LTOP Class of 2006
UNC ASHEVILLE NC CENTER FOR CREATIVE RETIREMENT
Memory Book
Leadership Training for Older Adults—The Story Begins Do you want to get involved in your community but aren’t sure how to be an effective leader? Consider participating in the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement’s Leadership Training for Older Persons (LTOP). This free, six-week course is designed to teach leadership skills and help participants gain the confidence and experience to better serve Western North Carolina’s mature adults. During the course, participants will develop practical skills in leading groups, conducting meetings, handling difficult people, team building and public speaking. Special emphasis will be placed on help-
ing LTOP students become stronger advocates for older persons in their communities. “The course has been offered just twice before,” said Patti Cameron, Leadership Training for Older Persons coordinator. “Graduates from those classes have since put their new skills to use by serving on local boards and advisory groups, publicly advocating for the needs and concerns of seniors in their communities, and volunteering in various community projects.”
All the Places You Will Go! • •
Leadership Training for Older Persons will meet on the UNC Asheville campus from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Wednesdays from August 9-September 13. The course is free and open to adults of all ages but preference will be given to underserved and minority residents of Buncombe, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania counties. The application deadline is Monday, July 17. The course is sponsored by the N.C. Center for Creative Retirement and the Leadership Asheville Forum.
Day One! Projects a good self-image Creative and Imaginative
Traits of a Good Leader Commands respect, is respected and respects others. • Has a planned vision and goals • Empowers others through delegation • Decisive, and leads by example • Involves all in the process & gets people to work together • Shares the floor and integrates suggestions from others into the subject matter • Flexibility and adaptable • Creditable & knowledgeable • Control: Keeps the group on track • Communication: Clear & Concise • Shows appreciation • Intuitive: Able to read the mood of the group • Influential: Able to get buy in from others •
Jacque Morgan got us started by teaching us the group rules to a successful meeting, and the traits and characteristics of a good leader. Helping us to determine what kind of leaders we wanted to be. Characteristics of a Good Leader • Compassionate • Passionate • Positive • Honest • Has Integrity • Humility – knows their own limits • Approachable • Patience • Listens • Sense of Humor • Courageous - takes risks • Good people person
Remember That Leadership Develops Daily, Not In A Day. Day.
Autumn Players: How Does a Small Community Group Function
Day 1
The Asheville Autumn players taught us some important lessons on how we can do what you love to help others in addition to sharing advice on how they function successfully to advocate for older adults in our community. Depth and Dedication - The Autumn Players is a volunteer-driven company of over 50 seasoned actors, directors, playwrights and event organizers dedicated to vigorous living and community service in Western North Carolina and beyond. Last season, they mounted 154 programs, which drew 3,250 students, seniors and in-betweens. In doing so, members logged almost 2,400 hours and over 14,000 miles. And, have the capacity to do more. Community Connections - Two or three times a week a troupe can be found providing entertainment, enrichment and education for a wide variety of organizations in myriad public and private venues within an hour or more from Asheville. They target K - A: Kindergarten through Alzheimer's units. Communications Almost 90% of the membership has e-mail and ACT provides an exclusive listserv. These aspects are essential for efficient communications. Hosts Make It Happen - No one would attend an event if there was no host organization to connect with a target audience, to provide the venue and to promote the event. In this regard, it's important to note that from our experience, a "public stand-alone" event does not draw a viable audience despite the prominence of the host. And, generally, the most successful and manageable events are those scheduled months in advance. Sending A Message - The use of entertaining skits "with a message" can be effective in raising awareness and stimulating discussion of issues of importance to seniors and others. In these cases, the importance of the participation of a technical specialist or issues advocate cannot be overstated. Whereas the actors provide lots of laughs, pique some interest, and, hopefully, imprint a few salient points, they are not the topical experts.
L T O P C L A S S O F 20 0 6
Learning About Community Needs
Day 2
Learning about community needs helped us establish a better understand of our community and those who work towards improving it. Invited guest included: • Environmental Needs – Practical and Simple Solutions to Help- Quality Forward • Our Aging Population’s Needs - Buncombe County Council on Aging, • Disaster Preparedness In Our Community- American Red Cross • Fraud, Scams And Identity Theft – Helping Yourself, Helping Others Asheville Police Department • 2-1-1 Community Resources at your Finger - 2-1-1 of Western North Carolina
Organizing a Community Workday Teachings from Bill & Marianna Bailey A community workday can be used in many ways. Whenever a large group of people comes together for several hours to accomplish a physical taskthere is a workday. GETTING READY • Decide the purpose of your workday, date and name! • What you want to accomplish? • How do you want to accomplish it? • Who do you want to help? • Discuss with appropriate officials or community members your workday idea and listen and receive their advice. • Find a committed core of people who will take responsibility for its success.
