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Step into the lively, main activities hall of Acacia Adult Day Services (ADS) center (in Garden Grove, Orange County), and you are transported to a happening, multi-cultural feast of smells, sights and sounds.  From Monday to Friday, the loving-care, fun and excitement at Acacia is palpable.

On this particular day, the entire hall was filled with the delicious aroma of sauteéd scallions.  Volunteers and staff are preparing “stuffed fried tofu” (served with optional soya and Siracha garlic-chili sauces on the side) for upwards of 80-100 participants as part of a weekly cooking class.

Nearby, 82 year-old Viet-American childless widow, Như-Ý Herman, is holding court, telling zany jokes to aged friends at her table.   Như-Ý: “Why is the number 6 afraid of 7?”

Diane Lê, who spent most of her life in Norway but now has resettled to Little Saigon to be closer to her adult children, replies: “I don’t know.”

Như-Ý:  “Because 7, 8 (“ate”), nine!”  (Both women erupt in laughter, even though Như-Ý has told this joke before.)

Silver haired Như-Ý Herman shares a snack and a joke with new friend, Diane Lê.

In Vietnamese, her name, “Như-Ý” means “how I like it.”  While her mind remains sharp, her frail body is ravaged by a debilitating Parkinsonian tremor, that is made worse when her severe anxiety disorder acts up. The tremor starts in a hand or leg, then marches up her body and crescendos into a total body, generalized seizure called a ‘pseudoseizure.’

Seeing her joking around and so engaged, it’s hard to fathom that just 8 months ago, she was going in and out of Hoag Hospital’s emergency room, each time she had a panic attack.  Như-Ý had relocated from Texas where she was subsisting in Assisted Living homes when her doting husband passed away.  There, she was becoming  morbidly depressed each time the paramedic sirens shrilled throughout the home, in response to emergencies.

However, since her enrollment into Acacia Adult Daycare Services, Như-Ý Herman has been given a new lease on life.  She has not returned to Hoag’s ER.  Her extended family and primary caregiver–a niece named Trang Võ (who is in her late 50s), have all been given a true gift: peace of mind.

According to Thành Hà Nguyễn, Acacia’s Vietnamese-speaking social worker and community liaison, “chị Trang Võ is often stuck in a precarious ‘sandwich generation’. That is, she is ‘sandwiched’ between taking care of her immediate family (comprised of her husband, a teenage-daughter and own 86 years-“young,” spry mother) in addition to her aunt, Như-Ý.

In this particular family’s case, both Trang Võ and her vibrant yet elderly mother (whose late husband was Như-Ý’s older brother) take turns tending to aunt Như-Ý, along with a hired in-home caregiver.  Võ offered her beleaguered aunt Như-Ý refuge in her Huntington Beach home, hoping the sea breeze and Southern California sun would help improve her physical condition.  However, two years living in California, Võ and her family’s generosity were wearing thin as Như-Ý Herman’s emotional and physical health was not improving.

But since Herman enrolled in Acacia, all 3 women: Như-Ý, Trang and her mother have been offered  significant respite.  While at Acacia by day, they are assured that Như-Ý will be well cared for so that she may stay mentally, physically and emotionally healthier.  Thus, she will be able to live independently longer and avoid having to go back to Assisted Living homes–situations which previously left Như-Ý feeling more anxious and desperate.

Several days a week, Như-Ý Herman is transported door-to-door from Võ’s Huntington Beach home to Acacia through a special program via Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA).  Through the Adult Day Healthcare Services program, her complex medical and psychiatric conditions and medications are overseen by a medical director, licensed nurses, nursing aids and several social workers.

To improve her balance and conditioning and to decrease her fall risks, she participates in group as well as customized physical and occupational therapies, provided by licensed physical, occupational therapists and aides.  More importantly, she is shrouded in the multi-cultural, compassionate care that is the trademark of Acacia.

Under supervision of physical therapists, the seniors work out. Here, at her first visit to Acacia, Như-Ý eagerly exercised for the 1st time from her chair.

Every month, Acacia’s “young-at-heart”staff coordinate festive and diverse celebrations to bring joy to the seniors.  From Bingo and board games with Natalie Franks and Cee Tong (the activities coordinators), ESL classes with Gloria Woo, to arts and crafts with Chloris;  “Balance and Mobility” with Kenny Yu, the seniors are kept active and engaged day-long.

For example, in February, they hosted a Valentine’s Dance with a live rockabilly band.  The prior week, they pulled out all the stops for their annual Tết (Lunar New Year) celebration.  All the enthusiastic staff members donned Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean outfits to create a brightly colored reverie.

Dressed in traditional Chinese, Viet and Korean outfits, Acacia’s staff hosts a multi-culti, Lunar New Year Celebration.

Even Bubu (the center’s pet therapy dog) got into the Asian spirit and wore his own doggie, satin-silk outfit.

Program Director, Julie Duarte, Bubu-the pet therapy dog, and staff model their Chinese silk outfits for Lunar New Year.

A Lion Dance troop, complete with vibrant tae-ko drummers, blessed the center and spiced up the day’s celebrations.

There was even a beautiful altar to pay homage to the ancestors complete with incense, fruit, candles, sweet treats, and the former Nationalist Vietnamese flag (yellow with three red stripes).  Clearly, Acacia’s staff understood how important filial piety was for the Vietnamese senior participants, most of whom still revere and mourn their now-extinguished former democratic nation.

