Inglewood Inspirational Choir Performs Inglewood Senior Center Easter Celebration

special luncheon in the center’s game room.

“I have been the choir director since 1984, two years after our founder, Elizabeth Payne, was inspired by God to establish the choir in 1982.” Mary Abbott said. “We welcome anyone who has a desire to sing with us and perform as a group.”

On Wednesday, April 5th the Inglewood Inspirational Choir, the first Senior Center Choir in the United States, according to Choir Director Mary Abbott, performed at the Inglewood Senior Center for the Annual Easter Celebration. The choir, which currently has 20 active choir members, was established in 1982 by Elizabeth Payne and performs at the center for all major holidays. The choir also performs at other locations by invitation only.

The Inglewood Inspirational Choir welcomes new members and anyone who is a member of the Inglewood Senior Center is invited to attend a weekly rehearsal at the center, every Monday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. After this week’s performance, the choir members and their guests enjoyed a special luncheon in the center’s game room.

By Anuoluwapo Bamiro, Columnist

Recently, the Inglewood Inspirational Choir, the first Senior Center Choir in the United States, according to Choir Director Mary Abbott, performed at the Inglewood Senior Center for the Annual

Easter Celebration. The choir, which currently has 20 active choir members, was established in 1982 by Elizabeth Payne and performs at the center for all major holidays. The choir also performs at other locations by invitation only.

The Inglewood Inspirational Choir welcomes new members and anyone who is a member of the Inglewood Senior Center is invited to attend a weekly rehearsal at the center, every Monday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. After this week’s performance, the choir members and their guests enjoyed a

“I have been the choir director since 1984, two years after our founder, Elizabeth Payne, was inspired by God to establish the choir in 1982.” Mary Abbott said. “We welcome anyone who has a desire to sing with us and perform as a group.”

Building Strong Children and Restoring Strong Adults: How One California Community Is Empowering Change

By Gina Warren, Marilyn Woods, Damond “Fade” Dorrough, and Sarah Marikos | Special

Partners

There is a transformation taking place in an area of Sacramento once notorious for gang violence, sex trafficking, and near decimation brought on by the crack and opioid epidemics.

Despite the cultural taboos around mental health that still exist in many communities, this transformation is healing intergenerational trauma and changing trajectories - by getting to the root.

There’s plenty of evidence documenting how our early experiences shape our health and behavior. Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, such as abuse, neglect, and growing up in a household with violence, incarceration or problematic substance use, can lead to prolonged activation of the body’s stress response, a condition known as the toxic stress response, which affects both mental and physical health throughout the lifetime - even making changes to our DNA that ripple across generations.

The impacts of ACEs are compounded by factors like racism, poverty, and community violence, leading to even greater risk of developing the mental and physical health problems associated with toxic stress.

Consider that adults with four or more ACEs are 30 times more likely to experience suicidal behaviors than those with no ACEs. That’s one in six US adults. The urgency begins early in life, as children with four ACEs are eight times more likely to experience suicidal behaviors compared to children without ACEs. While these statistics may sound alarming, we see this as a charge - a cause to connect in community, a way to destigmatize what we carry, and a path to prevention.

The good news is that healthy environments and resources can help to regulate the stress response and heal and protect us from the effects of ACEs and toxic stress. Some of the most powerful and effective work we can do to address mental health and suicideincluding the concerning rates among Black men and boys - is to prevent and address childhood adversity and intergenerational trauma. This is the core of the work we’re doing from our home on the intersection of Grand Avenue and Clay Street in the heart of Del Paso Heights (DPH) in Sacramento, through grassroots organization Neighborhood Wellness.

In DPH, like so many neighborhoods all over the US, many of our Black families are navigating intangible complexities of poverty every day.

They are suffering - some out loud, spreading their pain through violence. Some move with what appears to be a reckless disregard, coping in ways that put themselves and others at risk. Some hold it together in stoic silence, grinding through the days but barely calling it a life, or masking their inner world as they perform to others’ expectations.

Childhood in DPH is far from carefree. In addition to carrying their own baggage, Black people have been handed down the traumas of our elders. They navigate systems hostile to them while bearing these tremendous burdens. Since Neighborhood Wellness got its start in 2015, we’ve been disrupting cycles of intergenerational trauma. We work to remove stigma around accessing help, and to change what help can look like. For many in our community who have felt institutionally and structurally betrayed and neglected, just learning to trust somebody is the beginning of breaking the cycle.

Programs like our Restore Legacies restorative justice program and our Higher Heights self-paced high school diploma program for adults, along with services ranging from parenting skills and DUI classes with trauma education

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