Start of the Newsletter and |
By Tiffany Yoshikawa
A special thanks to Dr. Richard Saiki, Hitoshi Shimizu, and Tad Suzuki
for their help on this article.
As a member of the Venice Japanese Community Center everyone receives the Venice Japanese Community Center, Inc. Community News, which was originally known as the Venice Community News. Even before the Venice Community News was created, there were three organizations that sent out their own newsletter. The organizations with their own newsletter and mailing list were the Venice Judo Club, the Marina Gardeners Association, and the Venice Culver JACL. At the start of the Venice Community News in 1965, the Center wanted to include the organizations’ news in the newsletter. In order to do this, the Center asked these three organizations to publish their news in the Venice Community News.
At its onset, the Venice Community News was sent to 900 people, consisting of those on the three organizations’ mailing lists, those who had membership to the Center, and non-members of the Center. The way the list of non-members came about was by going through the local reverse telephone directory and collecting those with Japanese names who lived in the vicinity of the Center. Using the reverse directory helped because the directory was organized first by street name and then the person’s name. One of the goals of the Venice Community News was to get people familiar with the activities that the Center provided and to create interest in joining the Center. At this time, many people were not aware of the Center’s existence. Having people in the area receive the Venice Community News helped increase the Center’s membership.
Community Center, 1968
Besides utilizing the newsletter as a means to increase membership interest, Center members were asked to solicit people in their neighborhoods. Back then, when it came time for membership renewals, the membership rules were not clearly defined, causing confusion in communication with its members. Each organization was in charge of collecting membership dues. This resulted in a need to go house-to-house and ask for membership renewals. There were many people who ended up renewing their membership during the Shinnen Enkai and Keiro Kai, the Summer Festivals or at other events.
Along with establishing the Venice Community News, the Center planned on building new facilities. At the Shinnen Enkai and Keiro Kai in January 1969, the President of the Center, Tokuji Matsuda, announced the construction of the new facilities. On September 28, 1969, a special general meeting was held where supporters voted on the plans for construction of the new facilities. In order to help start the project, the Center pursued and received a loan from Bank of Tokyo, which is now Union Bank of California.
Construction Plans, 1969
The Center established the Building Fund Committee with Chairman Dr. Mitsuo Inouye and Co-Chairman Dr. Richard Saiki. Along with Dr. Inouye and Dr. Saiki, many other people were involved in the Building Project. One important person, who was the overall Chairman of the Building Project, was Mr. Matsuda. Mr. Matsuda was very committed to making sure the Building Project was a success. He took off time from work and devoted countless hours to the Building Project. In addition, Jin Asakura, Toru Ino, Min Ioki, George Kaneshiro, Norio Kuroyama, Katsuji Kushida, Hisa Miya, Tameharu Nagao, Mitsuji Nakagiri, Hiroshi Sato, Steve Takayesu, Andy Yamamoto, George Yoneyama, and Sam Yoshimura were among the amazing individuals on the Building Fund Committee. They served as team leaders to their own list of volunteer members, soliciting funds, donating money, and assisting in any way they could.
The Building Fund Committee members gave up innumerable evenings to visit houses for the fundraising effort. They collected anywhere from one dollar to one thousand dollars. The money for the Project came from pledges, donations and fundraising events. At the start of the Building Project, its original cost was over $200,000. When construction got under way and some changes were made, the cost increased to over $300,000. The Center’s goal was to raise over $300,000. Honored for selection as Chairman and Co-Chairman of the Building Project, Dr. Inouye and Dr. Saiki felt the responsibility to make the first two pledges. Following their commitment, other community leaders soon followed with their generous pledges.
On March 22, 1970, the Building Fund Drive was launched with a ‘kickoff’ dinner. At the dinner, people including the very supportive Councilwoman Pat Russell, the Mayor of Los Angeles, the Culver City Chief of Police, and the Commander of the Venice Police Division were all in attendance. The Treasurer of the Building Fund Committee, Mr. Ioki, took this opportunity to make his first official financial report, stating that the Center had raised $62,000 consisting of cash on-hand and pledges.
Along with the Building Fund Committee, there were other people who helped make the Building Project successful: the landscaping was supervised by Ryozo Kado with help from members of the Marina Gardeners Association; the blacktop of the parking lot was done by the Yumori Brothers; the building contractor was Miller and Sons, Inc.; Ken Tawa and Jim Shimozono served as the architects; the Blue Print Committee, led by Chairman Ike Masaoka, worked on detailed construction plans; and Jim Bishop helped with the public relations material.
Planning Meeting, 1971
On April 18, 1971, the Center had its groundbreaking ceremony. Then, on December 12, 1971, the Dedication Program was held to celebrate the completion of the facilities. The new facilities included the office, the conference room, the multipurpose gym with kitchen, the raised stage with sound system, dressing rooms, storage space, and main floor of the gym. Plus, all the old classrooms were remodeled.
Gym construction, 1971
The end result of everyone’s hard work, monetary donations and dedication to the Center, paid off. It took the Center less than three years to pay for the mortgage. Ever since the multipurpose gym and the other facilities were constructed, people have been using them nonstop for the many activities that reflect the dynamic nature of Center-related organizations. The multipurpose gym and the other facilities were a wonderful investment. There are many people who appreciate the sacrifices that the Pioneers made for the Center. Thank you very much to all the members who thought about future generations and contributed in making the Building Project a success.
| Senior Moments - ABC’s of Long Term Care Facilities
Part 1 of 3 (Source: United States Department of Health and Human Services) By Aileen Hongo |
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The other day I was researching public policy terms with reference to the older adult and came across a website with a glossary specifically designed for long term care. With all the advertisements and resources on long term care today, there is a whole new vocabulary evolving that we didn’t even think of 20 years ago! As a child, adult day care meant watching ba-chan/ji-chan either at home or at their house. Assisted living meant helping ba-chan/ji-chan to cook or helping them walk during a family outing.
In today’s complicated world of long term care, you are likely to come across new words and phrases. Let’s go through a few of them – I will continue to add a few with each article – in hopes of clarifying some of the confusion that may occur as you plan long term care for yourself or a loved one.
Assisted Living – Residences that will provide a home atmosphere with emphasis on the residents’ privacy. Residents typically have their own private (locking) living quarters and bathrooms. Personal care services are available on a 24-hour-a-day basis. (Licensed as residential care facilities.) Some may include a group dining room and/or limited kitchen facilities for simple cooking.
Board and Care Home – A residence which offers housing and personal care services for a small group – usually 3 to 16 residents. Services (meals, supervision and transportation) are usually provided by the owner or manager. It may be a single family home (and licensed as an adult care home or group home).
Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) – Provides multiple levels of care (independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing care) and can be housed in different areas or in the same community/campus. The advantage is that it gives residents the opportunity to be housed in the same community as their needs change. It typically provides residential services (meals, housekeeping, laundry), recreational and social services, health care services and nursing care. It requires a monthly payment and possibly an entrance fee (and licensed as a residential care/nursing home).
The information provided on this column is intended to provide helpful health and wellness information to the general public. The information is not rendered as a medical, health, psychological or other professional diagnosis, treatment or cure and should not be used in place of a call or visit to a medical professional, who should be consulted before adopting any suggestions in this column or drawing inferences from it.