Beatitudes Community

The Power of Women

“Women have a unique power of being able to look at the world’s problems and discover solutions that transform lives and make the world a better place.”

You can witness the power of those words first-hand at the Third Annual Power of Women: Wine, Women and Conversation event, which will be held on Wednesday, September 18, from 5-7 pm in the Life Center. We are shining a light on three women who are shaping the Phoenix community: The Honorable Kate Gallego, Mayor of the City of Phoenix; Dr. Maria Harper Marinick, chancellor of the Maricopa Community Colleges; and Dr. Judy Jolley Mohraz, trustee of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. They will be discussing their life journeys – the highs and lows and everything in between. We will hear the expansive amount of work they do for our community and how the connections and support they receive from our community has been transformational in their lives. Our own President and CEO Michelle Just and Letitia Frye, our Power of the Purse auctiontainer, author and speaker, will moderate the panel discussion.

Mayor Kate Gallego has spent her career working to find solutions to complex problems. Prior to being elected as Mayor this past March, she served for five years as the City Councilwoman for District 8. She is the second elected female mayor in Phoenix history and the youngest big-city mayor in the United States. She’s passionate about building a Phoenix that works for everyone, including her two-year-old son, Michael. Prior to being elected mayor, she worked on Strategic Planning and Economic Development for Salt River Project. Mayor Gallego graduated from Harvard University and earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Maria Harper Marinick is a national leader in higher education and strong advocate for access, equity, and student success. She has served in leadership positions for 17 years at Maricopa County Community College District, one of the largest community college systems in the U.S. serving 200,000 students across 10 colleges. She was appointed chancellor in 2016. She is the first female and the first Latina to be appointed to lead a higher educational institution in Arizona. She is originally from the Dominican Republic and came to Arizona in 1982 as a Fulbright Scholar to complete graduate work at Arizona State University, where she earned a master’s and doctoral degrees in education.

Dr. Judy Jolley Mohraz has spent her life committed to the community and education. She served as the founding president and CEO of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, the largest private foundation in Arizona and currently serves as a trustee. She positioned the trust to be a significant partner in civic leadership, constructive change and investment in solution-focused social strategies. Prior, she was president of Goucher College in Baltimore for six years and served on the faculty and administration for 20 years at Southern Methodist University. Her academic focus was American history and she authored a book about Black education in the northern U.S. in the early 20th century. She serves on numerous boards and was a presidential appointee to the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Naval Academy. She earned her doctorate from University of Illinois and her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Baylor University

Michelle Just, as we all know, is the amazing leader of Beatitudes Campus and has made enormous contributions nationally in the aging services field. Letitia Frye has been involved in Beatitudes Campus for the past five years as auctioneer at Power of the Purse. She has made a big impact on the Arizona nonprofit community and has helped raise more than $400 million for these organizations.

For those of you who attended Power of Women last year, you know how positive and uplifting this evening is. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll cheer on your new friends. I hope you will come this year!

We invite you to join us at Power of Women and be part of the Women, Wine and Conversation. Tickets are $45 (wine and appetizers included) and can be purchased by calling me (Barbara Wood at x16136) or coming to the Foundation offices. Please call me if you have any questions. I hope to see you there!

Points of Pride

Empowered power.

Dosia Carlson & Mim Hoover

Some of the most powerful people I know are living right here at Beatitudes Campus.  I stand back in awe of how, when asked to take responsibility for some aspect of our community’s growth, a vision that once seemed grand soon pales in comparison to what the resident(s) actually create.  A few weeks back, at the Arizona LeadingAge Conference (an organization that unites non-profit communities like ours), there was a powerful exhibition of purpose, power and empowerment – and it was by our very own Beatitudes Center for Lifelong Learners.

Dosia Carlson and Mim Hoover, with the help of Nell Bennett, who was not able to be present, put together a presentation, aptly titled, Success Story.  It wowed the administrators from the other communities who sat in on their workshop.  In the workshop, the participants learned how, when residents in a community like ours, are given a task to create, that the sky becomes the only limit, far surpassing what any one staff person could ever create or do.  The resident-run, Lifelong Learners Team, have created, not only a success story of a program in terms of number of participants and diversity of class options, but have impacted the lives of almost all those who participate and  have been given a sense of purpose in creating excellence.

As I said at the beginning, we have not a resident on Campus who is not gifted with immense power and talent.  The true sign of a successful community is how capable is it in empowering its members to be free to use their gifts toward the betterment of the entire community.  The ultimate job of administration in a community like ours is to facilitate the freedom to excel, and clear the path for creativity and ingenuity for any resident ready to take our community even further toward our goal.

I can testify for our administration that few things are    more gratifying than seeing our residents work together with us to accomplish great  things, making our community innovative and on the cutting edge of our field.  More and more of you are taking leadership roles and bringing great transformation to us with visions and ideas that we as staff would never come up with.  To just name a few –  the Environment Committee, the Garden Club, the Recycling Program, our English Language Assistance program, the resident’s Life Enrichment Team who plan our outings and activities and that is just the beginning.

You are leaders and models for senior communities, and I thank you for being a point of pride (and also for letting us boast a bit to our competitors) when it comes to residents with power and purpose lived out.

Who’s Ready for May?

Do you have your tickets for the Cinco de Mayo theme dinner? If not, you’ll want to head to the Bistro to purchase your ticket and check out the menu right away.  Ticket purchase cut off will be Wednesday, May 3rd so hurry!

If you haven’t signed up for the Arizona Diamondbacks game against the White Sox, you will want to call and sign up now.  Cut off to sign up for this game is Monday, May 8th.  The game will take place on Wednesday, May 24th at Chase Field.  You will enjoy great seats, amazing food vendors and a great time with your fellow neighbors. To sign up, call x18473.

Ever wonder what it’s like to take a trip on the Light Rail?  If so, now is your chance to sign up. We will be heading to City Scape for lunch located in Downtown Phoenix.  You will have the chance to walk the area and explore before heading back to campus. Boarding passes are available at the Welcome Center for $2.  There will be a limit of 14 residents to come on this outing.

Lifelong Learners will be hosting their Open House on Monday, May 8th from 1-2PM in the Life Center and registration to follow on Monday, May 15th from 9AM-1PM in the Life Center.  Use this time to attend the Open House and learn about the upcoming classes that will be offered during the Summer Semester.  Instructors or a Lifelong Learners committee member will be available to answer any questions you may have regarding a specific class.  Again, the Open House is not where you will register. Registration will be the following Monday on the 15th. This is where you will want to bring your registration form and form off payment filled out and ready.  You’ll want to show up early to avoid missing the cut off for any classes you are interested in taking.

If you missed out on the monthly birthday party in April, you surely missed a good one!  Elvis was out to entertain and showed us a great time with his famous rhythm sticks.   If you haven’t noticed, our monthly birthday parties have moved into the Agelink Great Hall for more room.  Our next birthday party will be on Monday, May 22nd at 3PM with Bill Joswick.  If you have never seen Bill in action, you will want to make sure you attend.  Everyone is welcome to celebrate the birthday parties with us.  The more, the merrier they say!

Keep on the lookout for all the May events on and off campus.  Events can be found on the monthly synopsis sheets, in the Roadrunner or on the large May calendar.  We look forward to seeing you at the many upcoming events.