Author: Zoe Raines

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03.23.21 | Health & Wellness

COVID-19 Vaccine Testimonial: Donna Gaines

As part of our ongoing campaign to encourage and ramp up vaccination in Black communities across America, Sage Collective is creating testimonials that showcase why people have chosen to receive the coronavirus vaccine, and what the experience was like. To start, we’re engaging our own Board of Directors and Leadership Team to share their stories.

First up is Donna Gaines, President of Sage Collective and a member of our Board of Directors. 

 

Why did you personally take the COVID-19 vaccine? Did you have any reservations or questions? Do you feel you had all the information you needed to take the decision to be vaccinated? What /who were your sources of information and guidance?   

DG: I took the COVID-19 vaccine because I wanted to protect myself from getting the disease and to accelerate the timeframe for when I can resume some of the activities I enjoy like getting together with family and friends. 

I had a lot of reservations about getting the vaccine initially, because I felt that it hadn’t been tested enough among the general population. I have allergies, so I was a little concerned about possible side-effects from getting the shot. I also wanted the Pfizer vaccine because it was reported to have fewer side effects, and almost backed out at the last minute when I found out I was getting the Moderna vaccine.

I relied on information from the CDC, supplemented by articles from the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and New York Times. I usually watch MSNBC, and local news stations for updates in my city. I also spoke with several people who had the 1st dose, so I felt comfortable making a decision with the information I had available.

 

When did you receive your COVID-19 vaccine and from what company (Moderna, Pfizer, etc.)? What was the experience of signing up/scheduling? Have you received both shots? Where did you have to go to get your vaccinations? What was the experience like of getting into the chair and actually receiving the shot? (If you’ve received both shots, you can break this down by each experience)   

DG: I have received one dose of the Moderna vaccine and it was administered a couple of weeks ago. I signed up on the state’s website, and was also on a list in the County where I live. The first notification I received that I was scheduled for the vaccine was about 4-5 days later, and it was a “reminder” via text, sent 3 hours before my scheduled appointment. I cancelled a previous appointment I had scheduled at that time to be available for my vaccination!

I went to a drive-through location at a church not too far from where I live. I went with my husband, and we waited in the car for an hour and 20 minutes to receive our shots — which took about 30 seconds to administer. We received our appointments for the 2nd dose at that time, and we waited in a holding area (parking space) for 30 minutes (instead of 15 minutes because of my allergies), so we could be monitored. By the way, while we waited for our shots, paramedics were attending to someone who was parked in the holding area, so THAT was a little disconcerting!

 

How did you feel after receiving the vaccine, physically or otherwise? Did you experience any side effects?   

DG: I had a lot of soreness at the injection site, and even though I have a high tolerance for pain, it was uncomfortable enough that I ended taking ibuprofen for a couple of days. I asked for the shot in my left arm so that I wouldn’t be too limited in my ability to do things. I’m glad I did!

The overwhelming emotion I had was a huge sense of relief, and I didn’t realize how anxious I’ve been about getting sick . . . and possibly dying!

 

What is your doctor saying about how COVID-19 vaccination fits into your long term health plan? Are you taking any aftercare measures — if so, what?  

DG: I have not discussed the vaccination with my physician, and don’t have any aftercare measures planned other than to clear my calendar after my 2nd dose.  I hear some people have a few more side effects after the second shot.

 

Are you serving as a guide to others who are seeking information and reassurance about being vaccinated?  

DG: Yes! I had an in-depth conversation with an extended family member the other day who was adamant about not taking the vaccine. At the end of the conversation, she told me she would take it, and I was happy to hear that!  Sage Collective also wants to be at the forefront of these discussions, and we’re committed to educating as many people as we can over the coming weeks and months!

 

Overall, what do you believe makes COVID-19 vaccination so important to society writ large, and in your specific community?  

DG: Recent research suggests that COVID-19 will eventually become an endemic disease, like its sister coronaviruses, the common cold or even a disease like the measles, which is largely under control in the United States.  For now, as many people as possible should be vaccinated and eventually, babies will no doubt be vaccinated at birth.   

