Building Resilience by Building Common Ground in a Pandemic

Alejandra Elox-Marquez joined the Northwest Center (formerly Northwest Side Housing Center) in Chicago, in 2020. She completed both the NWC’s Women Forward Program, a self-empowerment program for Latinas; as well as NWC’s Adelante program in Digital Literacy for workforce development. After completing those programs, she was hired as part of NWC’s newly formed Older Adult Outreach (OAO) Team, which was formed to help connect older adults shut in due to COVID-19 restrictions to the resources and income supports they need to sustain them throughout the pandemic. Alejandra was promoted to the new position of Older Adult Program Manager in 2021, based at the Kelvyn Park Senior Center, and currently manages all programs and activities based at the center as well as our Ready, Set, Bank online banking program; and the Common Ground Program. She has been instrumental in the growth and development of the Common Ground program to make it more racially equitable for Latinx older adults. Alejandra also serves on the Local School Council at Mary Lyon Elementary School in Belmont Cragin, where she and her family live.

Judith A. Kent, Ph.D. is Associate Professor and faculty in the community psychology doctoral and psychology bachelors’ programs at National Louis University in Chicago. Previously, she had lived in Florence, Italy for seven years and taught English as a foreign language. Returning to the United States, she taught English as a second language at NLU for many years. Serving as a community outreach representative in the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago led to her pursuit of a doctoral degree in community psychology. Language, culture, and identity is one focus of her research, specifically their correlation with persistence through higher education among Latinx emerging adults. In 2018, Kent spent a sabbatical as Visiting Professor at Universita’ di Firenze, working with Italian community psychologists in the Dipartimento di Scienze della Formazione e Psicologia engaged in community research and action for psychosocial well-being. Currently a research consultant for Resilient Belmont Cragin Community Collaborative (RBCCC), Kent is also a member of the RBCCC Steering Committee. She conducts research and training and has published on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and community resilience with a specific cultural focus.

Linda Peters currently serves in the newly created position of Director of Older Adult Programs at the Northwest Center (NWC) in Chicago (formerly the Northwest Side Housing Center). In that role, she also serves as Site Director for the Kelvyn Park Senior Center, which the NWC has operated since 2019 after receiving a grant from the Department of Family Support Services of the City of Chicago. Since the NWC has taken over the Kelvyn Park Senior Center, attendance has increased over 40%. Previous to that position, she served as Director of Development for the NWC for three years. She has presented twice at the annual conference of the National Council on Aging (NCOA) to share about the NWC?s innovative program, ?Common Ground? which includes intergenerational engagement and digital training for older adults. Linda is also pursuing a doctorate degree in Higher Education Leadership from National Louis University in Chicago. She holds a master?s degree in Theological Studies from Providence College and a bachelor?s degree in American and British Literature from Brown University.