2020 ARGENTUM AWARDS
HERO AWARD Tamara Sawicz
Director of Lifestyles, Vi at Lakeside Village Vi
Once again, Tamara Sawicz, director of lifestyles at Vi at Lakeside Village, is putting her life experience to work for residents.
“Having a tech background is my silver lining,” she says during an interview in May, when many communities have limited visitation and are relying on video calls, which she’s helping facilitate. “My crazy diverse background has come in handy in so many ways.”
She was a television news writer and producer, got a mas-
ter’s in social work, and started her own production business, among other things. In eight years at Vi, she’s started a cook- ing show, hosted classes and presentations, and completed a project on veterans in the community that was selected to be part of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives in Washington, D.C.
“I’ve had people ask me: When you were hired, did you think you’d be doing all this?” Sawicz says. “I say, no, it just evolves. “You bring your own personality into the environment, and the
Tamara Sawicz, right, on a typically busy day (pre-COVID-19).
HELPING RESIDENTS REALIZE THEIR DREAMS
“You bring your own personality into the environment, and the residents have these desires, and you blend the two together.”
30 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE JULY/AUGUST 2020
residents have these desires, and you blend the two together.” But her journalism experience may be the real silver lining. “I do ask a lot of questions,” she says. “I've learned over the years, you don't even have to ask probing or personal ques- tions. You just ask one open-ended question, and it leads to a great dialogue. It opens up the residents to talk more about what they would like to see more of, or how they would like to plan something or share their story.
“Even the shy ones, once you just walk down the hallway
with them and talk to them a little bit, you'll get a little insight as to who they are and where they're from. I don't push, of course, I'll just say, Wow! Have you ever considered sharing this, or teaching that?”
So much to share
One resident, whom Sawicz describes as “elegant and intel- lectual…she is a diva,” ended up giving talks on opera and ballet. Another, who had worked in packaging all his life, trans- fixed the community audience by describing how the iconic Hershey’s chocolate bar wrapper was developed. Another had her life dream come true at age 101: Selma wanted to be a published writer. She asked Sawicz to start a creative writing class, where Selma was a prolific writer. For one class, Sawicz invited a published author friend to give feedback. Selma and the author became friends—almost like family to one another, Sawicz says. When Selma gave him a piece of fiction, he and Sawicz created a bound and published book, Flowers. “The residents come to me and have these ideas,” Sawicz says, “and if I can't make it happen, I'll find someone who can.”
THANKS TO 2020 ARGENTUM HERO AWARDS SPONSOR
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