Given the high incidence of illness from COVID-19 and deaths in the African American community, it is really important that all individuals — and particularly those at high risk — take the opportunity to protect themselves as more of the vaccine becomes available.  COVID has reduced the life span of Blacks and Latinos by 3-4 years, so this is literally a life or death matter! 

A quote on top of an image of a COVID-19 vaccine vial, with a green overlay and the Sage logo in the lower right corner. Text reads: "I took the COVID-19 vaccine because I wanted to hopefully protect myself from getting the disease and to accelerate the timeframe for when I can resume some of the activities I enjoy, like getting together with family and friends." Quote attribution below reads: "Donna Gaines, on getting the COVID-19 vaccine"
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03.18.21 | Health & Wellness

Why We’re Getting the Coronavirus Vaccine & Why We Encourage You to Get Yours

The Sage Collective Board of Directors and Advisory Board are committed to your health, safety and well-being. We have decided individually and collectively to speak out about our own decision to receive the vaccine that prevents or reduces the likelihood of contracting the coronavirus and becoming a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We know that Black people in America are reluctant about receiving the vaccine relative to other Americans even though we are dying from the disease at three times the rate as white and Asian Americans. The difference in mortality between races, that is the rate of death and dying, isn’t complicated to understand. We won’t yet go into detail on the history and reality of health care delivery in our nation, rather, what we want you to know is that you can do something about protecting yourself, your family and your friends from dying from COVID-19 today. Get your vaccine.

Being vaccinated against COVID-19 isn’t like getting a flu shot. Although the seasonal flu can be lethal, it is not in the same category as the coronavirus that has produced this pandemic.  Unless you have a helicopter in your front yard that can take you directly to a major, medically advanced hospital, where a staff of doctors trained in infectious diseases and equipped with known and unknown experimental drugs happens to be available, you don’t want to risk getting the coronavirus. Get your vaccine.

We, as a people and as a community, are not immune from catching it. It does not discriminate, it infiltrates. It relies on your not doing something, such as wearing a mask, keeping socially distant, and washing your hands, to strike. It also doesn’t care if you don’t believe in getting inoculations against it. It will strike. If you want to be scientific about what we’re saying, do this experiment: Have everyone else you can think of get the vaccine and you go without it. Wait a few months and see what happens. See if you are really the superhero you think you are. Please, get your vaccine.

Sincerely,

Sage Collective Board of Directors

Image reads: Why we're getting the coronavirus vaccine and why we encourage you to get yours
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03.16.21 | Community

Our Guide to Spring Cleaning

With spring just around the corner, it’s time to talk about that dreaded annual task: spring cleaning. Luckily, spring cleaning doesn’t have to be something you dread. With the right planning and strategy — and the right people to help lend a hand and brighten the task — spring cleaning can be a breeze. To get you started on the right path, we present: Sage Collective’s guide to spring cleaning.

Partner Up and Plan

Spring cleaning is a much easier — and much more fun — task when you have someone else to do it with you. Whether it’s a neighbor, friend or family member, invite someone over to take on the job with you. Start off by boiling a fresh kettle of tea and putting on a favorite record to set the mood. Together, work to create a checklist of everything that has to be done and to dole out responsibilities accordingly. That way, you can tackle the challenge together, and maybe even sing along as you go.

Choosing the Right Cleaning Supplies

First and foremost, you should always consider your safety when going about cleaning the house. That’s why choosing the right cleaning supplies is essential to getting the job done right, and done without incident. Things like long-handled brooms and stand-up dust pans ensure that you won’t have to constantly bend down when sweeping. Meanwhile, when it comes to those hard-to-reach places, an extendable duster will help make getting to every nook and cranny much easier!

Not Just Cleaning — But Decluttering

In addition to getting your home spotless, sparkling and shining, spring cleaning is the perfect time to tackle decluttering. From cleaning out the medicine cabinet to remove clutter and the safety hazards posed by expired medications, to cleaning out the pantry and refrigerator of any expired or unused food objects, to tackling those piled up stacks of bills, you’ll thank yourself later! These things stack up throughout the year, but by tackling declutter each spring, you can ensure a home where what you want and need most is easy to store and find later. 

