Sustainability for Adults Aged 65+ at the Fourth District Seniors Resource Center

This report addresses the south and southeast region of San Diego County, particularly District 4, and the San Diego Urban Sustainability Coalition’s goal to better understand the needs of seniors and expand sustainability opportunities within these communities. Students of Dr. Henrike Blumenfeld’s SLHS 580 Communication Processes and Aging course conducted a Life Experience Interview and a Survey on Equity and Sustainability with seniors aged 65 years and over. About half of the interviews and surveys took place in the Fourth District Seniors Resource Center in Southeast San Diego, and the rest were conducted with participating students’ family members or friends. Three main themes emerged from the Life Experience Interviews. Most participants spoke about raising children. The second most common theme was adversity and how the participants dealt with that. The third theme that was shared amongst the interviews was about the importance of education. Results of the Survey on Equity and Sustainability revealed that participants have seen changes in their community and want to continue to see additional changes (such as better roads, more patrolling officers). Many prefer to cook with gas stoves over electric stoves. Half of the participants garden at home. Respondents also shared that recycling is generally accessible. Finally, respondents shared some concern about solar energy and electric vehicles. It is recommended that volunteers from the community or San Diego State University to build and maintain a garden at the Seniors Resource Center, provide information on how to compost with composting bins and easy-to-understand instructions, and provide information about electric vehicles and solar energy at the Seniors Resource Center.