Day 3
Plan the budget and the source of money or donated goods. ORCHESTRATING THE WORKDAY THE CALL – Make sure all persons are reminded of the day and time and the leaders know their exact assignments. Arrive Early. THE BEGINNING – Have everyone gather at a central location. Begin with a song or a brief speech. Divide the work into working teams with a leader and clear assignments. THE WORK- Have all supplies and tools ready so that the teams can work to their maximum effect. Have snacks and lunches for everyone.
THE CELEBRATION – Report on the accomplishments, ORGANIZATION: Plan a recruitment campaign. Involve as the discoveries, and the promise for the future. End with a many people from as many sectors of the community as party! possible. This will build community spirit. Plan the day’s program and all the details: Paperwork, tools, teams, leaders, food, celebration and opening and closing ceremonies Plan the publicity: Radio, TV, newspaper before and after the event
TYING UP THE ENDS- Receive detailed reports from the team leaders on what they accomplished. Clean up and receive all supplies back. Write and report on your accomplishment and share it with the community Thank everyone involved.
Diversity: Inviting All to the Table with Randall Richardson Chief Diversity Officer, Mission St. Joseph Hospital We learned the importance of knowing the make up of our community and understanding its historical culture to have a successful community projects. To be successful you must Invite All to the Table
The ABC’s of Meetings with Beth Lazer Beth taught use how to have a successful meeting. Her are some of her tips: Ten Commandments for Meeting Facilitators 1. Never try to make other people exactly like you: one is enough 2. Be organized 3. Be non judgmental. Never judge another's needs or refuse your consideration solely because he/she causes trouble. 4. Don’t give people excuses. Allow individuals to own their own conduct and its consequences. 5. Try to help everyone be active listeners and though-minded decisions makers 6. Respect individuals who are pursuing knowledge. 7. Don’t expect to come up with perfect solutions or miracles. 8. Build relationships among team members. 9. Keep you sense of humor. 10. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Day 4
Inside the Media with Jill Yarnell Assistant Director of Public Information- UNCA Tips for Getting your Story in the News • Draft a press release, and have several people proof read. The better the press release, the more likely the story is to run. • Most reporters prefer to receive press releases via e-mail. Copy and paste the plan text into the body of the e-mail. • Send images only to print and electronic media, there is no sense of sending them to radio. • Daily newspapers, radio, television and electronic media need information 10 days or more prior to the event. Weekly newspaper deadlines are the middle of each month.
After e-mailing your press release you may follow-up with the reporter– don’t pester them • Consider pitching your story ideas to the live 6am WLOS-TV broadcaster. This one of the most popular broadcasting viewers but producers often have a hard time booking and interview because of the early hours. • Chose one spokesperson from your organization to field inter•
views.
Toast Masters with Christian Phelps Bowman
We had fun and challenged ourselves to improve our public speaking abilities, one the initial skills of a good leader.
Building a Team with John Huie Day 5 Director Environmental Leadership Center, Warren Wilson College
We all voted this our favorite session. We learned the essentials of building a successful functioning group and how to have fun at the same time.
Letters to the Editor With David Russell Asheville Citizen Times
The Power of Voting With Ruth Christie League of Women
L T O P C L A S S O F 20 0 6
Working with Your Local Government to Get Things Done With Robin Cape Asheville City Council Women
Day 5
Tips for Working with Government Officials Citizens not only have the right but often the need to talk with and influence government officials. Issues may vary, but there are strategies that are common to any effort to advocate for a position. 13 Strategies to Employ When Working with Elected Officials. Be specific about what you want. If it’s money give the amount, if it’s legislative action, explain the law you want. •
• Work at the committee level, particularly in State government. Identify and work with committee chairs. •
Take the decision-makers to see the problem. That has the greatest impact. If they can’t see the problem, have them listen to the clients that have the problem.
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Whatever you want, write it down, and then refine it. Keep it brief. Elected officials are given lots of paperwork, so if you can keep your message/request to one page, that is preferable. • Do your homework on your position and your opposition’s position. The latter is important because you need to know what to expect if there is opposition. • Use your numbers – both the people you serve and who support your efforts. It’s your most important strength. • Form alliances with other groups. This can lessen the work all have to do, but more importantly, it shows the official the depth and breath of your concern and support.
