Art Campaign Uplifting Older Adults Goes Live Sept. 27th and 28th!

Yeti is 40 years old and has worked here for one year. She has her bachelor’s degree in management from a university in Ethiopia. She enjoys traveling in her free time and is writing a book!

George is well-traveled, spiritual, and a calming presence. He is a peacemaker. “I used to be a translator and lived in China for 20 years.”

Berland is a proud Jamaican who loves music and dancing. He is also a creative person who paints. He is upbeat and positive. “You got to really live. You won’t be able to again.”

Ganiat has been our director of nursing for more than two years. She has worked in elder care all of her life and started as a certified nursing assistant. “Forest Hills is one of the most reputable senior living communities in DC.”

Therrell is 106 years old. In 1948, she opened her ballet school, the Therrell Smith School of Dance, in DC. She trained girls from middle-class African American families. She taught there for nearly 70 years. She started dancing when she was just 8 years old. She has been a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority for more than 80 years.

Cherie is our Resident Council President. She is always up for an adventure and generous beyond means. She is a creative person who has been doing art projects since she was in high school. “I paint and color a lot,” she says. “When it is someone’s birthday, I make them a card. I’ve made quite a few of them.”

Sidney is an intellectual and loves to read. He has a good sense of humor and enjoys being out in the Forest Hills community garden.

Monica is 43 years old and has been our director of environmental services and laundry for two-and-a-half years. She has a passion for serving older adults because she has always been close to her grandparents. “It doesn’t matter how famous or rich you are, it’s the way you make people feel, that is your legacy and what is important.”

Lea is 17 years old and has worked with us for one year. Her mother, Monica, also works here. She plans to take a certified nursing assistant course and eventually become a registered nurse. “I love doing what I do,” she says. “I love the residents, I love my boss. I love being around old people.”

Quinnyia is 20 years old and has worked here for six months. She says her team is more like a family because everyone had open arms when she became a certified nursing assistant. Her advice for a good life is to, “Be who you are and don’t let nobody get the best of you.”

Kia is 61 years old and has been the life enrichment director at our community for more than a year. When living in New York City, to pursue her dreams of being in musical theatre, she performed in many shows, including on Broadway. “Aging to me is wisdom,” she says. “It’s being comfortable with yourself. It is settling in to who you really are.”

Miles is 29 years old and has worked with the life enrichment team for four years. He likes working in this field because it is fun and he can do activities and move around all day. “Honestly, the thing I like most about working here is seeing the residents’ faces light up and seeing them happy.”

Pauline was born in DC and she is a scholar. Her first job was as a physicist. She is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and her mother was one of their initial members.

A very creative and artistic person, Pauline enjoys making things and likes to work with clay and sketch. The advice she’d give to others is: “Just enjoy life while it is here.”

Nancy is 91 years old. She is from Virginia but grew up in DC. She has a strong network of family and friends. She is a great connector of people. She used to be a professor at Cornell University where she taught consumer economics. “There’s been a lot of good things in my life. I’ve been able to have a very good career.”

Desmond is 61 years old and has worked here for almost a year. He’s worked in healthcare for 37 years. “One of the things I have learned, especially with rehab, [is that] we spend so much time with the clients and the families, more than almost any other professional in healthcare,” he says. “They are coming to you at the worst time in their lives. So, you have to have empathy and understanding.”

Adele has lived at Forest Hills for almost a year. Her sister Peggy also lives here. She has lived in DC her whole life. “After retiring, I volunteered with AARP,” she says. “I was the state coordinator for DC and the training specialist for all the tax sites which are mostly libraries.” Her advice for a good life is to work, work, work, and play, play, play.

Brenda is kind and has a good sense of humor. She loves Washington and is very close to her family including Peggy and Adele. She is always up for adventure, is social, a great neighbor and stylish. “I have people that I can talk to here,” she says.

Abisha is in her early 30s and is a nurse here at Forest Hills. She is from Nepal. “One thing I like about being this age is that I am living the life that I dreamed about a few years ago,” she says.

Annie is 95 years old and has been a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority for more than 75 years. She worked on Capitol Hill for 20 years. She says, “I love basketball. I started playing in junior high school and then at Bluefield State College in West Virginia.”

Mariah is 27 years old and has worked here since 2020. She is the transportation and appointment coordinator and unit secretary. The residents are what she likes most about her job. Her advice for living a good life is to go with the flow. “If things don’t go your way…that’s life,” she says.

Ernestina is 96 years old and has lived here for two years. She came to the United States from Cuba in 1973. She arrived here on the last flight from Cuba that year. In Cuba, she cleaned houses and cooked for diplomats. “I’m still very young, at heart,” she says. “My mother told me since I was small, tell the truth, even if it hurts.”

Bartley says the best thing that has happened in his life so far, was getting married to his wife Judy. They were married for 51 years. The second best thing that happened in his life was having his three children.

Bartley is 83 years old and a former legislative attorney for the Teamsters union. He is an engaging, knowledgeable horticulturist and leads our garden club. He has been gardening 60 out of his 83 years. “I gardened quite a bit during my life. I do the same here at Forest Hills,” he says. “It just takes patience, not much more than that. I love it.”

Marjorie is 86 years old and loves opera and theater. For many years, she was a patron of the Kennedy Center. She is a close family friend of Anne-Marie in our business office. The best thing that happened in her life so far was getting married in 1964. “I was a secretary on Capitol Hill for 35 years,” she says. “It was on the Hill that I met my husband. He was a Capitol policeman.”

Miriam is 60 years old and has worked here in the marketing office for two years. She considers herself an artist and doodles in her spare time for stress relief and relaxation. She has been married for 33 years. Her advice for a good life is to, “Put God first. Just seek what he wants for your life.”

