FALL 2023
VOLUME VIII
CONTENTS 03 Department Message Alice Manuel
04
Senior Services Connecting Waters with Jessica Martinez
05 Employee Spotlight Ryan Roanhorse
06 Team Spotlight
Caregivers Program
08
Community Spotlight Ramona Loring
12 Health & Wellness
Cooking with Celinda & Toby
15 Better Living
Keeping a Garden
15
SHRRP Providing Safe Access
18 Kraft Korner
Let’s Get Krafty
19 Mind Teasers
Word Search & Color by Numbers
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FALL 2023
Community A Look Back
Department Message Contact us Address 10510 E. Osborn Rd. Scottsdale, AZ 85256 Phone 480.362.6350 Visit us online srpmic-nsn.gov/ government/seniors Follow us on social media
Like us! @SaltRiverSeniorServices Managing Editor Jon Newman Writer/Editor Laura Toussaint Graphic Designer Ravenna Curley Photographer/Graphic Designer Samantha Zivic Cover Photo Fall Pumpkins
Ske:g tas and Kamduum. We hope you and your family are well! As the months grow cooler and the holiday season grows near, our awesome Senior Services team looks forward to providing fun, engaging, and festive winter programming for seniors and adaptive adults. This is also the time of the year when the cold and flu season is at its peak (C-19 is still around, too), so please be safe while you are out. Hope to see you soon, until then, please take care! We are here to serve you. Alice Manuel Senior Services Assistant Director
SRPMIC SENIOR SERVICES
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SENIOR SERVICES
with Jessica Martinez Hello all, Welcome back to Connecting Waters, or welcome if you are new to this column. My name is Jessica Martinez, I am the Community Liaison for Senior Services. I use this column to answer some FAQs I receive from seniors around the community. Some
range from really common questions about our services to wacky questions like: “My dog needs a haircut, can you guys do that for me?” (Yes, I’ve really been asked that question before). I am here to answer them all!
I was told I could get 5-year tags for my vehicle but have no idea where I am supposed to go to get that done. Can you help me?
Absolutely! I want to first start off by saying this question required some research, so I completely understand why some may get frustrated. That’s why I’m here! Let me stress about finding the answers, not you. Getting 5-year tags is actually easier than you may think. First, take your tribal ID to the Community Development Department (Bldg. B, 3rd Floor) and request a proof of residency. Second, take that to the DMV and complete a Vehicle License Tax Tribal Exemption form and voila! That is it! According the DMV, any individual residing within a tribal reservation of a federally recognized tribe is eligible for a 5-year registration. If you want to make it even easier, you could also print the DMV form and take it with you to CDD to notarize. Please feel free to contact me to print out the form for you if needed. Otherwise, go to azdot.gov, search Vehicle License Tax Tribal Exemption and print. More questions? Contact me at 480.362.7386 or jessica.martinez2@srpmic-nsn.gov
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Employee Spotlight Ryan Roanhorse
Yá’át’ééh (Hello), my name is Ryan. I am of the Tótsohnii (Big Water Clan), born for the Tábąąhá (Edge Water People). My maternal grandfather is Tsi’naajinii (Black Streaked Wood People), and my paternal grandfather’s clan is Honágháahnii (One Walks Around Clan). I grew up in Ganado on the Navajo reservation. I love it there. It has wide, open spaces. It’s quiet and it’s dark at night. You can see the stars. I grew up an only child of a single mom. She is a strong, adventurous woman who is outspoken, but openminded. From her, I learned to persevere. It may sound cliché, but she taught me that if you put your mind to something, you could make it happen and she knew what she was talking about--even though she was a single mom, she went to school full-time and worked full-time and she beat cancer… twice. I think I inherited her love of adventure. I enjoy being outdoors. Today, I still like to hike and camp. Ganado is still one of my favorite places. I come back often. Because my mom was often at school or work, I spent a lot of time with my grandma, her mom. One of my favorite things to do was just drive around on errands. She always had a story from back when she was young, a random
memory of something we were driving by. I loved hearing those stories. After high school, I went to NAU and got a degree in business administration. After college, I returned home to care for my grandma. I realized how much I enjoyed caring for people, especially the elderly. Around 10 years ago, I moved to the Valley. I had also enlisted in the Army and I recently re-upped in the National Guard. My Job in the Army is driving semi-trucks. I get to meet a variety of people and deliver different cargo— anything from ammunition to supplies. It’s an adventurous job. It is interesting, the difference between the two worlds, but I like going between them and I’m learning a lot about operations and logistics. I joined the Senior Services home care team nearly five years ago. In addition to going into people’s homes to help them out, I teach Enhance Fitness and Tai Chi. Both programs help improve the health, strength, and mobility of our seniors. I like hearing the stories of how much they are improving. One woman started Tai Chi a year ago when we first started offering it. She was too weak to work, but she recently shared in class that she was so much better, she was able to return to work. SRPMIC SENIOR SERVICES
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SENIOR SERVICES
Team Spotlight Caregiver Support
Senior Services Caregiver Support provides education, resources and support to informal caregivers so that they can provide the best care to others while also caring for themselves. “More and more people are caring for their loved ones rather than placing them in a nursing home, but being a caregiver can take a toll, whether it is stress, lack of sleep or just putting themselves and their needs behind everyone else’s,” says Cheryl Tate, coordinator for the program. “We often have to remind them to take care of themselves too so they don’t become sicker than the person they are caring for. We give them the tools they need to provide better care and to prevent burnout.” Our Care Giver Support program provides individual counseling, support groups, training and education, as well as respite care.