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Don’t ever threaten elected officials. It will never work, and more often it will solidify their opposition.
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Visit the decision-makers in person. The best “lobbyists”, when they talk to a legislator, keep a “scorecard” of how each will vote (i.e., for, leaning to for, undecided, leaning against, and against). They will then compare how they vote afterwards.
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Meet your opposition and learn the facts. See what their arguments are and what areas there are for compromise.
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Beware of “we’re going to study it”. That more than likely means your law or request for funding is dead.
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When you go to a legislator, be prepared to answer three questions: What will it cost? Has it been tried elsewhere (i.e., in the South), and how did it work? How do you know it will work? Thank them, acknowledge them, and recognize them.
LTOP Class of 2006
←Foster Grand Parents & Senior Companions with Supervisor Stacey Friesland
LTOP Mentors with Ron Manheimer & Don Lockes
→
LTOP CLASS of 2006 Projects Vials of Life LTOP graduates are helping those who can’t speak for themselves in a medical emergency by distributing Vials of Life to underserved communities. When you can’t speak for yourself the Vials of Life speaks for you. A simple but powerful project in conjunction with the American Red Cross, the Vials of Life saves thousands of lives across the country everyday. The Vial of Life is a hard plastic tube (usually a prescription bottle) that contains your medical history along with personal information that emergency services personnel can easily find in the event of an emergency. A magnet comes with the Vial of Life that is placed on the outside of the refrigerator, which indicated that a Vial of Life is completed and stored in the refrigerator. EMS personnel are trained to check the refrigerator for the Vials of Life magnet. Ten LTOP graduates ( David Herbert, Rosa Davis, Minnie Jones, Gladys Richardson, Jo & Richard Majka, Louise Chase, Junnee Crump and Linda Harper )from the class of 2006 have chosen the Vials of Life as their service project. Working as a group utilizing each member’s contacts they have been able to make a greater impact than on their own. Vials of Life have been distributed to local churches, neighborhood associations, free medical clinics, civic groups, and foster care families in Buncombe and Henderson Counties. The project has taken on a life of its own as each time a LTOP graduate makes a presentation to a group there is always someone who asked them to make another presentation to a different group of people. Inspired and supported by the work of previous LTOP graduate Carolynn Cohron (class of 2002) who disrupted thousands of Vials of Life in Buncombe County, the group recognized the importance of renewing the project. Utilizing their LTOP skills in team building, public speaking, and coordination this group has been able to make a tremendous impact in our community.
Lenny Rowe A giving heart and computer skills go hand in hand as LTOP Graduated Lenny Rowe (Class of 2006) uses his skills to teach a paraplegic in a rural area of our community
Jane Stanchich and Marjorie Cunningham Spreading the word about our dynamic Seniors is Jane Stanchich and Marjorie Cunningham who set out to write articles in our local papers.
Ande Fulford & Volena Little John Senior Accessible grocery stores. Ande and Volena worked together to do a study on the accessibility of grocery stores for older adults and present their recommendations to local grocery store managers.
Victor Clark Victor has set out to tackle domestic abuse before it ever gets started. Victor is in the process of to creating a educational program for rural Yancey County schools to teach adolescents about the signs of abuse and how to make good decision in the dating world. Betty Sams Betty is setting up an intergenerational program for the children of Livingston and Depot Community to maintain and clean up the newly constructed bus shelter.
Just because I liked the picture. Look at That Great Smile
Ann Saunders What do you do when your Senior Building has no recycling program you call on Ann Saunders. Ann has started a recycling program at the Laurel Woods apartment complex.
Bruce Haywood, Jane Stanchich, Leslies Simon, Mary Churney These four have set out to work with Asheville Green to help preserve green spaces in Asheville, specifically a 30 acre tract of Beaucatcher Mountain
Norma Phelps Norma will be developing an intergenerational quilting class to teach girls ages 10-16 in Buncombe county the fine art of Quilting.
Donna Rinsler Donna is using her Human Resourses background to help the women in the ABCCM shelter to improve their job skills. Steve Rinsler The only participant to pick an international project. Steve has set our to increase the awareness of the ongoing problems of Darfur and of the efforts to resolve it by initiating specific activities/events to demonstrate local support for the people affected by the Sudanese governments genocidal programs.
