In recognition of their contributions to community building and healthy aging, Fowler and Smith were among 27 seniors from throughout California to receive a "California Senior Leaders/Healthy Aging Award" from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and the California Wellness Foundation.

During the two-day event, participants were connected with UC Berkeley School of Public Health graduate students, who will check in with them monthly for a year to learn from their experiences and arrange technical assistance as needed on their community building projects.

Fowler, 77, co-founded Lavender Seniors a decade ago to provide support for older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Shel also serves on the board of Operation Concern, recently renamed the New Leaf LGBT Counseling Center and Outreach to Elders.

"The intergenerational component of the program is one of its biggest assets," said Marty Martinson, a graduate student who directs the project. "Student participants will learn at least as much as the seniors, and they'll be learning from the masters."

Richie Smith, who arrived from Oklahoma in 1949, has volunteered in the Berkeley schools for 40 years. Smith is a founding member of the Alcatraz Avenue Neighborhood Association, and part of the West Berkeley Community Action Team. Smith also is active in the Women's Cancer Resource Center's Sister-to-Sister Program, providing in-home help and transportation to other cancer survivors.

"Not only have seniors been called our only expanding natural resource," UC Professor Meredith Minkler, who developed the project, said. She points out that it's solidly based in research. "But we now have strong scientific studies showing that active engagement with life is one of the most important contributors to a healthy old age. A project like this one can both honor seniors for their invaluable contributions, and, by supporting them in this work, hopefully contribute to their own healthy aging as well."