A Win for Seniors
- Livable El Cerrito
- 38 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Thanks to a $190,000 county grant, four adult education programs for seniors are fully funded for the next two years. Two of the programs happen each week during the school year in El Cerrito. Now summer operations are funded.
Gregory Brooks, principal of West Contra Costa Adult Education, said he found out Tuesday (June 30) that his organization was awarded about $190,000 for the period from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028.
West Contra Costa Adult Ed asked for $94,814 per year to add services at the Corrine Sain Senior Center in Richmond and to expand to year-round classes at three existing locations.
Measure X Funds
“They’ve been supporting the program partially,” Brooks said. “Now the county will support it fully under a grant of Measure X funds. Measure X money is from the soda pop tax overseen by the county.”
The funding was approved by a community board that approves Measure X grants. Brooks said the programs are relatively inexpensive to operate, with only one lead teacher at each site being paid. He added that Supervisor John Gioia “has been a great supporter of adult education.”
In response to a request for comment, Gioia said: “We strongly support these programs because they improve health and wellness in our senior community and are vital to the quality of life.”
Speakers, Lunches, and Classes
Two of the existing programs are in El Cerrito. One is on Mondays at Christ Lutheran Church, 780 Ashbury Ave., and the other happens Tuesdays at St. John’s Catholic Church Community Hall, 6500 Gladys Ave. Also funded is a Sakura Kai program at Alvarado School.
The timing of the grants means programs can remain open through the summer, although some summer dates still need to be finalized.
Carol Kehoe, the lead teacher for the Monday program at Christ Lutheran Church, has an established schedule that begins with German at 9 a.m. and concludes with a balance, flexibility and strength class starting at 3 p.m. Also offered are Spanish, folk dancing, art, a computer class, and ukulele.
40 Speakers Each Year
Kehoe is known for lining up interesting guests to speak every Monday at 11:30 a.m. on a range of topics including travel, technology, education, and issues of broad public interest. The talks are followed by lunch.
“I need to find 40 speakers a year,” she said with a smile.
Local officials who’ve served as volunteer speakers include Supervisor John Gioia and Harpreet Singh, an aide to Congressman John Garamendi.
On July 6, Dr. Tom Lange will speak about sarcopenia (age related muscle loss).
Membership Not Required to Use Tech Support
This week’s speaker was Ryan Kawamoto, regional manager for a national program that provides free online classes and tech support to seniors. The Senior Planet program is offered through AARP (the American Association of Retired People).
People do not have to be AARP members to get help, Kawamoto said.
Support is offered in English, Spanish, and Mandarin, he said, by calling 888-713-3495.
Senior Planet also offers classes and discussion groups through Zoom. The website is www.seniorplanet.org/welcome.
Tuesday Program Will Stay Open
The Tuesday program at St. John’s Community Hall has faced challenges recently but participants were bouncing back after the news that summer funding was approved.
Buddy Akacic, the long-time lead teacher there, was absent after an injury. Margo Wecksler is substituting as lead teacher. Wecksler is a storyteller who has taught origami for 23 years at the Albany library.
“It’s a vibrant community here,” she said. “There’s always something happening. We have line dancing, chair yoga, ukulele, origami, watercolors, and textile crafts.”
Linda Cain, who organizes the ukulele program at both locations, had found another spot for her group on June 30 but sent out a revised schedule for the rest of summer once she knew the St. John’s program will stay open.
Summer Kitchen Renovation
Serving lunch was a challenge on June 30 because the property owner, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, started a kitchen remodel. The site administrator for the church and many participants in the adult ed classes thought the program would close for the summer.
Based on that expectation, the church started work over the weekend on a kitchen renovation, said Carol Mansinne-Shafer, site administrator for the church. The work should only take two or three weeks, she said, but it’s possible it could take longer.
The church has donated space to the adult ed program for years. It recently negotiated a new agreement that includes paying a small stipend to the church to offset the cost of utilities, she said.
About three years ago, there was concern that the church might stop allowing the seniors to use the space. One issue was that not many of the seniors were parishioners. However, Mansinne-Shafer advocated for keeping the senior program.
“The church now has a memorandum of understanding for the school year and we have no desire to change that,” she said.
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