Thinking About Safety

Spring cleaning is also a great time to check-in on the safety initiatives you have in place in your home. Plan to check smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms to make sure their batteries are still good and everything is in working order. And did you know fire extinguishers have an expiration date? Be sure to add checking those to the list! Because checking these things often requires climbing a ladder, consider enlisting a younger neighbor, caregiver or loved one to traverse the ladder for you in order to avoid fall risks. 

Other safety considerations to add to your spring cleaning checklist: check in on, or put together, a simple emergency kit. This can include first-aid kits, flashlights with spare batteries, and an easily-accessible list of numbers to call in case of an emergency. 

With these tips in mind, and with the right helping hands, spring cleaning might even become something you look forward to each year! 

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03.09.21 | Community

Vibrant Living Breakdown: Engagement in Family Life

Nine Ways of Vibrant Living is Sage Collective’s innovative model that champions more meaningful, engaged lives for older adults, and that serves as the backbone of our philosophy. We celebrate and uplift components of vibrant living that span from health and wellness, to arts and culture, to spiritual enrichment — but tying it all together is an underlying feeling of connectedness, care and love. That’s why our eighth component is engagement in family life.

We believe in the deeply transformative power of being part of a community. At Sage Collective, we are committed to providing a genuine sense of community for everyone involved with us, from program participants to building residents to our partners and beyond. Family doesn’t just refer to the bloodlines you’re born into; it also incorporates the loving connections you make throughout a lifetime and the people that you choose to surround yourself with. 

When it comes to our plan for programming and housing, we want to take an active role in developing meaningful friendships and embracing existing family ties. To do so, we intend to provide opportunities such by creating camaraderie-generating participant activities, offering family support activities and policies for our residents as well as the incorporating intergenerational teaching, learning and cultural activities.

The latter piece of this, intergenerational teaching, is particularly important to us when we think about engagement in family and community life. Older adults have a wealth of wisdom and experience to pass onto younger generations — but in the other direction, so too do the youth have much to teach their elders. We believe that honoring and encouraging relationships across generations is the key to creating more unified, meaningful lives for all.

From interpersonal family dynamics, to a more expansive view of community, we’re excited to begin fostering these relationships with and for our participants.

A young African American woman embraces an older African American woman who wears a silk headscarf
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03.04.21 | Community

Vibrant Living Breakdown: Engagement in Spirituality or Religion

At Sage Collective, we believe in meaningful and engaged lives for older adults. Nine Ways of Vibrant Living is our innovative model that champions just that. Our model incorporates everything from health and wellness to cultural immersion to spiritual enrichment — and today, we’re diving deep into the last of those three key elements. Take a closer look at our seventh component of vibrant living, engagement in spirituality or religion:

Religious Roots

Religion is part of our history. You can read our full story here, but before we were Sage Collective, we were Tabernacle Senior Citizens Project (TSCP). TSCP was started in 1978 by Reverend Louis Rawls, founder and pastor of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church on Chicago’s South Side. Rev. Rawls founded both Willa Rawls Manor (a high-quality housing development for older adults) and TSCP in an effort to better support the aging members of his congregation. Today, we carry on his legacy and tradition by continuing to build upon his concern and care for the community. 

The Impact of Engagement

As Rev. Rawls demonstrated, the church is the center of many African American communities. It’s not just a place to practice worship; it’s also a vital hub for civic engagement, for participating in and finding community and for discovering meaningful connections with one another.

Engagement in spirituality or religion touches on all parts of vibrant living. It brings with it life purpose, inner peace and a greater sense of connection to both the people and the world around you. In fact, studies have shown that those who engage in spiritual or religious activities live longer — some claiming even up to four years longer.

For all these reasons and more, we’ve included engagement in spirituality or religion in our Nine Ways of Vibrant Living. We support and encourage participation in spiritual and religious experiences for followers of all faiths residing in Sage facilities, or involved in Sage programs. 

