Raised in Cuba, Ruth was used to being active and using her voice. Her daughter worried her voice would get her in trouble or possibly jail so moved Ruth from her home country to Canada as a Cuban refugee to be with her daughter and stay out of the way of those who wanted her to keep quiet.
In 2021, Ruth and her family moved to Lynn from Canada. Her daughter works 2 jobs and is very busy. Ruth loved their new home and neighborhood but was bored, “I sat in the house watching Netflix while my daughter was working. I didn’t know anyone or where I could find things that I liked to do.”
Ruth’s daughter was not going to let her mom just sit in the house. To Ruth’s dismay, she connected Ruth with the local senior center. Ruth pushed back on going to the senior center: “I did not want to be around old people. After I gave the center a chance, I realized there were not OLD people there. There were people just like me—full of life with still a lot to give.”
It was at the center Ruth first heard about Mass Senior Action Council, “I noticed the group in blue shirts sharing important information and working together to make seniors’ lives better.”
Ruth shared why she joined MSAC, “Many times old people are thrown to the side for babysitting or forgotten about. At MSAC we can make things right for seniors and I want to help. I want to do something about the issues, not accept this is how it must be.”
Ruth is bilingual and joined with another active Spanish-speaking person attending the senior center. They both went to the Fall convention, recruiting others to join and plugging people into the local action. When asked what she liked about the MSAC convention, Ruth said, “I loved all the people coming together. It was great to see everyone there for the same purpose. I absolutely loved the words of the person who started the convention. She (Edna Pruce) told us what we won and gave us hope to win more in the future. I love that it is not just in Lynn but seniors working all over to build our people power.”
In November, noticing their energy, chapter members nominated Ruth and Griceldis to the chapter board. Long time members look forward to adding their people power, experience, and language skills to the leadership team. Both Ruth and Griceldis are ready to take charge with MSAC.