02 Dec Turning the Tables
CITC’s Eldership program helped Maria Legend see herself in a new light
When Maria Legend glanced into a classroom at CITC and saw a group of women and men skin-sewing and grass-weaving, it reminded her of home. She remembered sitting with her Elders as a little girl, learning how to bead.
“It brought me back to my roots,” she said. “I find all those projects to be very healing.”
At the time, Maria was just embarking on her journey with CITC. Through Recovery programs, she achieved sobriety. Soon, she became a fixture at CITC’s Nat’uh Service Center, where she would check in with the Career Development department, looking for work.
At 50, Maria had already experienced careers as a property manager with Cook Inlet Housing Authority and a police dispatcher and jailer in Unalakleet. After making major changes to her life, including working to reunite her family and to get sober, she was ready for something new. Since getting involved at CITC, she’d been searching for ways to engage in the community, sharing her knowledge and volunteering at events like the annual Native Youth Olympic Games.
When she heard about CITC’s new Eldership program, she wasn’t sure it was right for her.
“When they said ‘Eldership,’ I thought about people who are 90 years old! Here I am at 50. But maybe it doesn’t really matter what age you are—just how mature you are,” she said.
The age requirement for the Eldership program is one of its unique aspects. Elders don’t have to be retirement-age to get involved in this opportunity, which places individuals age 50 and over with CITC departments in an effort to reengage them with a supportive, healthy community. Through the program, Elders are intentionally placed with different CITC departments and work up to 40 hours a week in paid positions that do more than provide an income.
The idea behind Eldership, said CITC’s Learning and Development Manager Kaity McAdams, is to provide older Alaska Native people with activities and experiences that support their physical and spiritual health and mental wellbeing.
“A lot of folks enter retirement, and they don’t have the social support network that they used to have,” Kaity said. “We know that isolation is not good for a person. It contributes to cognitive decline, and it can be a dangerous situation for an older person to be isolated. So we want to provide those community connections however we can.”
Through the Eldership program, Maria works with CITC’s Life Skills classes, teaching beading to program participants; she also leads beading activities for CITC staff.
One of her favorite experiences has been working with CITC’s college interns this summer.
As part of its goal to create community, the Eldership program places special emphasis on bringing together youth and Elders to share stories, knowledge, and culture.
“It’s not only for me to give guidance; they’re also inspiring me,” Maria said of CITC’s young interns, whom she taught to bead this summer. “I saw a lot of positive influence with them. I used to sit with my grandparents and great grandparents and do these things, and now I’m seeing myself there. I’m looking at the young people now, and I’m telling the stories or passing along the guidance. I’m like, oh, I have the tables turned.”
Admission is currently closed for the CITC Eldership program. However, you can keep an eye on our Facebook page and our website to find out about additional opportunities for Elders in our community!
CITC’s Eldership program is open to Alaska Native and American Indian people age 50 and over. Program participants must complete a background and eligibility check. Contact Kaity McAdams to learn more or to be placed on a list for future consideration for the Eldership program.