The inside of a church, with rows of pews before large stained glass windows
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03.02.21 | Health & Wellness

Chicago COVID-19 Vaccination: Where We’re At Now

Earlier this year, we shared a blog post on what to know about the COVID-19 vaccine. Now that vaccine rollouts have been occurring nationwide, one of the biggest hurdles outside of deployment is ensuring that we, the people, feel informed and equipped with the necessary tools and knowledge to make decisions about our own vaccination. In support of that, today we’re providing an update on COVID-19 vaccination in Chicago, and where things stand now:

Understanding the State’s Phased Rollout

Illinois is administering vaccinations in a phased rollout plan — you can read the state’s  comprehensive coverage of its vaccine distribution phases here. As of January 25th, Illinois entered Phase 1B: Frontline Essential. This phase made the vaccine available to all non-healthcare residential settings and Chicagoans age 65 and older.

According to Chicago, all non-healthcare residential settings includes homeless shelters, women’s shelters, adult day care programs, correctional settings (jail officers, juvenile facility staff, workers providing in-person support, detainees), and other non-health care residential settings that have experienced outbreaks (e.g. convents). 

But as of February 25th, Illinois progressed further into Phase 1B Plus. This extended phase includes people (16 years of age and older) with certain underlying conditions and comorbidities. The list of conditions includes cancer, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), diabetes, heart condition, immunocompromised state from a solid organ transplant, obesity, pregnancy, pulmonary disease and sickle cell disease. 

However, it is important to note that Chicago will NOT be joining the rest of Illinois in progressing to Phase 1B Plus at this time. Due to the city’s population density, more than 95,000 Chicago residents would become eligible if we were to expand under the state’s guidelines. Therefore, the city has decided to hold off on progressing to this next stage until it is able to more fully serve those who fall into the initial Phase 1B.

Looking at Current and Future Benchmarks

According to the Illinois COVID-19 vaccine tracker, as of Wednesday, February 24th: 28,626 additional people have been fully vaccinated for a total of 619,480 — 4.86% of the state’s population.

As of that same date, 5% of all White Illinoisians have been fully vaccinated, 2% of all Hispanic Illinoisians have been fully vaccinated and 2% of all Black Illinoisians have been fully vaccinated. Chicago is seeing similar disparities: as of that same date, 6% of all White Chicagoans have been fully vaccinated, 2% of all Hispanic Illinoisians have been fully vaccinated and 3% of all Black Chicagoans have been fully vaccinated.

You can stay up-to-date on the state’s vaccination rates here.

Looking ahead: according to Governor J.B. Pritzker, Illinois expects to begin administering an average of 100,000 doses of the COVID-19 per day by mid-March.

Stay tuned for more COVID-19 vaccination updates and insights from Sage Collective.

A vaccine shot being inserted into a Black patient's arm
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02.25.21 | Health & Wellness

The Health Benefits of Tai Chi

Tai chi is an internal Chinese martial art, practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. As one of the most gentle martial art forms, tai chi is a great exercise option for older adults across the health and mobility spectrum — bringing with it a slew of benefits, healthful and otherwise. Let’s take a closer look:

Tai chi

Tai chi, short for T’ai chi ch’üan or Tàijí quán (太極拳), is an ancient Chinese martial arts practice, rooted in a deep history and philosophy. (You can read more about that on CultureTrip, here.) According to MayoClinic, tai chi “is a noncompetitive, self-paced system of gentle physical exercise and stretching. Each posture flows into the next without pause, ensuring that your body is in constant motion.” The movements emphasize deep breathing, encouraging participants to slow down and get in touch with their body and feelings.

Because tai chi is low-impact, slow-motion and emphasizes the mind-body connection, it’s become a popular practice globally, attracting a broad spectrum of participants. And thanks to its wide array of health benefits, it’s since been adopted as a common practice at hospitals, community centers, older adult facilities and the like.

Health Benefits

Tai chi is often described as “meditation in motion,” but because its health benefits are so great, Harvard Women’s Health Watch jokingly calls it “medication in motion.”

