Ashby Village greets the New Year in its new Thousand Oaks location at 1821 Catalina Ave, Berkeley CA. September’s devastating fire left Berkeley’s First Congregational Church, our six-year host at the Durant Avenue location, desperately in need of office space. Thanks to the vigorous community effort of Ashby Village members, volunteers, and friends, we were able to meet our goal to return the Durant Ave. space to First Church by the end of December.
There are many people to thank for in this effort. In particular, Ari Rokeach, Real Estate Advisor at Newmark Cornish & Carey, who searched for prospective office locations; Richard Shapiro, Farella Braun + Martell, LLC, who provided legal advice; Linda Jacobs, for project assistance; and Ashby Village member Charlie Schad, who introduced Executive Director Andy Gaines to Rev. Titus Vu, minister at Thousand Oaks Baptist Church, and facilitated a conversation about their organizations’ shared vision for purposeful aging, support, and community service. As Rev. Titus. 75, put it, “We were on the same wave length.”
Thousand Oaks Baptist Church has a small, diverse congregation noted for supporting numerous community outreach efforts. Rev. Titus, minister there since 1985, was born in Shanghai, China immigrated to Hong Kong at 15, later to British Columbia, and finally to Berkeley. He has worked as a teacher, academic, and minister. Rev. Titus says that Ashby Village is an important ally in meeting the needs of an aging population, a mission that is “always where my heart is.”
Ashby Village’s new office space is adjacent to the church’s Julia Morgan Hall and offers plenty of space for Ashby Village’s burgeoning calendar of events and activities. We have access to conference rooms, meeting space, a garden, and a full working kitchen.
Village Members were quick to lend a hand in preparing our new space. Thanks go out to all who participated in the three-day “Hearts N’ Hands in Reverse” effort to ready us for the move. Volunteers helped with demolition, IT configuration, repair, cleaning, painting, packing and unpacking.
The new Thousand Oaks site will be ready for business in January and will be the site for the January 5 Happy Hour at 4 p.m. Plans for an Open House are underway