies, educational institutions, and government agencies determined to win the battle against COVID-19 once and for all. 

The data has shown that vaccines are extremely safe and effective in preventing sickness and death. Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine received full FDA approval, and the others are not far behind. Please get vaccinated if you have not done so already.

The pandemic has led to staffing shortages across many industries, including healthcare, retail, transportation, and restaurants. ACC Maple Tree Village and ACC Care Center have been hit especially hard because we are required to maintain specific staffing ratios. When these cannot be met, we have to limit new admissions and forego revenue. 

To improve our competitiveness, ACC recently approved equity and retention pay adjustments for staff members who are currently working at our skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. We are also developing new recruiting messages and tools. You might have seen Jay Sloan, our Talent Acquisition Specialist, in a new video describing why ACC is a great place to work, focusing on how healthcare workers can develop their professional connections and advance their careers. 

ACC continues to explore the home and community-based services. Lynda Tanner, President & CEO at VNA Health in Santa Barbara, and Judy Thomas, CEO at Coalition for Compassionate Care for California gave a special presentation on hospice and palliative care, services that are commonly delivered at home. This quarter, we are meeting with an expert from an investment firm to discuss the declining demand for institutionalized care and new business models for providing assisted living and skilled nursing services in-home. ACC had been studying these trends well before the pandemic began. The pandemic only made them more important and underscored the urgency to act.

One type of in-home service is ACC online programs. Thanks to the work of Jeri Shikuma, Susan Sarinas, Ted Fong, and Krystal Wu, we have held more than 415 virtual concerts, classes, and workshops in the last 12 months! In September, we asked registrants if they would like to continue with online classes or in-person classes after the pandemic. Out of 173 respondents, 63% said both, 30% said online-only, and 7% said in-person only. In other words, 93% want to keep online classes going! But to continue our online and in-person programs free of charge, we need sponsors. Our goal is to raise $250,000 per year in sponsorships to pay for instructors, production staff, and studio facilities. As you have seen, the ACC Community Room doubles as our production studio. If you or your company would like to help ACC achieve this goal, you can contact Jeri Shikuma at jshikuma@accsv.org or 916-393-9026. Jeri and her team can give you a tour of the ACC production studio and discuss ways we can recognize your gift and/or promote your business during our live broadcasts.

Last but not least, we are happy to announce the appointment of Betsy Donovan to the ACC Board of Directors. Betsy was the Chief Operating Officer at Eskaton from 2010 to 2020, overseeing 30 communities and programs including affordable housing, skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care, continuing care retirement communities, home healthcare, adult day healthcare, and quality and compliance.  Welcome on board, Betsy!

True Ohana is not just getting together for a golf tournament but instead is the connection that occurs when friendship and camaraderie becomes so strong that you feel like “family.”  That was so much in presence at the ACC Ohana Golf Tournament that everyone enjoyed “da kin sore mouth” that comes from smiling all day long.  It is said that “happiness is contagious” and that certainly was the case.

On the golf course, there was the Ohana of 155 golfers piling out of the vehicles in the nearly dark chilly early morning hours of the morning to register and enjoy a nice hot burrito and cup of coffee donated by Darrick in memory of his grandfather who taught him how to play golf.  There was the Ohana of making that perfect shot or having one of your Ohana teammates do it.  There was the Ohana of what used to be a bunch of mostly mid-age male golfers becoming and growing into a collection and young, mid-age, senior men and women of different levels golf experience and skill. 

Rather than individual play like most other golf tournaments, the Ohana tournament was a friendly Ohana competition of teams playing together sharing the best shots to record a team score.  The Ohana tournament had the most mixed teams, the most teams outfitted with their own team uniforms, the most newbie teams both to ACC tournament play, to ACC and even to golf.  Even with all the new teams, there was still two-thirds of the teams that have played in multiple tournaments over the years and about a third that have played in nearly all the 13 previous ACC Tournaments.

Behind the scenes, Ohana was in full bloom.  It was Mark and L&L making 150 musubi, General Produce donating bananas, Jean stuffing goodie bags, Lynn and some of her lady friends making scores of cookies and hosting the somen refreshment stand, Holly and Debi doing the bolo toss, Russ serving as a spotter on a Par three, Barry taking care of signage, Russ and Don working with Teal Bend.  It was Teal Bend getting out tables and chairs for registration, Stephen collecting registration forms, developing the tee sheet and checking in players, it was Michael and Kala, brand new ACC staff persons coming out to help early morning when it was still dark, and many more others doing this in the Ohana Spirit just for the fun of it.  Oh, it was Jeannie, Jeff, Jonathan and the photographers, Ted doing the Program and Jean writing a welcome message, and Darrick and Jean greeting all the golfers.  Of course, there was the Ohana of the golf committee of volunteers under the leadership of Don and Brian.  As with every Ohana, there are others who didn’t get mentioned.  My personal apologies to each and everyone.

