{"id":21880,"date":"2021-05-26T15:53:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T19:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lilith.org\/?p=21880"},"modified":"2021-05-26T12:30:58","modified_gmt":"2021-05-26T16:30:58","slug":"how-diana-wiener-80-added-buzz-to-her-retirement-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lilith.org\/2021\/05\/how-diana-wiener-80-added-buzz-to-her-retirement-home\/","title":{"rendered":"How Diana Wiener, 80, Added “Buzz” to Her Retirement Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At the beginning of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Diana Wiener, 80, was fed up with the lack of information from her retirement community\u2019s management. Although she had no background in journalism or publishing, Wiener, a resident of the Five Star Premier Residences of Yonkers (Five Star), decided to take matters into her own hands, launching a newsletter titled \u201cThe Buzz\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The management of Five Star began sending weekly email updates at the beginning of the pandemic, but according to Wiener, it contained no substantial information. Plus, a majority of the residents didn\u2019t have an email address. Residents were advised to wear masks and stay six feet apart, but there were no specific details such as what kind of mask to wear, when you should be wearing it and if it should be reused or replaced. It didn’t feel like enough, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Before Wiener officially began The Buzz, she corresponded with the executive director of Five Star to share her belief that residents should be frequently updated about rules and regulations regarding the coronavirus– and where it was spreading in the facility. She also expressed her concern that residents without email addresses were not receiving any of the information that was being shared. Yet in those interactions with management, Wiener felt as if she was being infantilized. Management was leaning on the families of residents to make decisions, rather than the residents themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe children of the people living in this building don\u2019t want their parents upset,\u201d the executive director said to her in an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The choice of management to make decisions based on the children of residents felt demeaning, Wiener said. She was unable to comprehend how management could justify treating their adult residents like children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was just furious,\u201d Wiener told Lilith. \u201cI can\u2019t understand it. We have Bachelors and Masters degrees. There are people paying $5,000 to $8,000 a month here for rent. These people are educated. Retired doctors, lawyers, business people, teachers, educators of every level. But they are referred to as these demented drooling idiots. We\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This email correspondence was the final straw, causing Wiener to kickstart her newsletter in order to spread truth and information throughout her building. She knew that residents like herself, especially those without access to the internet, had a right to know what was going on in their community and the outside world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n