Sung Ihn Son fell into a depression when her husband died. Making new friends and taking classes like dance and art at GenSpace in Los Angeles helped her feel happy again.If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily morning newsletter, How To LA. Every weekday, you'll get fresh, community-driven stories that catch you up with our independent local news.
Words you won’t hear here are old, boomer or elderly. This is a place where people come to try new things and be creative — whether it’s painting class, drumming or writing a new song and singing in a choral group, as Lorraine Morland, 68, has done. “The patience, the encouragement, the support,” Batcheller says, make it a very positive and dynamic environment. And, she says, the physical space is immaculate and stunning. A round atrium with floor-to-ceiling windows cuts through the center of the building, spilling sunlight everywhere.Freedman calls GenSpace a prototype for a new kind of institution. “A new kind of senior center which approximates the midlife atrium idea,” he says.As an older woman, she had started to feel unseen.
Annenberg would love to see other communities emulate the model they’ve created at GenSpace. Its location, set on the campus of a synagogue — in a very diverse neighborhood — also houses a school, which brings people of multiple generations into the same space. The focus for older people is to grow and learn. “I would love to see more places espousing this philosophy,” Annenberg says.
A medical industry challenge to a $25 minimum wage ordinance in one Southern California city suggests health workers statewide could face layoffs and reductions in hours and benefits under a state law set to begin phasing in in June. Some experts are skeptical, however, that it will have such effects.Health officials estimate more than 685,000 people in L.A. County have latent tuberculosis, where they aren't sick and are not contagious. One in 10 develop active tuberculosis, with symptoms.