Written by one of the Ohana who did not get mentioned.  Haha, it was a Great Ohana Day.

Tournament Winners

Open Division Low Gross

• 1st Place: Yin-Ping Li, Tina Tseng, David Tseng, Jenny Deng
• 2nd Place: Darrel Woo, Greg Jung, Jim Margolis, Russell Stiger
• 3rd Place: Derek Seo, Helene Kawaye, Mark Hayashida, Kyle Yamamoto

Women’s Division Low Gross

• 1st Place: Holly Fong Korach, Teri Yee, Suzan Sabado, Linda Yamanaka
• 2nd Place: Gail Tanaka, Audrey Yokoi, Jane Nakagawa, Donna Kunisaki

High Gross

• Lorna Fong, Wendy Kagiyama-Yee, Beverly Shimizu, Carol Kudow

View More Photos of the Tournament

ACC Remembers the Past and Sends a Message of Peace for the Future

If you have visited one of the ACC Senior Services facilities since April, you may have noticed a display of tsuru (origami cranes) to greet you as you entered. You may have asked, “This is beautiful. But why are they here?” Here’s the story…

It started two years ago, with the creation of Tsuru for Solidarity (T4S), a nonviolent, direct action grassroots organization of Japanese American social justice advocates and allies – many of whom were incarcerated as children in U.S. concentration camps during WWII. Since March 2019, T4S has mobilized to support communities directly impacted by unjust immigration and detention policies and other forms of state and racial violence. #CloseTheCamps #NeverForget

Planning had been underway in earnest for a June 2020 T4S “National Pilgrimage to End the Camps” and protest march on Washington, D.C., where survivors and descendants would place 125,000 cranes (“tsuru” in Japanese) on the White House fence – one tsuru for each of the 125,000 incarcerees of Japanese ancestry who were unjustly held in U.S. concentration camps during World War II. People of Japanese descent from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico were planning to protest the continued caging of children and separation of their immigrant families. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the country shut down, and the national pilgrimage and protest were postponed. 

Instead of the D.C. protest, Tsuru for Solidarity hosted “Tsuru Rising!”, a virtual protest to close the camps, and Kimochi Night, a space for cultural celebration and healing. For three days, T4S brought together 1,000 attendees, 30,000 online viewers, nearly 250,000 tsuru (from churches, Girl Scouts, Buddhist temples, families, Nisei seniors, an origami class at San Quentin, activist groups, university clubs, other countries, and many more), seven direct actions, 22 healing circles for change, and dozens of artists, organizations, and activists – all of whom gathered as a collective community toward transformative solidarity.

The significance of the tsuru is to remember those who were incarcerated during WWII, and to show solidarity with detainees who are incarcerated today. The cruel conditions and neglect they have endured are being dangerously worsened by the pandemic.  

With over a quarter of a million tsuru in storage, T4S has been spreading tsuru across the country, continuing protests to close the migrant detention camps. In addition, tsuru are being spread in communities as a sign of peace and love.

According to Detention Watch Network (a national coalition-building organization with a goal to abolish immigration detention in the U.S.), the average daily population of detained immigrants in the U.S. increased from approximately 5,000 in 1994 to nearly 40,000 in 2017. After 30 years of expansion, the U.S. detention system now holds as many as 400,000 immigrants annually. 

As a result, Tsuru for Solidarity, set a NEW goal of 525,000 tsuru – to honor those Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII and to include the number of immigrants incarcerated annually. Through folding tsuru, T4S will show that immigrant children, youth, families and other detainees seeking safety in the U.S. will not be forgotten.

One local group wanted to express support for the T4S National Pilgrimage in Washington, D.C. – a book discussion group sponsored by the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library. The librarian selected, “Kiyo’s Story:  A Japanese-American Family’s Quest for the American Dream” because of its powerful narrative of courage and resilience. Those in the book discussion group were so moved by “Kiyo’s Story,” they folded tsuru to express their collective concerns with U.S. immigration policies, with a plan to have the tsuru join with the other cranes when the protest occurred in D.C. When the pilgrimage and protest march were postponed, the group thought they could extend the message of hope, peace, and celebration, to local libraries and other venues. At the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven library, you’ll find books related to the Japanese American incarceration and immigration along with the tsuru. The tsuru are on display in the foyer entrance into the library.