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“Our caregivers enjoy the self-care activities where they all get together, share their caregiver experience and just have fun together, painting, making bath bombs or learning the benefits of nutritional cooking, journaling and meditation,” said Cheryl. “Sometimes we are even able to include the grandchildren in activities for our custodial grandparents. They really like the interaction of including the young ones too.”
“We give caregivers the tools they need to provide better care and to prevent burnout.”
If you are a family member who is informally providing care, our Senior Services Caregiver Support program may be able to help you. We can help if you: Are a non-paid caregiver age 18+ to a community senior 55+ or adult with physical and adaptive needs Are a senior grandparent 55+ providing unpaid primary care to a grandchild under 18 who lives in your home Reside within SRPMIC boundaries
The Senior Services Caregiver Support program is made possible by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Administration on Aging through the Older American Act.
To see if you are eligible for Caregiver Support, ask for the Intake Coordinator at 480.362.6350. Have these documents ready when you call: Social Security card Tribal ID Medical information Social Security cards of minor grandchildren if applicable
SRPMIC SENIOR SERVICES
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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
Ramona Loring I was just one when I lost my mother during the birth of my younger sister so I, and my older brother and sister moved in with my mom’s oldest sister. Though she was single, she took the three of us in. Other aunts and uncles took in my other three older siblings. Though we lived in separate houses, we still did a lot of things together. We always visited my grandma’s sister who lived in Lehi. My aunt didn’t have a car so we rode with other family members. When I was 10, I got a bike and I rode all over on the dirt roads to play with my siblings and cousins. We lived in a small, one-room Ramona and her adobe house
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adobe house. There was no water or electricity. My uncle who had a truck would fill up three 5-gallon tin milk cans with water that would last the four of us for a week. We had a tin tub out in the yard for baths and since I was a baby, I got my bath first, then my sister, then my brother and my aunt would go last. We also had a little wood shed out back that was our kitchen. There was an ice box and the ice man would come every two weeks with blocks of ice. There was a wood stove and a little counter and table. My aunt cooked on that wood stove all day long and she taught us all how to make tortillas. We always had fresh tortillas. My aunt got a job at the Salt River clinic. The building is still there. She was a clerk and cleaner for the doctor and nurse. Back then, everyone who went through the clinic got a number. Since my aunt worked there, I was number 1.
We had an old tamarack tree out front. high school at Mesa High. All of us It was ugly, but it provided some shade. girls belonged to the Girls Athletic I remember it was broken in half with Association. I stayed on the varsity one side tall and straight and other side team and had a lot of fun going to play bent low nearer to the ground. During at other high schools like Chandler, the summer storms, Arcadia and my brother would “Our backyard went all Judson. Chaparral climb high on the tall along the river bottom just started. We branch and my sister won most of our with cottonwood trees. and I would be on the matches. I got a other. The wind would I would play in the sand varsity letter, but move us like a ship in and watch the burrowing my aunt could not the ocean. afford a school owls.” We also had a sweater so I never battery-operated wore it. radio and we’d listen to stories—teddy When I was older, I realized my bear stories, sometimes scary stories. mother’s father was whole Papago and We could visualize what was happening that I had more family. I would spend in our minds. We liked to listen to rock summers down there. and roll. We loved to dance around the radio. Ramona’s aunt Our backyard went all along the river bottom with cottonwood trees. I would play in the sand and watch the burrowing owls. My brother and I would look for pieces of pottery or Spanish trading beads—I guess there used to be a village there. I also found two army buttons! We had to watch for the rattlesnakes because they liked the sandy soil too. I’d make stick people and stick houses and just play. I went to grade school and junior high in Mesa. I went to high school at a boarding school in Tucson run by a Presbyterian Church, Tucson Indian Training School. All of my aunts went there, even those in San Tan and Gila River. The girls’ dorm was on one side of a park with a pool and the boys’ dorm was on the other. I was the only one that swam in that pool because no one liked to wear a swimsuit. I also made the Varsity tennis team even though I was only a junior. My senior year, I came back to Salt River because they closed the school to build the Nogales freeway. I finished SRPMIC SENIOR SERVICES 9
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
When it came time to go to college, I went to U of A so I could stay with my cousins there. A grant from BIA paid for tuition and supplies and an academic scholarship paid for my dorm and meals. My cousin was a senior and I was a freshman. My major was business administration and I had a minor in anthology. I liked to spend my time at the school’s museum and the anthology building. Another one of my aunts worked there with the different local tribes with focus on the Papago tribe. I loved to see all those pictures and artifacts, especially the baskets. I got to see the research my aunt was doing with the Papago, Yaqui and the San Pasqual. I graduated in ’67 and came back to Salt River. A friend of mine worked for Dickson Electric which used to be by the hospital on Osborn.