The low-impact exercise boasts physical health benefits such as improved lower- and upper-body strength, improved flexibility, improved balance (and possibly even decreased risk of falling), improved joint pain, enhanced immune system, enhanced quality of sleep, lowered blood pressure and healthy aerobic conditioning (where heart and lungs are trained to pump blood more efficiently, allowing more oxygen to be delivered to muscles and organs). All of the listed benefits are crucial to older adults seeking to maintain or better their health. 

In addition to its physical health benefits, the meditative aspect of tai chi brings with it an array of mental health benefits. These benefits include decreased stress, anxiety and depression; improved mood, energy and stamina and a general boost to wellness overall. 

Part of the appeal is that tai chi can be practiced independently or within a group setting, and it doesn’t require any equipment. If a low-impact, slow-motion and mindful form of exercise sounds like a good fit for you, then tai chi might just become part of your next fitness regimen routine.

Two people practice tai chi, silhouetted against a night sky and the moon
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02.19.21 | Community

Resilience is a Skill You Can Build — Here’s How

Throughout a lifetime, everyone experiences trauma, grief, failures, challenges and setbacks. Resilience is the essential skill needed to help us overcome these experiences. Some people have a better grip on the skill than others, but luckily resilience is something we’re all capable of building — today, we’ll take a look at how:

Understanding Resilience

At Sage Collective, we recognize that everyone faces adversity in life, and that stress is a natural component of the human experience. Rather than the complete elimination of stress (which would be unrealistic), we take a more pragmatic approach, advocating for stress reduction as part of our 9 Ways of Vibrant Living. Resilience is an essential tool for stress reduction. 

According to the American Psychological Association, psychologists define resilience as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress—such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors.” Resilience isn’t just about getting through a challenge, but about emerging on the other side feeling more confident and empowered in your ability to cope and overcome adversity. 

Building Your Resilience

There are four core components that build resilience. 

The first component is easy enough to tackle: take care of your physical wellness. Often, when we take care of our body, our mind will follow suit. Taking care of your physical wellness includes maintaining a healthy diet, participating in moderate, regular physical activity and getting a good night’s sleep. If you incorporate these physical wellness habits into your daily lifestyle, you’ll begin experiencing elevated energy levels and improved moods, both of which will help you become more resilient.

The second component that follows suit is: take care of your mental wellness too. When building resilience, it’s important to both get in touch with your emotions and to learn how to control them. Mindfulness practices such as meditation, yoga and breathing exercises can help with this. Practicing gratitude, developing a self-care routine and engaging in activities you love are all great ways to restore balance and wellbeing to your mind.

The third component that will help you build resilience: seek out connection. You don’t have to go through trials and tribulations alone. Rather than isolating yourself, instead build a network of trusted friends, family and community members that you rely on to validate the troubles you’re going through and to help uplift you when needed. You can also find a sense of connection and support in more structured environments such as support groups, civic groups or faith-based organizations.

And finally, the fourth component: find meaning. Going through a traumatic experience often overwhelms us with negative feelings like despair and hopelessness. Combatting these feelings with a sense of life purpose helps us maintain our groundedness and to hold onto hope and optimism. Whether you’re driven by a desire to help others or to pursue opportunities for self-discovery and improvement, finding meaning through your life purpose — and taking the steps needed to reach your goals and objectives — helps us maintain the problem-solving, motivation and drive that’s key to resilience.

Challenges will continue to come our way. With these tools to help build resilience, we hope you’re left feeling more prepared for the next time adversity comes your way.

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02.18.21 | Community

Community Spotlight: Groups Making a Difference

The second half of our name, collective, is important to us — we’re a collective because what we do, we do together. It’s part of our DNA to share resources, ideas and successes with everyone in our ecosystem. That’s why today, we’re sharing a community spotlight to celebrate groups making a difference in our neighborhood, Bronzeville, and the surrounding areas. Here’s just a few:

Bright Star Community Outreach

Bright Star Community Outreach (BSCO) is proud of its nine-year history and by-us-for-us roots. They’re led by founder and CEO, Pastor Chris Harris Sr., who grew up in Bronzeville and saw a need to address systematic problems impacting the neighborhood — problems like “violence in our communities, poor economic opportunities, inadequate mental health services, homelessness, child safety, and drug abuse.” Through resource development and collaborative partnerships, BSCO is empowering Bronzeville residents to share in the responsibility of building community. You can learn more about BSCO programs here.

