Where Do We Go From Here?
We are so excited to announce that 2019 marks the 5th Anniversary of Sistahs Aging with Grace & Elegance (Sage Sistahs). Our first public kick-off convening was held in 2014 in Sacramento — and we are so honored that you have continued to join us in “Celebrating the Aging Journey”.
Together, we have engaged in best practices for maintaining our physical, mental, emotional, and sensual health. We’ve shared the joys and challenges of being caregivers while attempting to focus on our own self-care. We’ve made commitments to manage our finances for longer life journeys and we understand the importance of protecting our assets and family legacy by creating Living Trusts, Medical Power-of-Attorneys and Financial Power-of-Attorneys.
Above all, we have created a community of Black women who love and embrace who we are at every stage of life. We enjoy coming together to be lifted and affirmed. We are each other’s keepers.
In 2019, Sistahs Aging with Grace & Elegance will continue to spend intentional time and resources collaborating and learning from you about topics, issues, services, or programs that will be useful in supporting you to thrive physically, emotionally, socially and financially.
We’re working hard to become the premiere platform for elevating the voices and needs of aging Black women in California — in service, practice, and policy. You will be invited to help us design next steps forward through social media, surveys, focus groups, special events, and good old-fashioned face-to-face conversation. What more can we do together to empower and support each other to live our best lives at every stage of the aging journey? We need your help to answer where we go from here!
Carlene & Kiara, Co-Founders
Sistahs Aging with Grace & Elegance
Oh what a whirlwind year Sistahs Aging with Grace & Elegance (Sage Sistahs) had in 2018 as we convened our “Celebrating the Aging Journey” conferences in Sacramento, Oakland, and Los Angeles!!!!
Based on your collective feedback from prior “Celebrating the Aging Journey” and SageSistahs events, our goal for 2019 is to design the convenings to create time and space to delve deeper into specific issues and topics. We are also reaching out to partnering organizations to incorporate SageSistah workshops into conferences and events already taking place in Sacramento, Los Angeles, Oakland, and the Inland Empire.
We are in the process of finalizing activity dates and locations for the year. The calendar of events will be updated on our website, https://sagesistahs.org and Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Sagesistahs/
In Her Shoes
Experience has always been the best teacher. If you plan to go someplace, doesn’t it make sense to ask someone who has already been there?
Sistahs Aging with Grace & Elegance is calling on SageSistahs throughout California to share their challenges, triumphs, insights, complexities, and words of wisdom to be included in the 2020 SageSistahs Storytelling Project.
The 2020 SageSistahs Storytelling Project will consist of essays, video vignettes, poetry, photos, and other expressions to be included in a Sistahs Aging with Grace & Elegance Calendar and other promotional materials to encourage more sistahs to join us in Celebrating the Aging Journey.
We need your help to Tell It Like It Is – the good, the bad, and the ugly of your aging journey. The 2020 SageSistahs Storytelling Project will be honest, informational, inspirational, and relatable storytelling on the unique experiences of Black women as we age.
We know that your stories will generate a treasure of guidance, wisdom, laughter, joy, and maybe a few tears too. We look forward to learning from your life story.
Ready to contribute your voice to the 2020 SageSistahs Storytelling Project? Just send an e-mail to: sagesistahs@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!!!
IT TAKES A VILLAGE….
This African proverb represents a belief and understanding that nourishing, raising, educating, and preparing a child for adulthood requires the love and care of not just parents but the whole community. We know, however, that the meaning, significance and use of this phrase has extended far beyond the African Diaspora. Indeed, Sistahs Aging with Grace & Elegance is founded upon the concept of building a community that will support SageSistahs with thriving at every stage of the aging journey.
Sistahs Aging with Grace & Elegance is partnering with an organization called Village Movement California to explore creating a community-based, designed, and driven African-American centered Village Model in the Los Angeles area that helps our elders to age in place and live independently for as long as possible. The success of this effort could lead to the creation of a system of villages focused on the needs of African-American neighborhoods and communities throughout California.
For a better understanding of the Village Model, take a look at the video below:
More About Village Movement California
(http://www.villagemovementcalifornia.org)
KCET Story About The Village Model
