When I retired and moved to a new house in a new town, I spent the first year on organizing the house and learning where to shop for groceries and where to get basic services.Then I had planned to try to meet new friends and build a social life. Then the pandemic hit and I isolated at home and didn't look to socialize. Now however, the isolation is getting tedious and I would like to make new friends, but haven't found opportunities or places dedicated to senior socializing in Southwest Indiana. If you have been in a similar circumstance and found ways to meet new seniors, I would appreciate your advice.
Welcome to the forum, @Rose Flowers ! I love your beautiful avatar, too. I think that most of us felt some degree of isolation when we were put into the lockdown everywhere. Where is the new town where you are living at now, and do you like the area ? I think that it always takes a while to learn your way around a new place. I was lucky when we moved here to Alabama, and I met a lady at a yard sale, and we became great friends. She had lived here forever, so she helped me to learn my way around town, and where to shop for groceries. I am one of the greeters here, so if you have any questions that I can help you with, just message me (called conversation on this forum). We also have an introduction area at the top of the forum under the Notices and Announcements section if you would enjoy telling us a little more about where you are at and things that you do for fun, etc.
I live in Southwest Indiana surrounded by all the amenities and necessities I need for physical comfort and I like the area. The lack of senior socializing opportunities seems to be a problem for people all over the country. Senior Centers sponsored by tax dollars seem to be focused only on meals for seniors and social services for children and adults with disabilities and are located in areas not convenient to most seniors.
Hey, Rose. I used to do stuff with groups on Meetup.com when I first moved to this area in 2010. You sign up for a free account, then you search for groups in your area by subject of interest. Groups are established by people like you & I to attract those of a common interest. Some groups may charge a small fee to defer costs, while many do not (the main Meetup umbrella charges to host the groups on their site.) Groups are independent of the main organization, who really only manages the hosting website. The groups here were pretty informal: someone would plan a get-together or a member would toss out an idea, and if you wanted to attend you informally signed up mostly for headcount purposes then just showed up. When the pandemic hit, most of the stuff went "virtual," but it's loosening up. There are groups of all sorts of interests, from dining out (lunch/dinner), books, hiking, theatre, board games, etc. You can filter your search by a bunch of factors, I used to participate a lot more than I do now because I worked in a small city where events were plentiful and am now retired in a rural area. It may be a launching point for you. You could also see if there is a non-profit center for aging and call them for advice. That may be a senior center, or it may be a non-profit that provide general advice and support for folks like us. By way of example, JABA is the one for my region. Such a group may know someone who knows someone etc etc who could give you advice. I'd just start calling senior centers and asking for guidance. I used to live in Crawfordsville, but that was in the early 60s, so I can't help too much with local specifics.
John, I’ll have to take note of that group. Nothing here in rural NYS for geezers. If I get to Florida I’ll need it then too.
I really enjoyed the stuff I did with them. It was nice for someone else to arrange a get-together at a restaurant so I could just show up and socialize with folks over a meal, or go watch a movie with a group and go out afterwards. I should sign up for some of the hiking stuff...start off with "Easy" and work my way up.
Hi Rose and welcome. I can't help with your questions but you can certainly socialize with us! Happy New Year.
I have often moved to new places where I didn't know anyone, but I have never isolated myself so the situation was much different. I would meet people through work, church, or other places.
Whenever I inquire about ways elder seniors can make new friends in a new town, most people feel compelled to suggest the local Senior Citizens Center or government Council on Ageing. even though they themselves have never made friends there. The senior center in our area only does meals on wheels. They have no programs that facilitate seniors meeting each other. They have a room where seniors can play cards, but you must bring your own cards and friends to play with.
Our senior center has all kinds of programs and room for people to enjoy visiting with each other, as well as providing meals. However, the parking lot is always completely packed as early as 8AM each day; so I have not made much effort to go there. With all of the social distancing, probably a lot fewer people are going there, as well as the local churches, and other places where you might meet new friends. If you have facebook, you might look for local facebook groups for your town. We have several for Huntsville, some for specific things, and some for just what is going on here. If there is a craft place (like Hobby Lobby or Michael’s) they often have free classes for making some kind of crafts, and you could meet new people that way. I really enjoy facebook groups, and I belong to several from north Idaho where I am from, as well as ones about topics that I am interested in, like ancient people, Tartaria, and some of the lost history groups. I have not made any friends from the groups, but I do enjoy reading what is posted there. You might have to end up with online friends for a while, which is kind of what we are doing right now.
I think senior centers differ from place to place. The senior center here in Millinocket is more of a place for people to drop their senile grandparents off for the day, sort of a babysitting place for seniors who can't be trusted to be alone, and that's pretty much what the senior center was in Texas when I lived there, although I have come across several senior centers around the country which, at least from their websites, seem to function as more of a place where someone might be able to meet someone who would still be capable of remembering them the next time they met.