Northside Community Center in San Jose, California

December 8, 2010

Northside Community Center in San Jose, California

“Change the world for the better.” This is the undercurrent for all that I do. For most of us, this takes form in our daily lives with our families and work. Some are able to affect the wider circle of their communities. A few are able to create change at the highest levels, and therefore affect us all.

Over the past years have been looking into assisted living facilities – small multi-unit facilities, as well as large multi-phase communities. The wide range of service combinations is staggering, and the service provider model is the key determinant of the “feel” of the delivery of services. As a result each facility is unique.

When looking for communities with a new vision, I was encouraged to speak with Ben Menor, former executive director of the Northside Community Center. In this award-winning senior housing complex, Mr. Menor created a beautiful community space that integrates low-income senior housing with a community center.
http://www.dbarchitect.com/words/press/35/Builder%27s%20Choice.html
http://www.dbarchitect.com/project_detail/115/Northside%20Community%20Center.html

From a development standpoint, more important than the actual design of the physical space and programs is the thinking behind it that incorporated the inhabitants, the space, its programs, and its surrounding community into an interrelated whole.

In conceiving the Northside Community Center and Mabuhay Court, Mr. Menor drew from his many years working with several cultural communities locally and nationwide. Well respected as a business and organizational consultant, he understood the value in connecting the Center to the rest of the community.

Research has shown that people who are physically active, are allowed social interaction, and are part of a larger community are those who thrive well into their later years. The Center’s programs were designed to provide a caring, empowering environment that allowed each person to experience a fulfilled life of joy, comfort, rejuvenation and security.

Social interaction and physical activity was facilitated through daily programs and the flow and interface of the space design. The meditation garden created a space of beauty and peace for all to enjoy, while still aware of the community beyond. Art was strategically placed to draw people from space to space. Separate entries were reminiscent of neighborhood front stoops. Balconies and porches allowed privacy and limited interaction, while the community center served as dining facility and gathering space. Color and materials were carefully chosen to enhance the overall effect.

The spectrum of seniors being served in the facility and through its many services included Filipinos, Chinese, Indo-Asians, and veterans. Northside became a main provider of senior services for these communities. The strength of its infrastructure was flexible and resourceful enough to be able to respond quickly and efficiently when certain incidents resulted in a sudden influx of veterans in need of assistance.

Rather than excluding the youth from the project, Mr. Menor was able to include them by building in intergenerational programs. Families were encouraged to participate with the seniors, and elders were valued for their wisdom and experience. Activities with a culturally aware foundation created seamless support for engaging life, and continued many of the life activities residents most enjoyed while living outside the community.

Upon occasion the greater community was allowed to use the space for meetings. Through some of these events, the seniors were able to participate in the larger community in ways that were not otherwise easily accomplished.

For example, when former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos is in town, Mr. Menor is the person asked to host and organize international community forums for Philippine-based and Filipino-American-based concerns. Northside has hosted these forums as well as other meetings held by the business community, local cultural community organizations, the Human Relations Commission of Santa Clara County, and organizations addressing broader community issues such as domestic violence. These meetings generated the revenue needed to allow Northside to sustain the great variety of programs and services offered, and to supplement its funding.

It’s clear that the Northside Community Center was the product of progressive thinking with a global, culturally sensitive view. As a result, when Mr. Menor headed the Center the senior residents enjoyed a vibrant community life that allowed them to thrive. This is an assisted living development model that holds great promise for the growing elder communities around the world.

Northside Community Center and Mabuhay Court received the following awards:
– 2004 Maxwell Award of Excellence from Fannie Mae Foundation
– 2004 Gold Nugget Grand Award for Best Senior Housing/Active Adult from the Pacific Coast Builders Conference
– 2004 Gold Nugget Grand Award for Best Affordable from the Pacific Coast Builders Conference
– 2004 Builder’s Choice Grand Award from Builder’s Magazine
– 2004 Builder’s Choice Project of the Year from Builder’s Magazine
– 2004 Merit Award for Design from the California Council of the American Institute of Architects
– 2004 National Award of Excellence from National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials
– 2003 Meritorious Achievement Award from the National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies HOME Awards Competition

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