LEAF Lecture Series 

Milwaukee County's Connecting Caring Communities Partnership - Prospect / Farwell Initiative (PFI)

The PFI is the third neighborhood of focus in Milwaukee County's Connecting Caring Communities Partnership (CCCP), a unique effort that attempts to improve the elder-friendliness of neighborhoods by connecting older adults with people and organizations/businesses in their communities. Milwaukee County is one of 18 communities funded under the Community Partnerships for Older Adults Program (CPFOA) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, with local funding provided by the Helen Bader Foundation, Faye McBeath Foundation, and the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. Beginning in September 2002, the CCCP launched efforts in the Sherman Park and Layton Blvd. neighborhoods, moving to Prospect / Farwell in mid-2006. For most of 2007, Tom Fritsch and Lorna Dilley have been sitting in on the CCCP, Prospect/Farwell group, meetings, exploring how UWM and CAC might contribute to their efforts in this area.

After gathering with and listing to older adults in the Prospect/Farwell neighborhood through a series of focus groups, CCCP staff learned of a desire among residents for continued learning opportunities in the community.  Residents expressed a willingness to pay a nominal fee for such opportunities, as long as they were close by - in the neighborhood.  

In partnership with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Let's Take Care (LTC), Milwaukee County Department on Aging, Chai Point Senior Living, and other neighborhood service providers, CAC planned and helped to launch the Learning is Educational and Fun (LEAF) program, a lecture series to take place at the Lakeside Senior Enrichment center, which is located at Chai Point on Prospect Avenue.  The series began in February, 2008. 

 

List of Dates, Titles and Presenters, 2008: 

Except where noted, all lectures occur at Chai Point Senior Living, 1400 N. Prospect Avenue, from 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. and cost $5.00 and you may pay at the door.  Please register for each lecture with Susannah Rotter at 414.277.8878.

 

  • Tuesday February 12: "Memory Functioning in Late Life, and IQ and Leisure Experiences in Early Life: Is there a Link?" by Thomas Fritsch, PhD, Associate Director, UWM Center on Age & Community
  • Thursday February 28: "Links Between Alcohol Consumption and Sexuality," by Laura Otto-Salaj, PhD, Assistant Professor of Social Work, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, UWM
  • Tuesday March 4: "Self-Maintenance: Medically Oriented Massage and Stretching for Older Adults," by Don Barrs, Certified Massage Therapist and Neuromuscular and Myofascial Therapist
  • Tuesday March 18: "The History of the Bassoon," by Theodore Soluri, Principal Bassoonist, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Adjunct Professor of Music, Peck School of the Arts, UWM, and teaches at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, Chicago
  • Tuesday April 8: "A Tour of the Solar System," with Jeanne Creighton, PhD, Professor of Physics, UWM.  Please note: This lecture takes place at the UWM Planetarium from 10:00a.m. - 11:00a.m.  Transportation is provided from Chai Point; the bus leaves at 9:15 a.m.
  • Tuesday April 22: "Documenary Film: A Medium for the 21st Century," by Brad Lichtenstein, Lecturer and founder of docUWM, a documentary center based in the Film Department in the Peck School of the Arts, UWM.