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News: Gifted Storytellers

How CommonBond Elders Found Their Inner Creativity

On a cold January evening, four senior residents from CommonBond’s Riverview Senior Housing in Minneapolis got up on a stage at Pillsbury House Theater to share personal life stories with a live audience. Some stories were warm and brief, some rhymed and provided humor, and others brought the audience to tears.

CommonBond Communities collaborated with EngAGE – a California nonprofit that is expanding its reach to Minnesota – to build on the premise that embracing a whole-person approach to creative and healthy aging can be extremely beneficial to the health and well-being of seniors. We believe providing arts, wellness, lifelong learning, and intergenerational programs to seniors living in affordable apartment communities will be especially beneficial for a healthy aging process, so we collaborated on this storytelling opportunity for CommonBond seniors. The performance was the culmination of the “Power of Storytelling” class held at the Riverview housing community.

“The Power of Storytelling” class was taught by local actor, vocalist, and professor T. Mychael Rambo, who also participated in the live performances. The show was directed by Faye M. Price and hosted by Dr. Jon Hallberg of the Hippocrates Café. Joining this group onstage was Pat Donohue, former guitarist for A Prairie Home Companion.

On Sunday, March 12, the performance was broadcast live on the Artfully Aging Radio Hour on EngAGE’s weekly radio show Experience Talks on KPFK Los Angeles (FM 90.7). Please take time to listen by clicking here.

“The Power of Storytelling” project – including the class and the performances – was a collaboration between CommonBond Communities, EngAGEPillsbury House + TheatreHippocrates Café, and Aroha Philanthropies.

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