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She got me on there. We would eat lunch at Los Olivos though it was the Old Corral back in the day—same family. Later, I worked as a dispatcher for SRPD. It was by the ballfield back then. I met Lester at a dance—there were dances every Saturday night in the community hall and once in a while on Friday nights. At first, it was just record players, but later there were rock and roll bands. I loved doing chicken scratch. We were married for 36 years and had six kids. Eventually, we parted ways. I hadn’t worked for 36 years, but my last daughter was old enough, so I got a job with the courts—I had taken some law classes at SCC. I was in my 50s. I was a juvenile judge for 10 years.
I mostly did the family court cases, but there was a great national program—a national drug court and I became the official judge in the community for that. It was a counseling and education program that the kids could do instead of jail. I remember one of the girls I had recognized me and told me that it really helped her change her life. She said she doesn’t drink or do drugs and that she’s a good mother. I enjoyed my service to the community. When I was 65, I retired. That’s what you did back then. Now I live with my youngest daughter, my two adult grandsons and one of my other daughter’s ex-husband—he’s still part of our family. They take really good care of me. My other kids come by to see how I’m doing and help me get around. I like coming to the senior center activities and for breakfast, I don’t eat lunch. The food is good and one of my daughters cooks me dinner every night. I taught my girls how to make tortillas like my aunt taught me. We still have the outside fire where we make the tortillas at night. I love sports. I like the Cardinals best, but my second favorite team are the Chiefs—they have my favorite quarterback, Patrick Mahomes—he’s so cute. I also like the Suns. My daughter works at a place where Charles Barkley goes often and she tells him I am a fan. I also like the Diamondbacks, even though they are not doing so good right now. I like sharing with people outside of the community about our community. I love Salt River. It’s me. It’s home. It’s what I am. I feel the camaraderie. We are the people—the O’odham, Papago, Yaqui—we are community.
SRPMIC SENIOR SERVICES 11
FOOD & NUTRITION
New Mexico Slow-Cooker Green Chile Sirloin Pinto Beans Pinto beans pack a nutritional punch. They are high in fiber and protien as well as vitamin B1, which helps your body convert food to energy. Beef is also high in protien and vitamin B, but also essential minerals such as iron and zinc. Cook up this recipe and settle in for a warm and cozy evening. INGREDIENTS 3 lbs. beef sirloin 1 lb. dried pinto beans 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil 3 beef bouillon cubes 1 cup red onion diced 1 13-ounce container of diced poblano pepper Green chile 2 bay leaves 2 tsp. garlic minced 1 tsp. dried oregano ½ tsp. pepper ½ tsp. cumin 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper 1/8 tsp. salt to taste; add at the end Blue corn tortilla chips Monterey Jack shredded cheese omega-3 fatty acids. 12 FALL 2023
INSTRUCTIONS 1. The night before, rinse pinto beans thoroughly, add to a slow cooker and cover with water. Add the lid and let soak. 2. The next day, drain the water and leave the beans in the cooker. 3. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm olive oil. 4. Once hot, brown the sirloin on all sides. Remove and set aside.
