Possible Dreams: Students Help Grant Seniors' Wishes
Georgia State nutrition professor Chris Rosenbloom wanted to give students in her "Health and the Older Adult" class a novel opportunity to make contact with metro-area seniors last spring. And with the help of the Sadie G. Mays Health and Rehabilitation Center and Second Wind Dreams, a nonprofit organization that supports those living in elder-care communities, she was able to make dreams come true.
Rosenbloom's course teaches students about the physical, mental and social aspects of aging. So she asked her students to visit the center several times — sometimes individually, sometimes in small groups — and get to know the residents and their deepest desires. Most seniors longed for simple pleasures, such as a dish of banana pudding or a reunion with an old friend.
What the students found stunned them, Rosenbloom says. "Students were surprised at how content the residents were with their lives," she says.
Rosenbloom and her students, as well as volunteers and staff from Second Wind and from the center, fulfilled the residents' dreams at a celebration May 3, the last day of class. A highlight was a 105th birthday party for one of the residents.
"This is a good example of what Georgia State does best," Rosenbloom says. "Forming partnerships with nonprofit organizations to provide much-needed services in the community is a great way to get students involved — and they learn things you cannot teach in the classroom."