For Kia and Miles on our life enrichment team, aging is wisdom. Kia has been the life enrichment director at Forest Hills for more than a year. Her family is originally from DC but she traveled to New York City to pursue her dreams of being a musical theatre performer. She performed in many shows, including on Broadway. She was also a tour guide at Radio City Music Hall. She earned her undergraduate degree from Columbia University.
Kia is 61 years old. “Aging to me is wisdom,” she says. “It’s great to be around this community because I’m part of them and I know I’ll be there one day. Aging is being comfortable with yourself. It is settling into who you really are.”
Miles has worked with the life enrichment team at Forest Hills for about four years. He is a well-known and beloved staff member for residents at Forest Hills. “Honestly, the thing I like most about working here is seeing the residents’ faces light up and seeing them happy.” For him, working in this field is fun because he can do activities and move around all day.
He is 29 years old which he says is a pretty good age. He has no complaints. Recently, there was a resident who was leaving the community, and one of their family members gave him a book about humanity and said he was one of the most humane people here and that he had showed so much care and love to their family member.
To read all the resident and staff stories captured as part of our public art initiative, “See Me, Hear Me: The Art of Living,” funded by AARP and in partnership with Marvin Bowser Photography, Art Against Ageism and Tenleytown Main Street, visit our digital exhibit here.
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