Dear Beach Cities Resident,
When summer comes to mind, many people associate the season with vacation, and I hope you and yours get a chance to downshift before the kids go back to school. Meanwhile, at Beach Cities Health District, we are hard at work creating a healthy beach community on many fronts this summer.
For instance, three times a month, BCHD Care Managers Joy Schmidt, LCSW and Rudy Diaz, ASW, in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association, host a Dementia Caregiver Support Group. Caring for a loved one with a dementia diagnosis can be overwhelming and stressful, and our support groups offer a safe space to address the challenges that come with caring for someone, find support amongst peers who share similar experiences and openly express your feelings around being a caregiver. These groups meet in Manhattan Beach on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month, and in Redondo Beach on the third Monday. Registration is not required, and more info, including times and locations, is available on our website at bchd.org.
Our teams continue to work and make progress on the Healthy Living Campus project, with the Center for Health and Fitness and PACE provider Los Angeles Jewish Health continuing to renovate the 510 Prospect Avenue building so they will be ready to move in in 2027.
Sunrise Senior Living is hard at work too, now in their due diligence phase, connected with the pending ground lease for the old South Bay Hospital building and parking lots. The proposal from Sunrise includes Assisted Living, Memory Care, Independent Living, plus a number of community benefits.
Grading work is also underway for the permanent home of allcove Beach Cities in Redondo Beach, which will focus on supporting the health and well-being of young people in our community. Also, allcove has a new cohort of young people on its Youth Advisory Group, young leaders who are working to shape the vision and decisions for the new “for youth, by youth” allcove facility.
With all this work taking place, we created a web page, www.bchd.org/construction , for residents to get news and sign up for updates about the various projects. I hope you will sign up and keep up with our progress. To view frequently asked questions, visit: https://bchd.org/healthy-living-campus/faq/ .
Finally, if you want to get your hands dirty and do some work for your community, Beach Cities Volunteer Day on Wednesday, August 12 is a perfect opportunity. Our LiveWell Kids Garden Angels, community members and BCHD staff will work side-by-side that day to prepare elementary school gardens at 13 sites for the upcoming school year and the gardening and nutrition lessons we provide for young people in grades K-5. I hope you’ll join us – visit https://bchd.org/volunteer/volunteer-day/ to learn more and get signed up!
In health,
Tom