In an effort to spread the message of peace, joy, and hope, ACC Senior Services has also created displays of tsuru in every facility lobby for staff, volunteers, and residents and their family members, to brighten their days and to share information about Tsuru for Solidarity. ACC Senior Services has been a proud T4S supporter and created beautiful displays in all venues for staff, residents and their families and friends, and visitors.

All of the tsuru on display at ACC Senior Services were folded by Jim and Jean Kawano of Sacramento, who individually folded 20,000 in support of Tsuru for Solidarity and its mission. 

Betty Eng, one of the members of the library book discussion group, is a life-long Sacramento area resident and community activist. She has been a long-time comrade and friend of Satsuki Ina, co-chair of Tsuru for Solidarity. Betty participated in original discussions of the formation of the Asian Community Center in the 1970s. According to Betty, “I am pleased that ACC has taken on sustaining and long-term policies regarding the pandemic, attacks on Asian American community and issues of the elderly.  The services provided by ACC such as independent and assisted living facilities, on-line classes and workshops, transportation and Meals on Wheels have also been an amazing contribution to the community.”

Crane Folding
A Poem by Betty Eng, Community Activist, Ed. D.
May 12, 2020

Folding cranes, folding cranes, cranes, cranes

For the “National Pilgrimage to End the Camps”

www.tsuruforsolidarity.org

125,000 cranes for the number of Japanese women, men and children

Incarcerated in camps during WWII

Brutal camps, still, incarcerating refugees today

Strands of cranes to protest at the White House

Spread the wings for flight to receive my wish

For hope, peace and a celebration of life

I fold origami paper with care to honor and to pay tribute

Following same instructions and steps

Yet, each crane takes on a different persona: one is strong and proud,

Another is defiant and resilient, another is goofy and having fun…

I should be a crane.

By Jeri Shikuma, Administrator,
ACC Home and Community Based Programs

I have been in my new role as ACC’s Home and Community Based Programs Administrator for over a month now and am happy to have this chance to say hello to our ACC community.  

You might be wondering, “What is Home and Community Based Programs or HCBP?” It certainly is a mouthful compared to the “Programs” moniker we used to go by!  HCBP is a standard term for programs that provide “person-centered health and human services to individuals who need assistance with everyday activities in their home or community.” HCBP helps people age in place at home, rather than moving into a facility for care.  

Here at ACC, our vision for HCBP is more expansive than this normal definition, which is often associated with Medi-Cal. The HCBP Division at ACC consists of our in-person and online lifelong learning and wellness programs, our caregiver support programs, and our essential services such as ACC Rides.  Many of these are typically viewed as Home and Community Based Programs and Services, while others are not, such as our array of fitness and health promotion offerings (think Pickleball!) and our computer technology and job skills training.  

So why did we decide to change our name?  The shift in our division’s name represents ACC’s commitment to provide a true continuum of services from active aging and lifelong learning and wellness, to long-term support services and end of life care.  In our last ACC Newsletter, Darrick Lam, our President and CEO, talked about his focus on researching and developing more home and community-based services for ACC.  Over the last several months, we have been exploring opportunities like PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) to see what other models and programs we may want to add to our continuum of services that will help increase the health, well-being, and independence of older adults in our community.

The name change to Home and Community Based Programs also highlights our commitment to person-centered care.  That means addressing and respecting all aspects of what makes someone who they are, taking into account their social, economic, and cultural attributes as well as their physical and mental conditions.  It also means creating a system or network of services that is user-friendly and accessible across many types of programs in-house at ACC as well as in our broader community.  To that end, HCBP has been working with staff from all divisions at ACC to create effective ways to assess individuals, inform them of available resources, and connect them to the people and services they need both in-house and in the community.

Our goal is to create a “no wrong door” approach to ensure that our clients, residents, participants, and community members are able to navigate the system of services, make informed decisions, and resolve their issues successfully.  

There is a lot of work to be done, but it is all good and important work.  We look forward to welcoming many of you back to in-person classes and expanding our online offerings and events, we’re delving into expanding our long-term care and essential services, and we’re piloting new ways to build our referral and follow-up capacity.  Home and Community Based Programs staff and volunteers are working hard to create useful services and engage you in meaningful experiences.  If this resonates with you, I hope you’ll support us, and let us know your thoughts and ideas and even share some of your talents and resources.  I look forward to meeting many more of you personally in the months to come.  In the meantime, you can always send me an email or check out one of our great classes, workshops, or programs!

Something you might not know about Diana Atkins, ACC’s beloved SCSEP office assistant, is that she’s a world-class singer. In fact, her voice is classified as coloratura soprano—a rare distinction reserved for vocalists with expansive tonal range. 

