"I have a dream." Martin Luther King's iconic speech is remembered each year on the third Monday in January, and although this year looked different, the tradition remains important. Residents of Friendship Village have dreams, too, and shared them in honor of MLK Day. A hall connecting two of the community's independent living buildings was designated as the Hall of Dreams. Decorated with famous inspirational sayings of Dr. King, the hall also had photos of residents holding signs identifying their own dreams. 

MLK Day has always been important to the residents. Dr. King's quote, “Life's most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'” inspired the residents to volunteer every MLK Day for five years to honor Dr. King. “I came up with the idea for our residents to pack sack lunches with a note of inspiration. These at first were given to the homeless, but then we decided to give them to other senior communities in need. It became known as Seniors Serving Seniors," said Jeannette Magdaleno, manager of lifelong learning. "But with the onset of COVID, we were not able to continue this year. I decided to have residents post their dreams on display in a public area at Friendship Village. Our activity coordinator, Amanda De La Matta, found the idea online. I added posters of inspirational quotes by Dr. King to create the Hall of Dreams."

"Staff and residents who have walked through the Hall of Dreams commented that we need this inspiration and healing so much now. I think the idea we had was simple but effective. We've had so much stress and division; we need time to come together and think about the future in a positive way," Jeannette said.