“I thought I was going to a tupperware party, but it was much better than some silly old tupperware. It was a meeting for CEI. And then I fractured my hip and was in a nursing home for seven months. I desperately wanted to walk again and CEI provided everything a person could ask for – at the nursing home, at the hospital and back at my home. Home isn’t easy though, because my hands are very limited, they’re not as strong as they used to be, so laundry and mopping are a real challenge. I have somebody that comes in twice a week. My daughter takes me grocery shopping on Saturday and she pays for the food, and it’s beautiful to have her do that because I’m not sure how I’d be doing without it.”

– Mrs. Peppers, Age 89

In 2000, Mrs. Helen Peppers was diagnosed and treated at Summit Hospital for cancer in her lymph nodes, and again in 2005 for uterine cancer. Nine years ago, Marianne Foster from Oakland Housing Authority invited Helen to attend an open house for the Center for Elders’ Independence PACE program. After joining, Helen needed surgery on her hip which had started to hurt as result of all her radiation treatments and menopause. She spent seven months in a wheelchair while rehabilitating at the MacArthur Nursing Center.