When my mother-in-law Hilary, a long-time Ashby Village member, told me the Village was recruiting new Board members and suggested I apply, the idea seemed reasonable.
Even though I’m 62 years old, I grew up surrounded by older people. I was an only child and my parents and I lived in a duplex on Martin Luther King Jr. Way (it was Grove Street then) and Ashby Avenue – my grandparents lived in the downstairs unit. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother, who I called Mom, and her friends. I consider Mom my pal. I always felt like I could be my full self around her.
My mother-in-law had talked about Ashby Village for years and invited my husband Jon and me to some Ashby Village events she thought we’d enjoy. Hilary has lived in Berkeley for decades and said Ashby Village didn’t reflect the diversity of the community. She thought there were many older people in the East Bay who could benefit from Ashby Village’s resources.
Bringing My Perspective
She definitely thought my perspective as a woman of color would be valuable. Besides that, I think my work experience can also be a resource. It’s been a year since I’ve joined the Board and I haven’t quite found my niche yet but I’m observing and listening.
In my career, I do a lot of restorative justice work and so I’m very clued into how people engage and communicate. I’ve worked in education since the late 1990s, first as a volunteer with an after-school program run by a Baptist church and Jewish synagogue. For 10 years, I worked as Director of the Law Academy program at McClymonds High School where I learned about restorative justice. I’ve worked in Piedmont and Vallejo for the past seven years with both adults and children teaching restorative justice practices.
Some of my work involves teaching people how to create circle communities. The idea is to go through the specific steps of a restorative circle to give people the space, time and opportunity to communicate in a deep authentic way. It’s value based; you have to prepare the people; and they have to take responsibility if the circle is being used to repair harm. I typically use circles to build community and also to repair harm when a misdeed occurs. This process with young people is remarkable. They learn to become circle keepers. When they do it for each other, it’s like magic.
It’s a little harder with adults. We learn how to mask our hurt. We put up a lot of walls. We don’t foster taking responsibility as a culture. But when people are willing and you provide the space and time, it’s amazing what people can do to create communities and come up with solutions.
Getting to Know Ashby Village
Since I’ve joined the Ashby Village Board, I’ve been trying to figure out what my best fit is for the variety of work we do here. It’s been a little difficult since most interaction has been on Zoom and I’m so used to working with groups.
I’ve been working with the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work group. We’ve done a lot of talking and thinking about how to begin this work. I’m very action oriented and I’m ready to be involved in moving forward with some concrete action, while proceeding cautiously. Laura Peck, the DEI coordinator, and I have talked about doing interview sessions with young people interviewing older people.
When I think about my grandparents and their friends, the people in their church in Berkeley and my father’s long-time involvement In Berkeley’s senior centers, I know there are collaborations and relationships we can form with older people in the in the East Bay who need Ashby Village’s resources and who look like me and my family. I’ve been talking to fellow Board member Bryan Ricks about how to expand the reach of the village. I look forward to working on that.
Ina Bendich was born and brought up in the Bay Area. She attended St. Joseph the Worker school, Presentation High School, St. Mary’s College and Cal State Hayward, where she received a degree in fine arts. She also attended New College School of Law where she received a JD, and USF School of Education where she received a teaching credential in Social Science and Masters in Teaching Education and Social Justice. After more than 20 years in financial services, she transitioned to education and worked for a decade with McClymonds High and for the past seven years in Piedmont and Vallejo doing restorative justice work with high school students and their families. She lives in Berkeley with her husband. Her son and daughter are away at college.