Caring for our Caregivers: Caregivers Week at the Karsh Center

Posted on June 1, 2021

This time of year brings the opportunity to give thanks to those who take care of us, usually with Mother’s and Father’s Day. However, we know that those individuals aren’t always a parent, so here at the Karsh Center we celebrated Caregiver’s Week! It was a great week of virtual programming and a scavenger hunt all dedicated to the gratitude we have for all caregivers. Our goal was to provide easily accessible, helpful webinars that had our caregiving clients focused on self-care, if only for a moment! It was truly a celebration for those who often work the hardest and don’t often take time for themselves. All programs were completely free and offered to all, and anyone who participated in our scavenger hunt and tagged us on social media were entered into a raffle to win free movie tickets sponsored by Formosa Group.

We kicked off the week, literally, with some Zoom Zumba! An exercise class led by Ana Guzman, we were grooving and dancing while also incorporating multiple elements of fitness. Zumba can really be a great way to get active that doesn’t feel like a heavy workout, and we saw that across the screen as multiple people brought family members of all ages to join. Plus, it can be so fun to just get up and dance it out for a bit! Thanks to Ana, this Zumba class was so enjoyable, it was easy to forget you were simultaneously doing cardio while strength conditioning, while practicing balance and flexibility. It was an awesome energizing way to begin our Caregivers week. If you missed it, but would be interested in joining Zoom Zumba in the future, visit karshcenter.org where we have that and even more programs!

For our Monday scavenger hunt, clients were directed to the Anderson Munger YMCA in Koreatown. It’s a great organization, with a lot of great programs and resources available to families and people looking to get active. Group exercise classes, kids’ day camp and sleep away camp, swim lessons, senior fitness classes, and more. And they are still offering those programs today and plan to continue through the summer and year.

Tuesday was a change of pace from Monday, featuring a panel conversation with leaders from Chrysalis, HOLA, and Public Counsel to speak on the impacts COVID-19 has had on a community wide level. How has life changed, and how will it continue to change as life in LA begins to reopen? With a focus on the repercussions felt in education, employment, and the economy. Our experts broke it down over Zoom to share more about how their organizations have adapted to provide services during the pandemic, common challenges and barriers the community is facing, and what the year ahead may hold as LA heads into “recovery.” But don’t take our word for it, watch for yourself!

The scavenger hunt sent people over to a place we’re pretty familiar with: the LA Care Community Resource Center. For those who don’t know, the lovely folks at LA Care often sponsor our Sunday food pantry! They offer many crucial services; help with Medi-Cal and financial aid programs, customer care and Telehealth assistance, online classes, they even have free WIFI. First up on Wednesday was virtual yoga. In partnership with LA Care, and under the guidance of People’s Yoga , we took a thoughtful moment to stop and relax. It was an all-level class that can help reduce stress and increase mindfulness, while performing slow specific movements and stretches with intention. We wanted caregivers to be able to quiet their mind (even if just momentarily) and connect with their body. Focusing energy in that way can be very restorative, and across the board that was felt. If you want to experience similar classes for yourself, visit People’s Yoga.

Also on Wednesday, Peace Over Violence joined us to give a workshop on healthy relationships. We covered the fundamentals of a healthy relationship; what a healthy relationship can look like, what the reality is, and how we can shape it into what we want. We discussed creating healthy boundaries and learning the importance of mutual respect in a relationship. If you missed this important workshop, you can still watch it here!

For Wednesdays’ scavenger hunt, we directed clients to come to us at the Karsh Center for family services here in Koreatown to pick up some art supplies to prepare for an extra special virtual program on Friday, that required some materials not everyone may have at home. And we’re more than willing (pretty eager, actually) to share our resources with the community.

On Thursday, Nurse Sandra from QueensCare led a session about health and healthcare in a COVID-19 impacted world. The pandemic has shed light on how important taking care of yourself really is, and we know some people may be worried about navigating this somewhat-”post” COVID world; how to continue to be safe as things open up again. Nurse Sandra covered a variety of topics; the importance of yearly checkups, vaccines (COVID and otherwise), immune health and mental health support. You can watch the recording of this livestream here!

For the scavenger hunt destination on Thursday, folks headed over to our neighbor, the Pio Pico Koreatown Branch Library! After over a year ofbeing closed to the public, multiple branches of the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) are finally opening once again. We’ve always loved the library, and not just for the books. The entire LAPL system worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to ensure the people of the city still had access to their vast collection, and made many materials available virtually for those staying home. However, we couldn’t be more thrilled to see the library’s open doors again. In addition to books, the LAPL has movies and music available, and regularly hosts services and programs for the community. We highly recommend you check them out, too!

Before we even knew it, it was Friday. Caregiver’s Week really flew by for us, but we were excited to partner with Free Arts to give us an art program to finish out the work week. Free Arts aims to bring aid, emotional and otherwise, to children ages 5-18 who have experienced abuse, poverty, neglect and homelessness. And what they brought us on Friday was pure joy in the form of a family art workshop. Caregiving is a hard job that doesn’t always give you time to enjoy your family. We were so excited to give the caregivers in our community a chance to sit down with their loved ones and create art (and memories) together.

Finally, to finish off this epic scavenger hunt, we wanted to give our caregivers a final treat. So, we partnered with California Donuts to give our clients a free donut with purchase! It was the perfect way to complete the week, with a little sweetness.

If you are familiar with the Karsh Center at all, you know we have our food pantry every Sunday from 7:30 to 9:30 AM. This week was no different, and Caregiver’s Week culminated at the Sunday Food Pantry on Mother’s Day. With the generous support of Formosa Group, we were able to

distribute Care Kits to all who came to our Sunday Food Pantry, and every other on-site program such as our Family Support Program and our Tuesday Food Pantry as well. These kits were reusable water bottles, including literature about the importance of hydration for both physical and mental health, teas, and some sweet treats too. We also distributed DVD’s, to help bring a little bit more fun and relaxation home.

These Care Kits and DVDs, workshops, scavenger hunt and classes all aimed to help each member of our community have additional tools to be able to take a moment for themselves, prioritize their needs, and create spaces for fun, celebration and healing, while juggling the responsibilities and stresses that our clients hold.