City News: Gail Daniel, St. Martin De Porres Senior Center
From the Providence City News Series...
Rooted deeply in Providence, Gail stays very much involved in her community and is well aware of the important role that neighbors and family members play in helping our City’s seniors stay mentally and physically active. Even with an arthritic back and an ailing knee, Gail makes it to the center, as she does almost everyday, to meet and assist her peers.
She takes the time to talk to City News about the value of hard work, keeping active, and doing building relationships with your community.
How long have you lived in Providence?
My whole life -- I’m 72 years old and I was born in Providence and I’ve lived my whole life in Providence.
What neighborhoods have you lived in?
I was born on the East Side and I lived there until I was maybe 22, and then I moved to South Providence. I lived in South Providence until I was maybe 30 and then I moved to Marlborough Avenue (in the Elmwood section) and I lived there for oh! – a lot of years – I don’t remember exactly how many years! And then I moved past Roger Williams Park. I bought a house there and lived there for about 20 years. Now I live with my daughter on Potters Avenue (in South Providence).
What do you like most about your neighborhood(s) and the City?
I worked in the federal court and traveled all over. Providence is my home and I wouldn’t want to live any place else. I like to go to other places on vacation but I want to live here.
Why? What has made it home for you?
Well, for one thing – the four seasons. I’ve been to the south, I’ve been up north. They get a lot of snow up north and they get a lot of heat in the south. Providence – we get hot weather, we get a hurricane every now and then but for the most part the weather is ideal.
The people are great. I remember when we had the blizzard of ’78 and for a week I couldn’t go to work. No matter where you went – up the street, down the block – everybody was very helpful. They talked to you and you talked to them. Storekeepers were very nice. Even if you didn’t have the money, they still gave you the food. After the week was over, they cleaned up everything and people were back to doing what they were doing before but for that week, it was really, really great.
Even now, I find – since I have this arthritis on my knee and I sit on my porch a lot – I find that there are different ethnicities (in my neighborhood). There are Asians there, Puerto Ricans there, Blacks there. I sit on my porch and they go by and wave. I wave to them. My new neighbors introduce themselves to me and I introduce myself to them. I dropped my cane on the ground and the kids came and picked it up for me. So, it’s that kind of stuff that makes it nice to live here. You know. For the most part, I don’t want to live any place else.
What are some of the changes you’ve seen in your lifetime since you’ve lived in Providence?
Oh! A lot of changes!
What stands out the most for you?
I think Mayor Cicilline is doing a good job. He’s come here to the Center and I’ve met him in a lot of different things. He’s done a lot for the City.
I have to say that the one thing I’m really thankful to Mayor Cicilline for is the new garbage bins (The Big Green Can). We had a lot of rats in our neighborhood and I have to say that with his help, it’s been a cleaner city. Because the bins close, the rats have no place to go, no place to eat. I have to say that’s one of the good things that have happened.
How do you stay active as a senior? Tells us about the activities you participate in at the St. Martin de Porres Senior Center.
I try to stay active. I come to the center every day, just about. We have a program called the St. Martin de Porres Family Guild, which started thirty years ago. I wasn’t old enough to belong to the guild at the time but I belonged to the guild because my mother was a senior.
The family guild was made up of children and grandchildren of seniors to help them raise money, do some of their activities – like we ran a bingo for them for a lot of years to support them.
Today, I’m the president of the family guild. I’m also the president of the FACTS committee here and we do a lot of things to raise money for our director at the center and to help her with the budget.
They have a lot of programs going on here: a computer class, exercise class, arts & crafts class, Bible study class. So, every day there’s something going on and it’s a chance to come out and meet with your peers. Rather than sitting at home by myself seven days a week, I can come here five days a week and meet with my friends and we talk about things.
Once a week, they have programs to give seniors information about medical issues, or housing, or whatever so we get a lot of information from our director and her staff. Then, in the afternoon, we play cards. So there’s always something going on here. We enjoy it very much.
I’m on the nutrition council too which is part of Meals on Wheels. We sit down and go over the meals before they’re given out to the centers. Every center is involved in it and I enjoy that. We get to meet the managers of the meal site and tell them what we like and dislike and they’re all very nice.
So, yeah – I’m also on that council. Let’s see what else do I do ….
Oh yeah! I helped with the Mayor’s Night Club at Noon program last week and that was a big success. We had a lot of fun with that. We do a lot of things!
It’s terrific that you are so active in your community. Why do you think it’s important for seniors to remain active?
Coming to the center is one of the things that keep them active. Most seniors live alone. There are some that live with their family like me I live with my daughter but she works two jobs so I’m at home basically by myself during the day anyway.
It gives me a chance to come out and keep my brain and mind active by talking with other seniors and doing something. You know, you sit at home and watch TV all day and after awhile your brain is not working and you get in a rut. I see a lot of seniors that get sick and die because they do that and they don’t come and meet with other people.
I swore when I first retired I was not going to be one of those that came to the center five days a week! Well, I’m here five days a week! My leg feels bad today but I still came today because I can’t just sit at home. I have to get up and move. So I got up and got dressed and came to the center. And that’s the story of my life!
What do you tell your peers about staying active?
I just tell them to come out and join us. We try to do programs here.
Oh! I forgot to say that we do a bingo here three days a week and they get a lot of seniors that come out for that. And I just try to tell them just to stay active, come to the center because we do a lot of things. We try to do a program once a month something different just so seniors can come out and see what we’re doing.
We have one of the larger meal sites here and people come and have lunch. A lot of times when you’re at home by yourself you don’t eat right either but here you get a nutritious meal five days a week and a chance to talk to your peers.
We laugh a lot and play cards a lot! It’s just fun.
What is the wisdom you impart to younger generations about life?
The younger generation is nothing like the older generation, okay?! I have a grandson (I have a lot of grandsons) who lives with me that works at Walgreens. He’s always late but he’s right around the corner from the job. I tell him, ‘you couldn’t work for me!’
In my day, you got a job, you stayed there, you went to work everyday unless you were really sick, and you went to work on time. The generation today they don’t care about anything like time, they don’t care about staying on the job, they move around a lot, but --- I can understand that because jobs have changed.
In my day, if you stayed with a job, you got an excellent pension when you retire. Nowadays, those pensions have changed into IRAs and all that stuff where if you put your money in then you’ll have money when you retire. And so, in a lot of these jobs today, kids don’t feel like they should stay in a job. They hop from job to job to job. This is one of the big changes I see in the workforce today.
So I tell my grandchildren to stay in school, get a good education, and if you’re in the workforce, go to work and go on time and do the best you can regardless of the circumstance. That’s what I instill in them.
Gail had a long career in the federal court system in Providence that spanned three decades, retired, got bored, and got a job as a surveillance officer at the Foxwoods Casino – a job she stayed in for seven years while commuting back-and-forth from Providence to Connecticut, then she retired again. She’s intimated that she’s thinking about coming out of retirement for a second time and is looking to get a new job again! For this active senior, nothing – not even a bad knee – keeps her from making sure her day is jam-packed with stimulating activities, while at the same time, inspires others to do the same.
If you or a member of your family is a senior and are interested in participating at the St. Martin de Porres Senior Center, you can call 401-274-6783 or visit them at 160 Cranston Street.
