By Sridhar Ravikoti
As I walked into the back entrance of St. Pat’s Senior Center I was greeted by a tie-dye wearing, energetic man who seemed much too young to be at a senior center. Jimmie Green quickly introduced himself and made sure that I and my DSO colleagues felt home and welcomed at St. Pat’s, something I feel Jimmie does his best to do with everyone he meets.
As we walked the building, I learned that Jimmie came to St. Pat’s to sing tenor and play harmonica in the gospel choir. Jimmie said he stayed around and got more involved – specifically with digital outreach and education.
We walked around the large computer classroom and Jimmie showed off how proud he was of the work at St. Pat’s but also the outreach to other recreation and residential centers in the city. Being able to help others become digitally connected is something he truly enjoys. His favorite class to teach? Virtual Reality! He likes getting people involved with digital navigation and seeing people light up when they experience VR for the first time. Teaching tech and digital learning makes sense for Jimmie, as he retired from IT work in 2016.
When we talked about his life, Jimmie said he’d spent most of his life in Detroit, listening and playing blues, Motown, and would love to see a Motown dance night come to St. Pat’s. Jimmie also hopes to put the stories of his friends and family at St. Pat’s out in the world through a podcast.
Over our time together I continually heard Jimmie talk about St. Pat’s as his family. He said these are great people and have such a strong connection to each other. There is a sense of the Detroit attitude of “let’s take care of each other” that speaks to him. It’s like being home. Jimmie was also happy to share he’s been married for 45 years with 4 kids, 2 girls and 2 boys.
When he’s not at St. Pat’s, you can find him playing the blues or finding a jam session to join.