The infrastructure recommendations above are fundamental in addressing inequity.
These steps would alleviate identified challenges for all involved with SU-CASA, but they are particularly important for senior centers and cultural organizations that are smaller, that have fewer resources, or that are newer to SU-CASA and creative aging. These steps are also particularly important for teaching artists who have less stable income and those for whom English is not their first language.
In addition to the infrastructure recommendations:
- Ensure that senior centers and other senior-serving organizations that have not applied for SU-CASA before, or that have not been granted a program, receive information and technical assistance at application time so they can take advantage of the opportunity.
- Develop and provide technical assistance to organizations that lack the necessary capacity (such as through partnering with a more experienced organization, tighter connection with an arts council or cultural organization, or referral to a supporting organization).
- Provide additional funding for supplies to allocate to organizations that lack the resources to implement a proposal (for example, centers without a computer or a piano keyboard).
- Allow exceptions to the requirement that SU-CASA programs be conducted on the senior center premises when the center has space or resource constraints (for example, permitting a singing class to be held at a nearby church if the center lacks a piano). This would allow centers to forge beneficial partnerships with other organizations.
Bringing SU-CASA and Creative Aging into the City Arts Ecosystem