Although Las Nanas, an association of Hispanic grandmothers, recently lost its funding for community service projects due to city budget cutbacks, the organization continues to by provide support for Hispanic women who have lost their husbands or are living alone.
Despite its name, Las Nanas, or The Grandmothers, being a grandmother is not necessary to join this non-profit organization that focuses on providing a safe and nurturing way for older women to improve the quality of their lives through emotional support, nutrition and exercise.
Gloria Peña founded las Nanas in 1995 following the death of her husband. With help from her friend Rita Otera and her sister Carmen Garcia, Peña reached out to other Hispanic women. Today, Las Nanas has 25 members.
“Las Nanas is a group of women who come together for a time of sharing ideas, friendship, learning experiences, to develop individual gifs and talents, and to motivate each other,” Garcia said. “The Las Nanas vision is to use each and every nana’s individual talents to develop their social, spiritual and nutritional needs.”
Las Nanas meet every Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the Rose Family Resource and Wellness Center, 710 W. Michigan St. and usually start their meeting with an exercise session led by a promotora (community health worker).
“I bring my stereo and lead the women in fun exercises designed to help their movement, balance, flexibility and strength,” said Nan Rolling, a teacher from St. Elizabeth Health Center. “This is a group of nanas that loves to dance. They are so welcoming and I always look forward to my sessions with them.”
Rolling also gives the nanas general health and nutrition information each week.
“It’s important for them to know how to strengthen their bodies and maintain healthy bones,” she said.
The group also does art activities led by fellow nana and instructor Norma Wells. Wells always has new and creative activities for the nanas each week. “One week we made doll soap dishes, and another week we made little angel pins,” she said.
One of the newest additions to the group, Adelina Aguilar, said she loves the activities of Las Nanas. “Part of our vision is to organize our group in order for us to be able to help our community in a broader sense,” she said.
In the past, Las Nanas received funding from the Tucson Unified School District to pay for the women’s bus rides to area schools where they would help underprivileged children with reading, and bring them presents at Christmas.
“Growing up is really tough for minorities who often don’t receive enough motivation and support to succeed,” Garcia said. “Our work with the schools gave as much meaning to our members as it did to the children they helped.”
Even though Derechas Humanos honored Las Nanas in 2004 with the Corazon de Justicia Award for dedication in the struggle for justice and human rights in their community, the poor economy has caused the school district to cut their funding.
“We really miss the visits but are now looking for other ways to help the community,” Garcia said.
In the meantime, Las Nanas has focused on providing support to its members. A weekly one-hour meeting is open to all the nanas.
“This is a safe place for us to uplift, encourage, learn, and support one another,” Aguilar said.
Garcia summed up what Las Nanas means to its members saying, “I don’t know what I would have done without the Nanas. I lost my husband 15 years ago, and I don’t think I would have been able to go on without Las Nanas.”
