Friendship From YMCA Helping Colorado Seniors Manage Coronavirus
DENVER (CBS4) - The YMCA of Metro Denver engages its senior members each week during the COVID-19 pandemic by creating virtual experiences that include formal classes and casual sessions for conversation. Members say it is an important part of their routine staying healthy and stimulated mentally and emotionally.
"It was my home away from home, it was my second family, everyone was so welcoming," Carolyn Bamford, a YMCA member said Wednesday. "Having that social connection between the people that are just near and dear to my heart and it's meant the world to me and hopefully it has to them as well."
Bamford joined in 2014 after retiring as a teacher. She loved maintaining a fit lifestyle but enjoyed the new friends she made even more. Since the coronavirus outbreak, she has been more cautious than most staying home because her husband is compromised. So email interactions with friends and Zoom video conference calls have made up for the new restrictions.
"I can't even imagine what it would be like. I think about that a lot. I'm a real social person," she told CBS4 on a video conference call. "It would be pretty depressing, pretty lonely."
The YMCA started reopening locations in Colorado as policies in Denver and around the state allowed for facilities like gyms to welcome back members. They are closing during the day to clean all surfaces and offering special hours for seniors or compromised members.
"They really wanted to check with each and make sure they were having some kind of social interaction with each other," said Monica Thompson, senior director of community integrated health and lifestyle medicine for YMCA of Metro Denver. "We miss them as much as they miss us."
Thompson says for senior members it's not just about fitness, it is a community that helps them feel connected. So in addition to offering Silver Sneaker classes virtually, they have provided chat sessions where members enjoy a cup of coffee from home and catch up with each other. In some cases, the remote exercise classes lead to conversations that continue on Zoom as if members were sitting around after a workout to chat with each other.
"Quite amazing watching them connect with each other, and check in with each other, make sure each other is doing well," Thompson told CBS4 on a video conference call Wednesday. "If you boil all of those things down, it really is about transformation, making those connections, making sure that we are available to our community."
While locations are reopening, the virtual programming will continue for members not ready to return in person. As a community-based nonprofit, Thompson says these types of services fit into their strategic plan to not only transform individuals but also groups living and working together.
"I know that's in my future, I just don't know how soon, I can't wait to get back," Bamford said. "Having that opportunity to be able to really see each other eye-to-eye and just been pretend we're at 'The Y' when we're not, has been wonderful."
