December is a month loaded with activities, thoughts, and aspirations. Tradition leads many folks tend to write yearly resolutions that reflect personal, professional, and even social goals for the coming year. In keeping with this tradition and empowering our network to set and achieve goals that advance the quality of life of the Hispanic older adults, families, and caregivers we serve, we asked some members of the NHCOA familia to share their 2015 resolutions:
“My 2015 resolution is to get the Los Angeles members of the NHCOA Leaders Network to join forces and open a senior center where we can share and learn from our talents. This is one of my goals and dreams.” – Esperanza Luevano, NHCOA Leaders Network
“I will continue to be a part of Fuerza LA so more families are not affected by domestic violence. I will continue to count on NHCOA to create more opportunities and train more local leaders in Los Angeles. Another goal I have is on its way to being fulfilled: the FUENTE DE JUVENTUD club for Hispanic older adults will launch on January 14, 2015.” – Ruth Andrade, NHCOA Leaders Network
“As we examine our resolutions for 2015, DH/Perfil Latino and NHCOA hope that the Salud y Bienestar (Health and Well-Being) program will continue to help the Hispanic older adults we work with to improve their general health, to move more, to eat smarter and live a balanced family life.” – Dr. Harry Paraison, DH/Perfil Latino
“My resolution for 2015 is to get trained in different aspects of social services to help people in extreme economic need. My goal is to empower mothers to take more informed and effective choices to improve the socioeconomic well-being of their children.” – Martha Sanchez, NHCOA Leaders Network
“My goal for 2015 is to fulfill God’s purpose for me: continue supporting, to the best of my abilities, all the organizations I am currently involved with. I want to work with them hand-in-hand to help my community, advocate on behalf of the vulnerable— Hispanic older adults, undocumented folks, home care workers, day laborers and the uninsured— and for a better and healthier environment. I want to motivate and empower older adults to learn how to read and write so they can get more involved serving their community. I also want to keep learning because it’s a life-long process. I am grateful to God for the privilege of having met you [NHCOA staff].” – Lidia Aguilar, NHCOA Leaders Network
“My 2015 resolution is to gain access to resources to buy a sewing machine. I would like to teach Hispanic older adults to learn how to use the same tool that allowed me to survive with my 6 children so they can benefit economically as well. My personal goal is to continue getting health-related training so I can be an educational and counseling resource to our community. I also want to go to different senior centers and create a list of informational needs so I can track down appropriate resources.” – Florecia Lopes, NHCOA Leaders Network
Quotables:
Most “impossible” goals can be met simply by breaking them down into bite size chunks, writing them down, believing them, and then going full speed ahead as if they were routine. Don Lancaster
It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
