Harvesting stories
The BAR Center at the Beach, located in Venice, is another nexus of community. Volunteers serve hot lunch Monday-Friday 12-1 to senior community members for $6 each—but no one is turned away.
I heard about the Center from Venice resident Stephanie during a Jewish Federation event, Networking Reimagined: Create Meaningful Connections with Antonia Lassar. Stephanie came to Bahala’s Coffee & Connections, and in turn invited me to shadow her on one of her weekly volunteering sessions at the BAR Center, located on the boardwalk in Venice.
It’s astonishing how well causality works—as long as some basic, thoughtful infrastructure exists to nudge the dominoes over, such as the Federation event and Bahala’s weekly low stakes, high yield get-togethers.
The sun streamed in from the enormous floor-to-ceiling glass front, the ocean lapping the shore just beyond. Renovated during the pandemic, the Center was “reimagine[d] as a destination for rich cultural and spiritual engagement across generations.”
Around noon, older people drifted in, some finding friends. Others, like Robert, a stately man there for the first time, were invited to join tables of diners. Jelah, a warm, green-eyed Persian woman, signed people in and troubleshooted any snafus.
As a volunteering opportunity, it was satisfying to be active, to chat but keep moving, and to help in tangible ways in a short period of time. A quick shot of the helpfulness we all crave.
The BAR Center provides individually packaged hot meals for $6 —we’d said hello to the man delivering them moments before we arrived. Dessert was cut-up, bagged cantaloupe. Most residents poured their own water or coffee, but a few asked us to do so for them.
I met Martyn, who pointed out his poems published in the Beachcomber newspaper. Stephanie complimented a woman on her beautiful coiled jewelry and she, Audra, told us it was made by Sámi Laplanders, native Finns.
Bright, legible flyers were posted throughout the sun-drenched dining room alerting folks to activities offered: fitness classes, tech support, and social gatherings. After our shift, Stephanie had a date with a community member, Suzie, to ride an electric scooter-built-for-two down the boardwalk.
If I’d been worried it would be somewhat depressing, I was grateful to be wrong. People were sparkly and kind to me, Stephanie, and to each other. Not everyone spoke English, but those who didn’t smiled even wider. I was told a few grumps sometimes attend, but they were absent that day.
Each person I met was a fount of stories. I grew up hearing about my mom’s fieldwork interviewing seniors at the Jewish Home in Rochester, NY. She was inspired by Barbara Myerhoff, who collected ethnographies of Jewish seniors living in Venice, CA for her seminal book, Number Our Days. There are competing theories about which senior center Myerhoff conducted her interviews. Let us know if you have any clues to solve this mystery.
In fiction we can devour the Thursday Murder Club books (and forthcoming tv series!), and binge-watch Man on the Inside and Only Murders in the Building. These are fun gateways to connect with older people that I’ve enjoyed. But I’m going back to the BAR Center for the real thing, to make tangible connections and to hear people’s stories.
To learn more volunteering for the Jewish Family Service LA, including the BAR Center at the Beach location, contact Shayna Panitz at spanitz@jfsla.org or call 323-937-5900.