Crystal has been our administrator since April 2020. She loves connecting and spending time with the residents. She has been a registered nurse for 38 years and an administrator for the past eight years. “Tina has been great, that’s one reason why I’m an administrator, she says. “She said I had a knack for it.”

Vicky is 60 years old and has been the director of marketing and admissions here for three years. For her, the best thing about her job is working on a team she was already familiar with. She’s worked with Tina, Crystal, and Anne-Marie before. She and Anne-Marie are like sisters. She has always worked in long-term care. “You really have to think outside the box. I really like what I do.”

Anne-Marie is 52 years old and has been the controller here for a little over two years. She has worked in the industry since 1999. She enjoys working at Forest Hills. “I like the close-knit, small organization in terms of employees,” she says. “You know their quirks and a lot about them. A lot of grace can be given to me because they know me.”

Scott is 63 years old and our chief financial officer. He likes that the community is a small nonprofit that has a great mission and history. “I see evidence in the hallways of the people who worked here before us, so I always feel like I’m standing on their shoulders, continuing the mission,” he says. He has spent almost his entire career in healthcare finance.

Emmanuel is 34 years old and has been a social worker here for two years. He is originally from Nigeria but has lived in DC since 2012. His advice for how to live a good life is: “Eat healthy, have a positive mindset, don’t worry too much. Just focus on today and enjoy the present moment.”

Vicki is a social worker and has worked at Forest Hills since 2020. Her goal is to help others and make the world a better place by living in a community and being a contributor to that community. “I lead the choir here in response to a lot of older women and men who have sung in churches their whole lives,” she says. “I feel it is really important for those who have sung in the past to continue to have that opportunity.”

Helen is 84 years old. She has a good sense of humor, loves music and pets. She was a librarian at the World Monetary Fund where did everything from general paperwork, to filing books, to helping people. “There are still things I can do that are fun and interesting despite certain physical limitations,” she says.

Maria has worked at Forest Hills for about a year with the environmental services and laundry team. She is very helpful and she loves to engage with the residents.

Cory has worked here for six years. He has been a speech pathologist for 11 years. He worked as a traveling pathologist for four years between Pennsylvania and Florida before landing at Forest Hills. “It’s a great community with a welcoming atmosphere.”

Cheryl has worked here for two years. She previously worked at Ascension Living Carroll Manor for 22 years. She believes the best part about the work is the residents, “because you get to fall in love with them.” Even though she is in the housekeeping department, she gets to know each resident and have conversations with them.

Elaine is new to the Forest Hills community. She enjoys listening to jazz and classical music. She also likes the painting and arts programs. She is an avid reader.

Modesto is 59 years old, has worked here for two years, and likes everything about it. He is friendly to everyone he meets. He has lived in DC for 21 years. “It’s a beautiful life.” 

Louise is 89 years old. She loves adventure and participates in most activities at the community. She has lived in DC since she was 25. Before she retired, she worked for the federal government in aviation. The advice she would give younger generations: “Live your life honestly and in decent ways. Also, be helpful to other people if you can, and be kind.”

Karen loves music, travel, and languages. She speaks many languages as she was once a translator.

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Donnell is 59 years old and has worked at Forest Hills for two years on the maintenance team. “I just love the residents,” he says. “You get attached to them. It’s like 80% of your time is here and it’s like family.” He also works on cars and does a lot of home improvement projects.

Courty is 68 years old and has lived here for five years. She studied art history at Smith and became a picture curator for Life Magazine. She picked the pictures for their 50th anniversary issue. “There were six people above me, but I got to pick the first picture for the issue and about 70% of my pictures were used,” she says.

Robert is 45 years old and has worked here for six years in the maintenance department. The relationships he has made with residents is what we likes about the work. “It’s like coming to their house and I’ve been coming to their house for six years so now it’s like we are family,” he says.

Meaghan is 36 years old. She is a small business owner and has worked part-time at Forest Hills since February. She has been the project manager for this AARP grant funded public art installation project. “What I like most about working here is there is a real feeling of teamwork, good humor and respect throughout the community.”

Meg LaPorte and Jordan Evans are the founders of Art Against Ageism, and our AARP grant partner. Their organization is an alliance and media platform that identifies, amplifies, and creates artistic endeavors that confront and tackle damaging stereotypes and misperceptions about age, older adults, and being older.

Gerald has been our director of dining services for four years. He has worked in fine dining for more than 25 years. “I just like cooking food from all over the world. We have an eclectic crowd here. Everybody says ‘wow, my mom used to cook this when I was young,’ or ‘this is what I used to eat when I was back home.’ There’s probably no greater honor,” he says

Norma and Maria work with Gerald on the dining services team. Norma is 45 years old and has worked here for almost five years. She likes being around all of the residents. Maria is 58 years old and has worked here for three years. She is from El Salvador originally.

Robert has lived here for almost three years. He is a former musician and likes sports. He worked for 66 years in Detroit before retiring. One of his jobs was at the Edison Illuminating Electric Company. Earlier in his life he lived in Canada with his son and daughter for ten years.

Chi Lin has a good sense of humor and is a sportsman. He loves to play balloon badminton with fellow residents. He is intuitive, unassuming and loves adventures.

Gloria enjoys the scenery at Forest Hills. She is creative and loves music and bingo. She has lived in DC her entire life. She used to work at Wonder Bread in the HoHo department. She worked there for 25 years.

Anne is 92 years old and lives here with her husband Richard. She is an artist and an avid reader. She has her own drawer of painting oils in the Forest Hill’s activities room. One thing she has learned in her life is to, “love people a lot,” she says.

Richard met his wife when they were both growing up in New York City. They were 18 and 22 at the time, and their families knew each other. He has advanced degrees from the University of Florida. 

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