Entrants's Name: Denise Lee

Country: United States

Field: Citizen/Community Participation

Innovation - idea: Laguna Honda Hospital is a last resort hospital; the residents who occupy the units there are not awaiting surgery. Most of the residents cannot be cured and are moved to the hospital for the rest of their lives. We work directly with the nurses there to better help them.

Innovation - why it is pioneering: We take into account the residents with restricted mobility in the games we play. The games are both invigorating but not too stressful. It helps exercise their brains, makes them think, and gives them a goal. We have fluent Spanish and Chinese speakers and some who can understand other languages. Combined with technological advances, we communicate better with the residents.

Strategy - how it achieves impact: Every one in the organization has a role to play. Our planners think up ideas for activities and fund raising, the behind-the-scenes technicians work in creating our website and recruiting new members, the Treasurer writes up the budget plan, the Secretary organizes our meetings and ideas, and our President is there to make everything flow smoothly.

Strategy - growth plans: So far, we have been on a regular routine, but the Laguna Angels also plan to start spending time with senior residents at other residential hospitals/places. If possible, we will also start spreading out into other cities too. Our organization has already been spreading mouth to mouth by friends to all the schools in the San Francisco Unified School District. The members from other schools are interested in taking part of the program and have already started implementing the paperwork and plans to be approved. In our own school, we have sophomores and juniors interested in official positions, so that they could take over the organization when the seniors graduate.

Impact to date: Through our website and newsletters, we have inspired other schools to take part in our organization or even start up on their own. We have gained members through the CSF club (California Scholarship Foundation) whose motto is "scholarship for service". As I've said our organization has already been spreading mouth to mouth by friends to the schools in San Francisco.

Future impact: We hope to be even more advanced in ways to interact with the residents. It is dangerous for the patients to stop being active for fear that they might fall comatose, and deter their health even more.

Sustainability - resource base: Laguna Angels spends time with the senior residents at the hospital that usually doesn't have the time or mobility to do activities, making their lives seem dull day in and day out. Using the grant, we were able to provide the senior residents with games and activities that they are capable of playing. We also fund raise to make sure we don't run out of funds. We do fund-raisers at our annual school festivals twice a year and have managed to make some profit. We are supported by our school and the volunteer coordinators at the hospital along with the nurses of the unit we work in.

Major challenge for the field: Our major goal is to work on communication between the residents and the nurses. We help by translating and also by keeping an eye on the residents to make sure they do not do anything to determent the damage of their health.

Contact Information:

Name: Ms. Denise Lee - Treasurer
Country: United States

Bio: The Laguna Angels volunteer every other week at the Laguna Honda Hospital and meet at least once a week to go over new ideas we may want to follow through on. We are a tightly knit group, but we welcome everyone. Since I have joined, I have made over a dozen new friends. Each of us have also gotten to personally know the residents we individually work with. Near the holidays throughout the year, the Laguna Angels work on arts and crafts for the residents to liven the atmosphere at the hospital. Some of us also work on the actual holidays when the staff needs more volunteers.