5. To the slow cooker, add the beef bouillon cubes, poblano pepper, green chile, onion, garlic, bay leaves, pepper, oregano, cumin and cayenne pepper. 6. Add six cups of water and stir. 7. Add in the browned beef. 8. Cover and cook on HIGH for 5 hours. Do not open the lid. 9. Once done, remove the bay leaves and discard. 10. Remove shred the sirloin. Set aside. 11. Layer paper towels over the pinto
beans to soak up excess grease. Discard the paper towels. 12. Place 1 cup of the beans and some broth in a small bowl and using a fork or a potato masher, mash the beans. Add them back to the slow cooker with the rest of the beans. 13. Add the shredded meat back in and stir well. 14. Salt to taste. 15. Serve with blue corn tortilla chips and shredded Monterey Jack cheese.
Pumpkin Spice Whipped Yogurt INGREDIENTS Crust 2 cups 2% plain Greek yogurt 2/3 cup pumpkin puree ½ cup heavy whipping cream 4 Tbs. 100% pure maple syrup 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. pumpkin spice ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Add all ingredients except the pumpkin puree to the mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, whisk on low for until everything is well blended, about 30 seconds. 2. Slowly increase speed and scrape the sides of the bowl. 3. Continue mixing until soft peaks
form and stand up without falling for about 3 or 4 minutes. 4. Once peaks form, gently fold in the pumpkin puree using a spoon or rubber spatula. 5. Refrigerate for one hour. 6. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin spice.
To learn more about additional recipes and upcoming cooking demos, contact Celinda & Toby at 480.876.7180 SRPMIC SENIOR SERVICES 13
Join us for a morning of senior friendly movement and fitness. A variety of exercises make Enhance Fitness three classes in one and a lot of fun!
Wednesday, Thursday & Friday 9-10 a.m. WOLF Senior Room
Increase your strength with light weights Improve your flexibility to increase range of motion and prevent falls Increase your stamina with cardio and aerobic movements
Questions? Contact Erin Manuel at 480.362.7367
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Better Living
Better Living Keeping a Garden
Whether it’s in patio containers or a plot out back, keeping a garden is beneficial to your health. Studies show that gardening reduces stress, improves mental state and is a good form of exercise. In addition, being outdoors exposes you to vitamin D and fresh air. Not to mention the satisfaction and nutrition you get from growing your own food. One of the many blessings of living in the desert is that you can
garden all year. While some vegetables thrive in the spring or summer, many varieties prefer the cool temperatures of fall. In the Valley, most cool-season vegetables are planted from late October through early March. Now is the time to think about what you would like to plant this fall. Though they will be ready for harvest in a few months, you will have the joy of watching them grow.
Some Cool Season Vegetables: Asparagus
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Onions
Green Beans
Cabbage
Celery
Potatoes
Beets
Carrots
Cucumbers
Spinach
Please remember your pottedplant friends are susceptible to cold weather so place them under large evergreen trees, on your porch or in your house. Even moving them closer to the wall of your home will help. When nighttime temperatures on the rez hit 32 degrees or below, remember your plants want to be warm too. Cover them with light sheets or place small electric Christmas lights near the plants’ bases to add warmth—note that LED lights do not work. Also, this is not an
excuse to leave your Christmas lights all year long but only during the holiday season and to keep your plants warm. Lol So get out there and get growing.
a d n i Ce l
Wishing you wellness,
SRPMIC SENIOR SERVICES 15
SHRRP
Providing Safe Access
LaBerta Collins LaBerta Collins has been in her home installed. “Exterior door coverings help keep since 1985. Over the years, SHRRP our clients safe from weather as they has completed many projects to make juggle groceries or search for their her home more safe and comfortable, keys,” said Jamie James, customer including a paved walkway, AC service supervisor. “Coverings also replacement, weed abatement and help to prevent damage more. to the door and flooring.” “They do so much “They do so much for In addition to the safety for me. They were excellent with both me. Plumbing. They and damage protection provided by the exterior my plumbing and AC were excellent with door covering, LaBerta and they are great the AC and they are likes sitting under it with my yard [weed abatement],” said great with yard. I am when the weather is nice. It provides shade LaBerta. “I am so so grateful for that.” during the day and she grateful for that.” put some twinkle lights Another of the SHRRP to enjoy at night. projects LaBerta really appreciates Exterior door covers vary greatly is the exterior door covering they 16 FALL 2023
depending on existing structures and surfaces. A project assessment is conducted to determine what, if anything can be repaired or replaced or if new construction is needed. The assessment is submitted for approval. If granted, permits are obtained. Once onsite work has begun, depending on the scope of the project, the project is often completed within a couple of weeks. In addition to covered entries, SHRRP provides a variety of other services to qualified community residents. These can include complex renovations and retrofitting of interiors to meet health
If you think you or someone you know may qualify, call the SHRRP helpline Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. at 480.362.7800.
and safety needs such as, but not limited to: • • • • • •
Kitchen Cabinets Flooring Handicap Bathrooms Ramps Exterior Door Covers Roofing
SHRRP also provides day-to-day services that seniors and those with adaptive and medical needs may find challenging such as changing air filters, repairing exterior doors that do not close correctly or improperly sealed windows. Qualified individuals must be members of the community, age 55+ or qualify with a medical disability, and have a home condition that detrimentally affects the individual’s health, welfare and/or safety.
