New Clothes, New Ideas

Residents at Hale Makua Kahului had a problem. Many residents love to go shopping with the care partners to buy clothes and other items. Until recently, after each shopping trip, new clothes were passed from the Activities staff to Environmental Services, and then to the Neighborhood Clerk. Residents brought the issue to staff, letting them know that it was taking too long to get new clothes back.

Kahului Activities Director Teresa Lopes went to her staff with the resident’s suggestions and found a way to make the process easier for residents. The Activities staff quickly agreed to help.

Now, when residents return from a shopping trip, care partners label their clothes and add them to the resident’s inventory immediately. Then the residents can take their clothes with them. The same process works for clothes that residents buy at craft fairs and the  bingo store.

In the photos, resident James Miller gives his new shirt to Bety Idica and watches as she labels it. James was the first resident to have his items labeled by the Activities staff. Teresa Lopes says that “residents are happy and it’s working so beautifully.”

This story illustrates Eden Principle #8 “An Elder-centered community honors its Elders by de-emphasizing top-down bureaucratic authority, seeking instead to place the maximum possible decision-making authority into the hands of the Elders or into the hands of those closest to them.” When residents brought up a problem, staff did not reply that it was someone else’s job, they found a solution that simplified the existing process.