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Elders, youth share meeting space and love
Patricia Enborg
The Gazette
Thursday, July 17, 2008
What began as a simple series of workshops for seniors living in the Cloverdale area of Pierrefonds has led to a unique relationship with Youth Unlimited, a non-profit youth organization.
About a year ago, Diane Doonan, a Community Organizer for Catholic Community Services, was giving seniors information sessions about local health and social services.
She recalled how one person told her they were having so much fun at these meetings, they wanted to form their own group and wanted to know if she could help them organize it.
She agreed to do so and, for a long time, a small group of seniors met in local restaurants. That was until Youth Unlimited offered them space for free in their centre (the former Resto-Vie community kitchen) last January. Reverend Asmick Jean-Jacques, who runs Youth Unlimited, saw it as an opportunity “to connect the two generations; the young and the elders.”
To show their appreciation for the free meeting space, the seniors help with Youth Unlimited’s lunch program. They take turns cooking and serving the young kids who take part in the lunch program and then clean up after they’re finished. It’s an arrangement that has worked out well for all concerned.
“It’s fun. I enjoy it very much,” said retiree Theresa Wilk of Pierrefonds who has been coming to the centre since February.
“These kids, all they’re looking for is love. They don’t see the age of the people. They just see that hey, this is a lady maybe 80 years old, 70 years old, but this lady cares because here she comes and cooks a meal for me. That means a lot for these kids,” Jean-Jacques said.
He added that the youth centre runs a number of programs to try to help the kids, many of whom come from single-parent, low-income families. In addition to running breakfast and lunch programs, Youth Unlimited offers a life skills workshop. “We don’t only want to just feed them. We really want to instill values into these kids,” Jean-Jacques said. He added they’ll use a win by the Canadiens as a basis for discussion.
“The values would be determination and perseverance.”
For Doonan, the arrangement with Youth Unlimited has given otherwise isolated seniors a place to go nearby without them having to worry about transportation to some other facility.
The seniors’ group meets there on Thursday mornings. They have access to computers for lessons if they’re interested.
They might do arts and crafts, play board games or do something that someone in the group might suggest.
“It’s very spontaneous. Spontaneity is the key here,” according to Doonan. “Our primary concern is to help people build their social networks and to make activities available to everybody.” The activities are free.
It has worked well for Wilk. “We all chat. It’s nice. We’re all on friendly terms. We make everybody comfortable.”
For more information about the seniors’ group, you can call Diane weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 514-770-8416. For more information about Youth Unlimited, call 514-676-0761 or visit www.montrealyouthunlimited.org