Farewell to manuela
Story by Karin Evans, photo by Richard Bermack
“Ashby Village has been like a big family to me,” says Manuela Pegoraro, the Village’s departing Community Engagement Manager. “I feel like I have tons of grandparents and parents, members on the younger side and on the older side. People are always dropping by and saying hello and giving me a hug and a kiss and talking about whatever is happening in their lives. It makes it so intimate.”
“I feel very sad and very excited at the same time,” says Manuela. But Jerusalem, the city she loves, and new opportunities, are calling, and she and her husband plan to leave Berkeley at the end of June. “I’ll probably be working in cultural heritage, close to what I was doing before,” she says, adding that she is in discussions with a couple of organizations.
Manuela brought great enthusiasm as well as multiple talents to her position at Ashby Village—gifts for organization and innovation and personal connection. As Gerry Abrams put it, “Manuela speaks the language of people.” And Bill French liked the way she tried to organize the neighborhood group meetings. “I appreciated what you were trying to do.”
Manuela had never worked in human services before, but was intrigued by Ashby Village when she first heard about it. “It triggered my interest and it seemed to make total sense to me that there would be something like this.”
Manuela feels that Ashby Village is a bit like the organic villages that once were the norm in her native Italy, where everybody was part of the social fabric. “Nowadays,” she says, “in Italy, people are either lucky to have a house and be healthy, or else they go into assisted living. There’s no hybrid model.”
Manuela can look back on a number of accomplishments, changes, and events during her time at Ashby Village. The open house for the Reframing Aging exhibit was a high point for her. “It was well attended, a full house, and there was super positive energy. It really turned out well.”
Behind the scenes, she’s worked with the village leadership to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of various activities, and she’s excited about the new pilot just launched, the Member Engagement Team. “It’s made up of volunteers who proactively reach out to members to make sure they’re getting the most out of the village, to answer questions, to suggest ways to connect.”
“I’m grateful for everything,” she says, “staff, board members, the program leadership team, volunteers. I’ve worked so closely with people who are so smart and generous, and in this amazing world I created some very deep connections.”
Manuela worked primarily with Andy Gaines and Pat Carvalho, and says, “Andy is one of the best bosses I have ever had. We worked so well with each other. And Pat and I complemented each other perfectly, too. We are so different and yet so well integrated. It’s amazing. There is no stress here. The work piles up, but it’s different from my experience in other jobs. Here, we are just busy and I wish there were 48 hours in a day. But there’s no emotional stress ever. This has been so healthy for me, coming from environments where politics and negative emotions were going on.”
And yet, she says, so many people always took time to ask how Manuela herself was doing. “I was told I was working too much. I never got that in my previous experience!
“The members are amazing,” she adds. “They are just so energetic they don’t stop. They never say, I can’t do this anymore, it’s more like, what can I do? They are all models, just incredible, in terms of the intellectual, emotional, and physical energy they bring to the village. They’ve taught me that basically everything is possible if you want to do it.”
Says Andy Gaines, “Manuela has been an extraordinary gift to our Village, enabling us to spread our wings and fly in our new home in North Berkeley. Using her strong management and systems approach, she has encouraged members and volunteers to step forward with their creative vision and make things happen. Viva Italiana Manuela! Your contributions will live on and thrive in Ashby Village!”
All of the other Ashby Village staff, members, and volunteers all wish Manuela and her husband well as they depart for Jerusalem.
“We’ve already found an apartment with an amazing view of the old city,” says Manuela. “Everybody is welcome to visit me. I can be the best tour guide in Jerusalem!”
Note: The job opening has been announced and the Ashby Village leadership is working on recruiting a new staff person to fill Manuela’s position. Manuela will keep on working until end June.