Last Updated on December 10, 2023
REFLECTIONS
Just thought I would share with you a few highlights of what your Residents’ Council has been doing so far this Council year, recognizing that this article is being written in mid-November.
We sponsored a very successful Meet and Greet of the elected officials that represent us in the Maryland legislature and the Baltimore County council. Over 100 residents heard Senator Charles Sydnor, Delegate Dick Ebersole, Delegate Sheila Ruth, and Baltimore County Councilman Pat Young speak to us about their work on our behalf in their respective roles. A lively question and answer session followed.
Most of the Council was very much involved in getting us, the residents, to complete the Holleran Survey which ended with the goal of 80+ participation being met in Independent Living and close to doubling resident participation in Continuing Care. Great success – thanks to all.
The Light Up Charlestown program is off to a bright start. As most of you know by now, the plan is to have us display electric candles in our windows for the holiday season. Please join us in this sparkling effort.
A welcoming new residents’ program, called Dine Together, is getting off the ground. The mission is to provide the opportunity for new residents to gather at dinner time in the Shortline Café meeting room on the first Monday of each month. Jt is also intended to be an opportunity for longer term residents to join in the fun as well. More information will be shared as we resume the program on February 5th.
One of our more successful ongoing programs, called Tapestry, had another of its Tapestry events in October and will now be moving to a neighborhood approach beginning in January. New Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging programs (DIB) are in various development stages. The topics of Ageism and Ableism are actively being introduced to us with more to come as we seek to improve our elderhood relations both among ourselves and intergenerationally with our staff.
We have continued to work with the administration in our joint efforts to prevent our occasional campus flooding issues, as well as to then reduce their scope of impact (fewer apartments) and to improve the remediation needed when a flood does occur. This is certainly one of the top priorities of your Residents’ Council. The Administration is doing good work in this area as you will see on other pages of this Sunburst, but much more needs to be done to achieve the complete elimination of this vexing problem.
Our successful Medication Take Back program was conducted again and will continue to occur on a quarterly basis.
Our three Sustainability Working Groups, made up of key staff and motivated residents, have begun their work to determine what we can do to make our community become a better contributor to helping, in our small way, mitigate the effects of climate change on the Charlestown campus.
As I say at every opportunity, please join us at our committee meetings so that we can hear your concerns and/or compliments. It is a place for your voice to be heard and shared with others. Our monthly meeting schedule is posted on the bulletin boards typically right beside the picture of the Council. Our committee meetings are also publicized on MyErickson in the Activities link as well as in our resident website ccicharlestown.org.
And now some final words for this holiday season – Merry Christmas, Vesele Vianoce (Slovak), Hanukkah Sameach, Feliz Navidad, AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! And may there be the PEACE ON EARTH so desperately needed!!
John Remias, President, Residents’ Council