The Greenwood SAGE Project: April: Immigration Issues

Upcoming Events

The Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans (PSARA) comes to the Greenwood Senior Center!

In an effort to continue expanding civic engagement at the Greenwood Senior Center, PSARA, a group dedicated to upholding justice and civil rights for seniors and all Americans, will begin holding a monthly discussion group at the senior center. PSARA is a chapter of the national Alliance for Retired Americans, working toward progressive change in the areas of health care, social security, housing, transportation, immigration, and many more. To learn more about PSARA's work, check out their website: www.psara.org.

The first meeting is this Thursday, June 10, from 1-2pm at the Greenwood Senior Center. All meetings are facilitated by Bette Reed, Community Vice President of PSARA.

Join us!

Monthly SAGE meetings begin.

On Tuesday, June 15^th, at 2pm, SAGE will have its first monthly meeting to begin discussing SAGE’s transition into a more sustainable model (see post below). We’ll talk about our collaboration with PSARA and start planning for the fall. Please join us if you can!

As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Emily at the Greenwood Senior Center (206-297-0875/emily@greenwoodseniorcenter.org). Thanks!

Friday, May 15, 2009

April: Immigration Issues

According to a U.S. Census Bureau report in 2003, approximately one million new immigrants enter the country each year. In April, the SAGE Project engaged in a three-week exploration of issues related to immigration, including the role that globalization plays, challenges new immigrants face, and factors that affect our communities economically and socially.

EDUCATION

Documentary and Discussion: Roger Yockey, a trained facilitator with the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations, joined the SAGE Project to discuss the film Uprooted. This documentary presents three stories of immigrants who left their homes after global economic powers devastated their countries, only to face new challenges migrating and living in the United States. SAGE participants discussed the issues of injustice raised in the film and reflected on whether or not our current system is in line with our values.

Understanding Immigration Basics: Fatima Morales and Jeanette Wenzl of Washington CAN! led an interactive workshop using an immigration board game to teach participants about the current immigration system and help them understand the many difficulties and barriers that prevent immigrants from obtaining a visa.

Panel Discussion: Representatives from CASA Latina, OneAmerica and Refugee Women’s Alliance joined the SAGE Project to answer questions and discuss their perspectives on the most pressing issues facing immigrants in our community, how these issues are being addressed, and how they affect our community as a whole.

ACTION

On May 1, a group of SAGE participants headed downtown demonstrate in the May 1st March and Rally, calling on President Obama to renew justice and restore all rights for everyone, with a focus on a moratorium on raids & detentions.

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Welcome

Welcome to the Greenwood SAGE Project blog, where you can find information, photos, and reflections on past and upcoming projects.

The SAGE Project is a program of the Greenwood Senior Center, located in the Phinney/Greenwood neighborhood of North Seattle.

SAGE stands for Seniors: Active, Giving, and Engaged. The intent of the project is to bring seniors together to learn about, discuss, and address social justice issues on a local, national, and global level. The hope is to couple education and action, recognizing that becoming familiar with an issue is necessary to engage in effective action.

How does it work?

WE CHOOSE AN ISSUE
Each quarter focuses on a particular issue that is affecting communities at the global, national, or local level.

WE LEARN ABOUT IT
Typically, we have one or two education days a month, occurring on a Tuesday afternoon. Education can be in the form of a presentation or lecture by a local organization that is working to address the specific issue or through screening various films related to the issue.

WE TAKE ACTION
The purpose of SAGE is not to merely learn about an issue, but also try to address a component of that issue through action in our community. Action can be in the form of volunteering for a local organization, writing letters to congress people, or informing our peers about the issue. What is important is finding an appropriate avenue to turn our knowledge into action.

SAGE coordinator

Hello SAGE participants! My name is Emily Brosius, and I am the Americorps intern for the SAGE program here at the Greenwood Senior Center. A little bit about myself: I am a recent graduate of Carleton College, a small liberal arts school in Northfield, Minnesota, where I studied anthropology and sociology. I learned about public health issues abroad in South Africa for a semester and completed a senior thesis on personhood and Alzheimer’s Disease in the United States. I play the violin, the er-hu (a stringed Chinese musical instrument), enjoy pick-up games of soccer and Frisbee, and love baking. This summer, I worked at an all-boys camp in northern Wisconsin where I taught a cooking class. But perhaps most importantly, I strive to be aware of social justice issues both within our community and abroad and to make a continual effort to confront them in the ways that I can.

The Greenwood SAGE Project