Joy Hepp

With National Volunteer Appreciation Week 2016 in full swing, AARP California is taking the opportunity to highlight some of our venerable volunteers. Volunteers are at the heart of all the great work done at the AARP California office. Among this group of incredible volunteers is Joe Garbanzos.

April 10 th marks the beginning of National Volunteer Appreciation Week 2016. Volunteers are an integral part of the work AARP California is able to do in the community, and our esteemed volunteers come to us from all over the state with different backgrounds and experiences, both professional and personal. Throughout National Volunteer Appreciation Week, AARP California will be highlighting volunteers who are sharing their time, talent, and skills to enrich the lives of their community members and help us reach our goal of creating livable communities for all.

As part of our ongoing mission to promote livable and active communities, AARP in Los Angeles took part in the Cycling Without Age Event in El Monte on March 15 th. This event was organized by local bike coalition Bike San Gabriel Valley and Cycling Without Age, an organization which provides seniors with the opportunity to enjoy bike riding once again. A group of community members, bike enthusiasts, and city officials gathered to learn about innovative trishaw bikes (pictured above) and see them in action.

“Eastside Heartbeats,” an original musical about the vibrant East Los Angeles music scene of the mid-1960’s, opens January 16, 2016, at Casa 0101 Theater.

Not only is the New Year a great time to reflect on personal goals, but it can also provide an opportunity to contemplate visions for our communities. For example, how could your friends and neighbors benefit from being a part of a livable community -- one that is safe and secure, has affordable and appropriate housing and transportation options, and offers supportive community features and services?

Last month AARP in Los Angeles announced our partnership with local Chicana painter, Yolanda Gonzalez and leading non-profit visual arts center, Self Help Graphics , as part of our “Portraits of Community” project. As a result, Angelenos can now see Gonzalez’s portraits featured on three Metro buses, a Metro Gold Line train, and one hundred-fifteen Los Angeles Metro bus shelters throughout Los Angeles. Gonzalez is the first of several diverse artists who are slated to debut “Portraits of Community” artwork in Los Angeles throughout 2016.

Yolanda Gonzalez -- a celebrated Chicana painter, art educator and punk rocker at heart -- was invited to be the inaugural artist for AARP in Los Angeles’s “Portraits of Community” project, an initiative that was inspired by a series of conversations held with residents of Los Angeles throughout 2015. The culmination of the first phase of this project will see Gonzalez’ artworks featured on three Metro buses, a Metro Gold Line train and Metro bus shelters around the city. (Additional artists from diverse communities around Los Angeles will debut distinct “Portraits of Community” artworks throughout 2016.)