It seems like everyone on the Near East Side knows Miss Pam.
They greet her with big smiles, which she returns, and compliment her earrings or her hat.
Pamela Shields is known for her big, bright personality and her fashion sense. You might catch her wearing jewel-studded glasses, a bowtie, and a top hat reading "UARC."
UARC stands for Urban Aging Residents Coalition, the group Shields started in 2020 during the first year of the pandemic to bolster Black seniors’ health and wellness.
“We put our chairs in the front yard, because it was August, and my neighbors were like, sure, you can spread them out,” Shields said, describing that first meeting.
What started as 15 seniors eating donated lunches on the lawn has grown into a monthly meeting of 40 to 50 people and what members call an “information highway.”
The 'information highway'
“She engaged seniors in not only technology, she brings in reading for the children, multi-generational things,” said UARC member Mertice Monroe.
“I was just blown away at the wealth of resources from meals being delivered, people from the Office on Aging, people coming and talking to us about taxes,” said member Deborah Johnson.
Cheryll Leftridge added that local politicians have spoken to the group.
“This stuff is there to help you and to help you keep living,” said Ann Valentine.
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Nan Rone jokes UARC actually stands for “U Are Remarkable Citizens.”
And member Susan Cooper called UARC “a village,” that keeps seniors from becoming too isolated.
“You know, in African literature, we always talk about the village. Everyone's accepted in the village. There’s no strings attached,” Cooper said.
Cooper added that UARC members aren’t in denial. They know they’re up in years.
“I’m old,” Cooper said. “Happy to be old. Happy to be old and alive and able to say that.”
“You know, in African literature, we always talk about the village. Everyone's accepted in the village. There’s no strings attached."- UARC member Susan Cooper
Improving health and extending longevity
Old and alive is exactly what Shields is going for. She got the idea for UARC after attending PACT’s 2019 Near East Side Leadership Academy.
PACT, or Partners Achieving Community Transformation, is a partnership of the city, Ohio State University and the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority. One of its focuses is improving social determinants of health, like financial stability, physical environments, and access to care, on the Near East Side.
“Miss Pam and UARC are doing that very well and we're so proud to support her and we're actually the fiscal sponsor for a lot of the work that they do as well,” said PACT Executive Director Sheldon Johnson.
It was through PACT that Shields learned Black residents were dying faster than their white peers.
“African Americans in this community, the life expectancy would not go beyond age 70,” Shields said. “We were dying two to three times faster than our white counterparts. So needless to say, I took some action and said, 'we've got to do something to change this.'”
Shields herself has hit that 70 mark, and every day she’s helping others do the same, while also having some fun.
“It’s one thing for someone to come with a white coat and say, 'you guys need to give up your sugar,' but it's something else when Miss Pam comes out here with the blinged out cane. This is their neighbor who they know and love, and says, 'let's divorce sugar together,'” Sheldon Johnson said.
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Johnson, of course, is referring to a UARC event where members took sugar to divorce court.
Shields explained that one of the UARC seniors helped develop a “divorce decree.” Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jaiza Page oversaw the “proceedings” in her courtroom.
“Those are the things that we have to do being more creative and looking at means and methods to empower people,” Shields said.
"Our core values are built into wisdom, wellness, and wealth. And we take those three core values and embed them into our community values."- UARC founder Pamela Shields
Mindfulness, connectedness and fun
UARC also focuses on keeping seniors’ minds sharp.
Kathy Wright calls herself the “mom” of the group. She said that stands for “minister of mindfulness.”
“I would open each of the sessions with a brief mindfulness exercise to get us focused and in tune,” Wright said.
Wright is an associate professor at The Ohio State University College of Nursing Center for Healthy Aging and met Shields while conducting research with middle-aged and older adults and caregivers.
“Mindfulness is important because we know that, first off, twice as many, unfortunately, of us who are Black or African American get Alzheimer's disease than any other age group,” Wright said. “We also have a higher incidence of hypertension, and we get that earlier. And we know that some of the things that we can do lifestyle-wise, like controlling our stress, is helpful to reduce our blood pressure and evoke that relaxation response.”
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Another UARC event challenged seniors to read to kids the week of the Ohio State – Michigan football game. The first year, UARC held the BIG Read in the BIG Ohio State Chair at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library. This past football season, they headed to COSI.
“We have two six-foot OSU chairs that we open up and we sit in those chairs, and we read to those children,” Shields said.
Shields’ pet bunny, Baby Bundt Cakes, joined in on the fun. Shields said in two years of the event, UARC seniors have read to hundreds of children. They hope to eventually challenge a group of seniors from the opposing team’s turf to compete against them.
“Now, we have not been able to make any inroads in that state up north, (but) we do it anyway,” Shields said.
Building community
Ben Anthony is the director of community engagement at OSU’s Wexner Medical Center. He worked with UARC on the Big Read. He said health lies not just in medicine, diet and exercise, but in the way that people take care of each other in a community.
“We're so lucky to have partners like Miss Pam and UARC who care and show up. It sounds like a small thing, but it is the most important thing,” Anthony said.
UARC meets at noon on the last Wednesday of the month at OSU Wexner Medical Center’s Healthy Community Center in the former Martin Luther King Jr. Library on East Long Street.
