Halloween at Sunshine Garden

The seniors at Sunshine Garden had some special visitors this Halloween: a trick-or-treating CISC preschool class, and some students from Lakeside School to help them carve... well, not pumpkins, actually. Take a close look and you'll notice that they are carving oranges. Halloween, Sunshine Garden style.

Annual Senior Resource Fair

CISC's 2010 Annual Senior Resource Fair will be held on Thursday, October 14th at the North Bellevue Community Center. There will be many organizations attending that specialize in assisting and providing resources for seniors, and this is a great chance to agencies and seniors to meet and greet. Lots of give-aways and workshops throughout the day! For more information, please contact Cathy Lee from our Community I&A Outreach Program: 206.624.5633 x 4123.

Date & Time: Thursday, October 14th, 10:00am to 4:00pm
Location: North Bellevue Community Center
4063 148th Ave NE, Bellevue WA, 98007

Summer Field Trips

Following up on their recent Light Rail trips, the Sunshine Garden seniors have been busy this summer exploring different neighborhoods by public transportation. They've taken advantage of some wonderful historic bus tours to visit Snohomish for the town's annual Kla Ha Ya Days festival in July, and Snoqualmie in August for the railway museum and Snoqualmie Falls. They've also been to the Museum of Flight and Woodland Park Zoo.

These trips have been a great way for the seniors to keep up on all the transportation options that are out there, and enjoy some highlights of the neighborhoods and towns they wouldn't normally visit. 

Knitting Club

New knitting club for seniors at the Peter Kirk Community Center in Kirkland Tuesdays, and the North Bellevue Community Center on Wednesdays! Participants will not only learn to knit or improve their existing knitting skills, but all completed pieces will be donated to area shelters for the holidays.

Great way to meet new friends who speak your language, learn new skills, and give back to the community! For more info, contact Cathy Lee at 206-624-5633 x 4123 or cathyl@cisc-seattle.org

New Site!

Meeting community needs is what CISC is all about. And at the request of friends in the Greenwood neighborhood of North Seattle, we are happy to announce a new partnership with the Greenwood Senior Center starting July 20!
CISC will be providing language specific activities and workshops to Chinese seniors who have a hard time traveling to and participating in Sunshine Garden Senior Day Care Center in Chinatown. Information and assistance will also be available every Tuesday for seniors needing help with anything from applying for a Metro pass, to finding appropriate health insurance, to signing up for volunteer opportunities.

The center is located at 525 N 85th St in Seattle and is open 8:30-4:30 Monday-Friday. For more information, contact Cathy Lee at 206-624-5633 x 4123 or cathyl@cisc-seattle.org

Rice for Seniors

Once again, Brownie Troop 52844 is using proceed from their cookie sales to purchase and distribute rice to low income seniors.

They're here at CISC this morning, bagging and giving away 400 pounds of rice!  Way to go girls!!

Some of these seniors came early for the noon event - before 10:00.  And we hear one woman was actually waiting at the door at 7:00 a.m.!

Elderly Case Management

This update from our monthly staff meeting:  CISC saw a first quarter jump in the number of seniors it is providing case management services to from 526 to 539.

Now this may not sound like very much, but county-wide, there were only 40 new cases, and CISC had 18 of them!

Thank goodness we have a corps of incredibly dedicated and passionate case managers who ensure that each of their 100+ clients gets the proper services and attention they need and deserve!  They help our seniors live healthy independent lives for as long as possible and in their own homes.

Fall Prevention Certificate Course

The Sunshine Garden Senior Day Care center at CISC is working with Senior Services to hold a fall prevention course in Mandarin. The program, known as "A Matter of Balance," is an award-winning program designed to manage falls and increase activity levels.

The 8-session class is being held every Wednesday from 1-3pm at the International Family Center-Seattle, at 611 S Lane St., starting on April 7th. A $15 fee for the workbook and snacks will be charged. 

For more information, please contact Andes Kong at 206.624.5633 x 4121.

Take Care of Those Who Cared for Us

Wednesday, CISC participated in a press conference along with other senior service providers facing cuts of up to 77% in the governor's first proposed budget. This all-cuts budget would further reduce services for our vulnerable seniors by:

• Reducing or eliminating programs that provide support to more than 300,000 families including information and assistance, senior foot care, senior transportation, nutrition, and falls prevention.
• Eliminating home care for 1,400 seniors and people with disabilities.
• Cutting an additional $55 million from in-home care.
• Eliminating adult day health services for 600 seniors and people with disabilities.
• Slashing health benefits for low-income caregivers, leaving thousands without needed health coverage.
• Eliminating dental, vision, hearing, hospice, podiatry, and physical, occupational and speech therapy for seniors on Medicaid.
• Eliminating Medicare Part D copayment reimbursements so 85,000 elderly medicaid clients will not longer be able to afford their prescriptions.

What can you do? Please contact the Governor by mail, phone or e-mail with the following message AND send the same message to your legislators via the legislative phone hotline (800-562-6000):

"Please propose sufficient new revenues to preserve the Senior Citizens Service Act. SCSA funding makes it possible for the most frail and vulnerable seniors to stay in their homes."

Warm Scarves for a Chilly Winter

Winter has undeniably arrived in Seattle, and everyone seems to be talking about the cold weather recently. So there was no better time for the Scarf Knitting Group at CISC's Sunshine Garden Senior Day Care Center to warm up our community a little with some scarf donations in recent weeks. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, New Beginnings, an organization providing support to victims of domestic violence, and CISC domestic violence clients received some of the Group's hand-made scarves, hats, and socks. The seniors also recently donated some of this winter clothing to the International District Housing Alliance, an organization that provides low-income International District residents with community-building and housing-related services.

A Matter of Balance

2 CISC staff and 2 volunteers graduated last week from a 12 hour training course provided by Senior Services, a non-profit serving older adults and caregivers in King County. The training was for a fall-prevention course known as A Matter of Balance.

CISC will begin providing this 16 hour course for seniors in Issaquah every Monday and Wednesday from 12:30pm to 2:30pm starting on November 16th. It will also be provided in Chinatown every Monday and Tuesday from 1pm to 3pm starting on December 1st. The cost is $15 for each senior.

Dragon Boat Festival

May 28 was Dragon Boat Festival day 端午節 and over 120 seniors, both Chinese and non, celebrated at the North Bellevue Community Center.

Participants enjoyed singing, raffle prizes and a rice dumpling 粽子 wrapping contest. Legend has it that after the exiled poet and statesman Qu Yuan 屈原 killed himself by drowning in the Miluo River 汨羅江, the local people, who admired him, threw food into the river to feed the fish so that they (the fish) would not eat his body - hence the origin of rice dumplings.

They also raced out in boats to retrieve the body, beating on drums to scare the fish all the while. This tradition continues on today with our annual dragon boat races.

The seniors all enjoyed this celebration, some commenting that they had not had a chance to celebrate in over 10 years. And now they can share this tradition with their new American friends and neighbors!

Seniors @ Crossroads Mall

This Saturday, the 12th annual volunteer fair was held at Crossroads Mall in Bellevue. Hundreds of community members interested in learning about volunteer opportunities attended.

There was lots of entertainment, including CISC's Eastside Chinese Senior Choir. Very professional looking, and they sounded great too!




The group practices every Wednesday from 10:30 to noon at the North Bellevue Community Center. New members are always welcome to join!