Card Making for Seniors: Hundreds Served

Here at the MAH we are always so proud and grateful to help connect our guests of all ages and backgrounds with the seniors and caregivers in our community.

As many would remember, last April we debuted our second Community Issue exhibition, We're Still Here: Stories of Seniors & Social Isolation. This motivated the 52,300+ people who enjoyed the exhibition to complete over 7,645 volunteer actions that would support older adults in our community. And it was my job as Dialogue Catalyst to facilitate brainstorms and events that helped seniors connect with each other, local resources, and the broader Santa Cruz County community.

Since the closure of the exhibition and the announcement of it traveling to other California Counties, we've stayed in contact with our partners and new friends. Which brings us to our current moment. When COVID hit Santa Cruz County, we knew the Shelter in Place order would be impacting our local seniors and caregivers pretty hard.

To try and send some smiles their way, last Friday we hosted a virtual card making event over Zoom. We had 40 people sign up to make cards together, share inspiration, show off their progress, give compliments, and take a moment to spread some joy. Many people wore purple to celebrate the flowers of spring. There was even a spontaneous dance party. The most important part was that people felt connected and engaged in the process of being together to make loving and grateful cards for seniors and caregivers in our community.