My Block, My Hood, My City

The second group in our community spotlight, My Block, My Hood, My City, also known as M3, was started by Jahmal Cole in 2015 with a mission to “break down the social and emotional barriers of segregation, empower people to meet and serve their neighbors, and inspire Chicagoans to pursue their dreams.” M3 has been nimble in its approach, providing everything from youth education to engaging adult programming. Just one example: as part of their Viral Response, M3 performs Senior Wellness Calls, where volunteers perform senior wellness checks to help provide proper PPE and even just to chat with older adults to help combat social isolation. You can visit their website to learn more about their efforts (and get involved) here.

Sacred Keepers Sustainability Lab + Bronzeville/Kenwood Mutual Aid Network

Food deserts are an ongoing concern on the South Side of Chicago, and as many faced food scarcity like never before during the pandemic, things got even worse when some grocery stores temporarily closed after the George Floyd protests in June. Seeing the need for increased access to resources, two Bronzeville organizations joined forces: Sacred Keepers Sustainability Lab and Bronzeville/Kenwood Mutual Aid Network. Since the summer, their efforts have continued to stay strong and to have meaningful impact on the neighborhood; you can read more at Block Club Chicago here. 

Text graphic reading: Community spotlight: Bronzeville groups making a difference: Bright star community outreach, my block, my hood, my city and sacred keepers sustainability lab + bronzeville/kenwood mutual aid network
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02.16.21 | Health & Wellness

Your Daily Cup of Coffee: Helping Your Health or Harming?

Coffee is an indelible part of most people’s morning routines. If you don’t feel human before you’ve had your first cup of coffee, you’re not alone. A study conducted by the National Coffee Association found that 64% of Americans drink coffee, and a New England Journal of Medicine article “Coffee, Caffeine and Health” called coffee the most widely consumed psychoactive agent in the world. But is getting your coffee fix helping or harming your health? Let’s take a look.

Helpful Benefits of Coffee

First things first: what is “the right” amount of coffee to consume? Lucky for us die-hard coffee lovers, Harvard Health Publishing describes moderate coffee consumption as three to four cups per day. As is our unofficial motto at Sage Collective, everything is best consumed and enjoyed in moderation. 

Diane Vizthum, M.S., R.D., research nutritionist for Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine also comments: “Caffeine is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about coffee. But coffee also contains antioxidants and other active substances that may reduce internal inflammation and protect against disease.”

In fact, according to Heathline, one cup of coffee includes the following amounts of daily recommended dosages for vitamins: 11% of riboflavin (vitamin B2), 6% of pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), 3% of manganese and potassium and 2% of magnesium and niacin (vitamin B3). So if you’re a moderate coffee drinker (3-4) cups, you do the math… it’s like taking gummy vitamin supplements, right?

Coffee is also believed to lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, lower risk of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, lower risk for certain types of cancer (such as liver and colon), lower risk of stroke, help fight off gallstones and even help you live longer. 

Harmful Health Effects of Coffee

Now here’s where we talk about the other side of moderate consumption: overconsumption of coffee. Whether you exceed your daily limit of 4-5 cups, or whether you’re a novice coffee drinker who hasn’t built up a caffeine tolerance, coffee drinking could produce negative effects.

Negative effects of coffee overconsumption include increased blood pressure, headaches, nervousness, restlessness and anxiety, dizziness, heartburn, muscle tremors, pounding heart, dehydration, frequent trips to the bathroom and insomnia. Noticing a pattern? Most, if not all, of these negative side effects are directly induced by too much caffeine. 

The solution? Trade your next cup of coffee for a glass of water, or try decaf for a while. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: coffee consumption is great, but only in moderation. So drink away, all ye lovers of that good morning cuppa joe, but remember when to stop.

A clear mug of black coffee sits on a plain white surface, with coffee beans scattered around it
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