Launched in November 2022, the Senior Socialization program at Nellie’s is one of the newest ways that we’re continuing to look outside our shelter walls and be a force for change in our community. The program was born out of a need to provide further support and connection for the seniors living in our community, most of whom we connected with through our food program. Amanda Nobile, our Community Support & Outreach program coordinator who runs the food program, began to notice that many of the older women who were visiting our food program every week were very lonely and isolated — a situation that worsened with the pandemic.
“We noticed that even though the food program doesn’t open until 12:30pm, a lot of them would come by around 10am to just hang out,” says Amanda. “It became a place for them to socialize with each other and make some friends in their community. So we wanted to expand on that because we saw that it was definitely a need for them.”
From there, the Nellie’s team applied to, and ultimately received funding from, a New Horizons for Seniors grant, which aims to promote healthy aging through the development of community supports for seniors. Our goal is to increase both educational and social programming for seniors to reduce social isolation.
The true highlight of the program has been group trips to Toronto attractions, such as the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and Ripley’s Aquarium. “We’ve done quite a few trips now, and they’ve been received so well — the seniors love them!” says Amanda. “I wish I could run them way more often, and every week have somewhere to go, but they’re definitely a lot of work to plan, and it’s hard to get affordable tickets.” We’re incredibly thankful to the ROM, the AGO, and Ripley’s, all of whom have given us either free or heavily discounted tickets.
“I like to pick places where we’re not just socializing and going to have a coffee, but we’re going somewhere that our clients typically wouldn’t be able to afford,” explains Amanda. “A lot of these people have lived in Toronto for their whole lives, and many of them are immigrants who came to Toronto and have lived here for the past 20-30 years, and they’ve never been able to visit these major Toronto attractions because they can’t afford it.”
Amanda explains that typically the group will do a one-hour tour together, and then if they want to stay and explore the rest of the attraction, they can do so on their own or in smaller groups or pairings. “It’s really sweet to see them pair off with someone that they just met, and ask if they want to go to an exhibit together, or go grab a coffee, or travel back to the east end together,” says Amanda. “They start pairing off and making friends, which is the whole point of the program. Seeing that actually work has been really heartwarming.”
The educational part of the program focuses on digital literacy, which originated as group workshops and has now transitioned into private or semi-private tutoring sessions, where senior women can bring their device and get all their questions answered in a supportive environment. “This has been even more impactful than the more broad workshops,” explains Amanda. “We’ve had seniors that love it and keep coming back, and they’re super excited to have this space where they can expand their learning opportunities.”
Another element of the program has been a bi-weekly yoga class, run by an amazing teacher named Kristen who has volunteered her time as an instructor. A core group of approximately 20 participants attend each session, where they focus on breathwork and light stretching in a very mindful practice catered to the seniors’ abilities.
As the Senior Socialization program expands, Amanda plans to still feature special trips, but she’s also hoping to start up a weekly or bi-weekly seniors drop-in, providing the women with somewhere to go on a regular basis to meet people and socialize more often. These drop-in meetings would also allow Nellie’s to meet more of the community’s needs, by bringing in experts or hosting sessions that they specifically request, such as a financial expert during tax season, or running a games day or a movie night.
“The participants are always asking me: ‘what’s the next thing? When can we get together again?’” explains Amanda. “I want to be able to provide them with a space where they can come if they have any issues or just want to meet new friends, and we will do our best to be able to provide that through the drop-in program.”