If you are an existing SHRRP client with an afterhours/weekend HVAC or plumbing emergency, you can call community dispatch to reach an on-call technician or plumber at 480.850.9230. SRPMIC SENIOR SERVICES 17
KRAFT KORNER
Here is a fun and simple craft you can do at home. Make for yourself or as a gift!
Step one: Gather your supplies: air-dry clay, jute, rolling pin, knife, wax paper, paint and brush.
Step two: Roll the clay out to 1/4-inch thick and cut three circles. Cut one in half. Make holes as shown.
Step four: Let the
Step five: Create a knot
pieces dry a day or two and then paint them.
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on the back of the rainbow and “sew” pieces together with long stitches on the back.
Step three: Roll three
ropes and form a rainbow, gently pinching ropes together. Make a hole as shown.
Step six: Tie a loop at the top and, voila, your creation is done!
MIND TEASERS
Color by Numbers
1 - Svegĭ (Red) 2 - Scedagĭ (Green) 3 - Soam (Yellow)
4 - Scedagĭ (Blue) 5 - Scedagĭ (Light Blue)
SRPMIC SENIOR SERVICES 19
MIND TEASERS
Game 1
4
9
1
6 8 2 8 7 9 4 3 6 4 3 1 4 5 4 7 9 6 2 3 5 7 2 4 7 8 1 5 4 8 Game 2
6 1
4 9 5 1 2
8 9
7
7 2 5 4 9 7 6 20 FALL 2023
6 1
9 8 8 3 6 7 4
7 5
Word Scramble RUULGAA
ONCAR
BEETS
EAPPL
LCCBOIOR
APEPL TERE
BLSSURES ORSSTPU
HRABCN
GAECBAB
OWNRB
TOSRCRA
ADNYC NRCO
CLRLWEUIOFA
OOLTBALF
LSOADRLC
ODGRU
NCRO
VRSHATE
BRCUCMSEU
DAEHRIY
IGRLAC
CTKJAE
ETTLEUC
VLSEAE
DMUATSR
OREGAN
TASOOETP
NEEINCOP
PUSMPINK
ERESVRPSE
IASDHRSE
MUPNIKP
NHPICSA
EAOCWCRRS
UIPRNST
FRNEWSLUO
YLLEOW SQUAHS
SRAWTEE
NIIUHCCZ
LOLWYE SRPMIC SENIOR SERVICES 21
MIND TEASERS
Game 1
Game 2
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4 7 8 2 6 5 9 3 1
3 5 6 1 9 4 8 2 7
9 1 2 8 3 7 6 4 5
8 4 5 6 1 3 2 7 9
2 6 7 9 5 8 3 1 4
1 3 9 7 4 2 5 8 6
5 8 1 3 7 9 4 6 2
6 2 4 5 8 1 7 9 3
7 9 3 4 2 6 1 5 8
3 7 8 9 6 2 4 1 5
5 6 1 3 7 4 9 2 8
4 2 9 1 8 5 7 6 3
7 4 5 2 1 8 3 9 6
8 3 2 4 9 6 1 5 7
1 9 6 7 5 3 2 8 4
2 5 7 6 4 9 8 3 1
9 8 4 5 3 1 6 7 2
6 1 3 8 2 7 5 4 9
ANSWERS ARUGULA
ACORN
BEETS
APPLE
BROCCOLI
APPLE TREE
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
BRANCH
CABBAGE
BROWN
CARROTS
CANDY CORN
CAULIFLOWER
FOOTBALL
COLLARDS
GOURD
CORN
HARVEST
CUCUMBERS
HAYRIDE
GARLIC
JACKET
LETTUCE
LEAVES
MUSTARD
ORANGE
POTATOES
PINECONE
PUMPKINS
PRESERVES
RADISHES
PUMPKIN
SPINACH
SCARECROW
TURNIPS
SUNFLOWER
YELLOW SQUASH
SWEATER
ZUCCHINI
YELLOW SRPMIC SENIOR SERVICES 23
COMMUNITY
Take a look back
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SRPMIC SENIOR SERVICES 25
COMMUNITY
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SRPMIC SENIOR SERVICES 27
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