“I can sing all over the piano, up to the last High C,” she says via Zoom from her Sacramento home, where she is working remotely thanks to a SMUD Shine Award laptop she received from ACC. In other words: she’s the real deal.

Diana has been sharing her voice with lucky crowds ever since she was seven years old. At that time, she began accompanying her pastor father to street ministry sessions he gave in downtown Stockton, where Diana spent much of her childhood. Diana remembers standing in an outdoor marketplace atop an orange crate, shaking her tambourine and leading her father’s audience in song. Eventually, people started coming out just for her.

Diana’s music career took off from there. She moved to Los Angeles in 1958, and for a brief period in her early twenties was signed to Gordy Records, an early label from Motown founder Berry Gordy— until her father, the pastor, caught wind of a love song she recorded that had a little too much love in it.  

Diana transitioned to gospel and is still singing to this day. She established herself as a vocalist for gospel pioneer James Cleveland and a member of the LA Community Choir. Due to her unique vocal gifts, Diana was frequently sought after by choirs, churches, and music schools around the nation, and has travelled as far as Hawaii and New York as a performer and teacher over the course of her career. 

It’s a great story, the story of Diana the singer—ask her about it sometime, and she might tell you about it herself. But it’s not her whole story. While Diana has been busy singing over the last 60 years, she’s also been busy with everything else that comes over the course of a full life. 

Diana has four children, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. (Football fans will recognize her grandson, Ahkello Witherspoon—a star cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers.) After moving from Los Angeles to Sacramento in 1981, she held longtime jobs as a medical transcriptionist and then as a social worker in the foster care system. Through the second job, Diana has also been a foster mother to twenty-two foster children, and she still keeps in contact with many of them.

On top of all this, Diana is a lifelong learner who has received three degrees—including a recent sociology degree from Cosumnes River College, at age 78. She wants to spread the word to other seniors: “You don’t have to get bored when you go to school, it’s fun, and nowadays you can do it online from the comfort of your home!”

Despite her many achievements, Diana hit in a rough patch in summer 2018. She had been out of work, and just when she found her new training assignment job—as a Rides office assistant through ACC SCSEP program — her daughter suddenly passed away. 

Diana’s new coworkers told her she could delay her start date and take more time to rest, but Diana felt sure that being alone at home would make her depressed. So, she says, “I started to work the day after we had my daughter’s funeral service—and it brought me so much joy, oh my God.” 

She goes on to describe the community she has found at ACC. The new friends she made helped support her through that dark time, she says, and have continued to bring light to her days ever since. “It was really good for me. Really—it saved my life.”

Besides making friends, what Diana appreciates most about working at ACC is being exposed to new cultures. She hadn’t met many Asian people before, and she says she’s now learning all kinds of stuff. “I’ve learned I can eat without ham hocks,” she says with a laugh. She’s also learned she likes tea, and yoga—but mostly she talks about “the delicious food” her coworkers make.

Working from home during COVID, Diana has continued learning new things. She’s been able to take virtual classes at the Urban League through SMUD, where she has gained skills in customer service and financial literacy. And recently, she started her new position as the SCSEP office assistant, helping other SCSEP participants complete their distance learning and job development forms and activities.

But of course, she misses the office (and especially the food). She’s got a bucket list of things she wants to do when she can return in person, including taking a tai chi class—another new thing her ACC co-workers have introduced to her.

“This has all been eye-opening for me,” she says of her time at ACC. “I’ll be glad when I go back in person.”

Like all health and human service providers, ACC’s staff and volunteers have been challenged to continue to provide essential services for our seniors while keeping everyone safe at the same time. This is especially true for our ACC Rides Transportation Program.  Despite these challenges, we have been honored to receive the Safety Recognition Award for Excellence In Safety from NonProfits United Vehicle Insurance.  This award represents the third consecutive year that we’ve been honored. All three banners are proudly displayed in our office area. 

Additionally, ACC Rides received special recognition from the Agency on Aging Area 4 for “Exceptional Performance for overcoming unprecedented challenges during the COVID19 public health emergency.” The timing in receiving the award could not be more special as we celebrate the initial distribution of the vaccines that brings with it a hope for a better tomorrow.

Both awards are testaments to the dedication and skill that our staff bring to their jobs and how our combined caring for others make this a better community for all.

In a challenging time when so many of our vulnerable seniors are faced with physical and social isolation, the transportation services provide by ACC Ride’s staff is more important than ever.  We will continue to transport seniors to life-saving treatment and provide other essential services like home-delivered meals that help all members of our community to stay safe. 

We are thrilled that the majority of our transportation staff members have received the COVID-19 vaccine. We will continue to use personal protective equipment and follow CDC guidelines to keep our clients, volunteers, and staff safe.