Traditional Lion Dancers perform for 100 participants, in the backdrop is the ancestral altar.

Thus, everywhere one looks throughout the center, there is compelling evidence that Acacia is deeply committed to paying attention to the innumerable, small yet important details to ensure that their culturally diverse seniors feel welcomed, loved and ‘at home.’

In a time when the overwhelming demand for senior healthcare necessarily has to to be cost-effective, culturally-appropriate and creative, Acacia is stepping up to meet these myriad challenges.

The latest report in June from the Asian-Americans Advancing Justice (formerly Asian Pacific American Legal Center, APALC) dispelled further Asian “Model Minority Myths.”  Asian-Americans now have the highest rate of death due to cancer (28%).  Amongst Vietnamese-Americans, this cancer death rate is even higher (31%).  As for the rise in Alzheimer’s dementia diagnoses, Viet-Americans have seen 195% rise (i.e. a doubling) in the last 10 years, one of the highest of all ethnic minority groups.

Thus, Adult Daycare Centers such as Acacia which provide excellent, culturally-appropriate care are precious, essential community-based organizations in the era of the “Aging Population”.  Acacia serves a catchment area spanning from Long Beach to the north; Huntington Beach to the south and Anaheim to the east.  Its participants are ethnically and cultural diverse, with over 50% Asian Pacific Islanders (the vast majority being Vietnamese).  Acacia also serves many Caucasian, Latino and diverse other ethnic seniors.

Beginning this summer, Acacia, as 1 of 7 select centers, will participate in a statewide 18 months SCAN Foundation grant to set best practices on how such Adult Daycare community-homes can keep culturally diverse seniors healthy, out of hospitals and nursing homes and thriving, through the oversight of a designated nurse navigator.

Victor Võ, RN, who just started in this new role on July 1st as bilingual (Việt-English) nurse navigator, is tasked to closely follow the most complex patients, making home visits and coordinating their care.  The aim of this grant study is to show that such a customized, pro-active, preventive approach to Adult Day Services “community homes” will be cost-effective and efficacious.

After just his first week on the job, Victor Võ eagerly shared, “I’ve worked in the private and non-profit sectors…a week here at Acacia is unlike any other.  The folks at Acacia are so dedicated–so grassroots–they stretch every dollar and put everything into caring for our senior constituents.”

For its remarkably compassionate, culturally-competent care, Acacia Adult Day Services won Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce’s “2013 Non-Profit of the Year” Award this past June 13th.  At the Awards Luncheon, Executive Director Mallory Vega reflected that, “Aging is a gift.”  For the past 34 years, Acacia’s gift back to the community has been to provide the highest quality services to its seniors.  Acacia’s motto is to “keep seniors well and engaged by day so that they can remain home safely at night,” –thereby, avoid losing their independence.

Board Members: Les Jones (President), M. Vega, Denise Clynes, Julie Duarte holding “Non-Profit of the Year” plaque.  (In the background is July 4th artwork made by senior participants)

Just two years ago, this award-winning daycare center almost did not survive the grave economic recession sweeping the nation.  Here in California, the state legislature, in order to balance its deficient state budget in 2011, cut massive funding to Adult Day Services.

But under Mallory Vega’s unwavering leadership, with the dedication of her team and Board of Directors, Acacia has not only survived, it is well on its way to a sturdy recovery.  Vega’s many admirers include colleagues such as Peerapong Tantameng, JD, MPH–Director of CalOptima’s innovative PACE (Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly).

PACE clinic is due to open in October 2013.  It is strategically designed with a state-of-the-art, pristine new center to deliver all-inclusive, multi-disciplinary care under one roof.  The hope is that PACE will optimally coordinate the care of severely debilitated, low-income dual-eligible MediCare-Medicaid seniors, to keep them out of costly hospitals and nursing homes.

Tantameng commented, “In the midst of the fiscal storm, Mallory was unflinching.  While centers all around were closing, she never showed any fear.”

But while Vega is the unflinching captain of the Acacia ship, she is supported by an incredibly committed team who are always seeking creative, community-based solutions to their many challenges.  Second in command is Program Director Julie Duarte who, like Vega, has been part of the Acacia family since its inception in 1979.

In 2011 when Vega insisted that Acacia would weather the storm irregardless, it was Duarte who worked late nights and weekends to devise a transition plan to ensure that Acacia’s seniors would have a place to go and be attended to–in the event the Department of Public Health forced Acacia to close down due to lack of funding.

Perhaps the late Barbara Salzbach (an iconic Acacia benefactor and beneficiary) who said it best: “Acacia is love!”  Both Salzbach and her husband, (a local podiatrist) were recipients of Acacia’s “love” for many years before they passed away.

This photo of the “Women of Acacia” hangs in their office. (left) Mallory Vega and Julie Duarte stand behind Barbara Salzbach

When asked how she felt about Acacia, Như-Ý Herman smiles and gratefully says, “When I’m here at Acacia, I enjoy activities, friends and everything…’ how I like it!’” (translation: “theo như-ý!”)

For more information, visit: http://www.acacia-services.org or take a tour of Acacia, located at 11391 Acacia Parkway, Garden Grove, CA 92840.  Telephone: 714.530.1566.