"Cheung-yu" #01

"While working, I didn't have much opportunity to spend time outside. I rarely had contact with the outside world. I was always focused on my own business, with the burden of a family, so I couldn't afford to be too extravagant or involved in other things.... After retirement, I started coming here to the senior center. It feels like a big family here. It gives us a very warm, very safe feeling.... I came here in 2012, so it's been about ten years."

"Darcy" #08

"Sometimes you feel lonely and it's not because people aren't around, it's just different. Your kids always needed you and now they don't so much and that's kind of hard to get used [to]."

"Sarah" #01

"[I looked forward to retirement] well, sort of. Sort of not, because I knew I'd miss my friends. Yeah."

"April" #18

Location, lack of community, and a non-social neighborhood are all things she struggles with. "Nothing seems to take for me.... My issues are all situational, I think. So if I would resolve those issues, I think I would be okay.... Lack of community. I've never lived in a neighborhood where people don't really wanna know each other. It's an uncomfortable thing for me. And not to know people's names even is weird. It's just very weird. But, yeah, lack of community, that's a big thing. To not have really anybody here to talk to. I have self-imposed isolation. Because I just try to avoid the issues that make me more depressed. And my inability to move forward. I feel like, I feel stuck. I can't, I can't move. So, I know what I want to do, but I can't do it because I can't afford to do it.

"Jacqueline" #07

"Most of us don't have anywhere to go. If we didn't have [the senior center], we wouldn't have nowhere to go. And no contact with people besides just whoever you see at home and when you go out, like doing some shopping or stuff like that. My daughter doesn't like me go shopping by myself, so she says that Walmart is out.... I tried to live within her boundaries because she worries too much. She said, 'Well, you're all I got.' I try to keep her from worrying. I don't want to give her anything to worry about."

"Konnor" #14

"There are a handful of senior centers.... There's one... right down the street, and I've never been. I don't know what it is. One aspect of them is that they open when it's particularly cold for a sustained period of time. And, given the percentage of the population that's aging, it would be great for every community to have a senior center and that that senior center have outreach rather than just having people show up there. The woman across the street, I'm told is in her 90s, and I probably see her maybe go out once a week. So, you know... encouraging more social interaction. I think as we age that drive to do that diminishes, maybe.... [I would be willing to check it out if there was] some outreach and understanding what's there."

"Sarah" #20

Lack of transportation makes it difficult to see family. "My daughter used to live here, and so I spent every day with her and the kids, but now they moved away.... I see him maybe once or twice a month." Her daughter moved to Lake City. "It's a two-hour drive one way, so I told her, I said, because my knees if I drive up there, I gotta stay overnight until the next day. I can't do both ways at once.... It's been okay. It's been trying, but we still talk every day on the phone, so."

"Aimee" #04

"I've found a church.... It's a very open-minded and open-hearted church... intellectually as well as spiritually. I've been able to meet lots of people there.... Like I said at the beginning, I'm transgender female. And there is a resource center here in Dallas that attends to all kinds of different needs. It supplies certain activities that are inclusive for LGBTQAI+ groups of all ages. So, yeah, through the Resource Center and through probably the church that I attend.... I really find a lot of my entertainment as well as social needs. If you think of this world being an ocean, these places are my desert islands that I need to swim towards to survive.... I heard about [the Resource Center] pretty.. recently within the past... two and a half years. But I've been attending the Resource Center physically in a social level since June of last year, 2023."

"Ava" #06

"I have two neighbors, and I have a church member who is 100 years old.... We just try to do whatever we could in the neighborhood for each other, because we're all sitting inside there.... If I'm going to the store, and I ask who needs something from the store, you know, got a ride or something. If I don't have enough money, it's all right. If they don't have enough money, it's all right. If I have enough, I get it."

"Benjamin" #06

"Trying to lose weight and get physically fit. That's one of my goals. And I'm on the Silver Sneakers, and I'm trying to lose weight.... I'm trying to find a gym around here. I wanted one with a pool, because I like to do swimming or exercising in a pool, because it's less strain on your knees and your joints. But there's none here in Forney. The closest one is in Mesquite. And I still might go to it. Because one thing people don't understand about Silver Sneakers programs—and I didn't know about it either until my insurance man told me, 'Hey, you can sign up for more than just one gym through it.' So, it all depends, you know, until you find out what you like.... Silver Sneakers is an exercise program through the insurance plans where they'll pay for your membership and stuff so you can go."

"Bonita" #26

She has made friends in the senior center she attends every weekday. They sometimes see each other in the evenings, have dinner together, and celebrate each other birthdays.

"Diana" #08

People from the senior center will reach out if she does not make an appearance. "It feels pretty good to know that somebody else [cares] about me other than my family. Even some of my friends there, they call me, 'Why are you cutting a bingo today?... We do line dancing too. Yeah, a bunch of old people doing line dancing. We have pretty fun.... That center works with me. 'Cause... when I first got here [my daughter] found... someplace in Terrell, but excuse this expression, she said, 'Ma, that's too ghetto.'"

"Genevieve" #42

"You'll never believe the people you meet in church. Thank god that religion isn't... quite dead yet. It's not as robust as it was 20 years ago, but, like, one church will have lots of kids. And the other church, they're lucky they get eight people. So you meet a lot of people in church."

"Harriet" #08

Her daily routine includes trying her best to help seniors in her community. She notes that many seniors are lonely and enjoys talking to them about their aches and pains while sharing her own experiences. They tell her that chatting with her really helps them. She goes to the grocery store and helps a 90-year-old. She tries to get out as much as she can and calls to check in on the seniors.

"Maxwell" #01

"I don't see anybody throughout the week. I have one best friend, and the only other people I see [are] the people I reach through the Resource Center. I just recently started going there about three or four months ago. So since I've been here for three years, I've pretty much been in my apartment by myself with my dog, and he keeps me sane.... [At the Resource Center] we go around and talk about... our lives,... interests, or questions. It's really good. The people there are very intelligent, sharing lots of different world viewpoints, which helps you look at things in a different way. You know, giving you suggestions on how to address problems or commiserate, like when pets die or friends."

"Robin" #10

"I'd say getting older can be a good thing because they have so... many centers now. The centers are very helpful for seniors growing now.... I think it's two years now. I decided to stop by here, put an application in, and I've been coming ever since. And then I'd be telling other people, I'd say, look, you want to get out the house and do something, just come up here to the Senior Citizen Building. And they have other Senior Citizen Buildings that you can go to, and you learn a lot.... They do crafts, too, and stuff. You know, I don't come on those classes, but I need to start coming, cooking classes. They have a lot going on. So, you know, if you're sitting at home bored, don't have anything to do, come to the Center, you know. So it helps a lot. To learn about these facilities, they help you grow, you know, in your mind, you know, your physical health. They got the equipment and stuff for you to get on here.... I used to get on the treadmill and stuff sometimes."

"Tabitha" #01

She has noticed that her mother is more energized, social, and engaged after attending the senior center. "There's times where she and I might be getting ready to go run some errands or whatnot, just mundane things.... She seems a little bit more energized and kind of what I say, the old mom. How she was in the past. Just more engaged, more present. Some of her medical, you know, affects her. So depression. But just, more happy."

"Yuen" #14

"With people I'm familiar with like close friends, sometimes we would meet up for tea and chat.... We used to meet at Cantonese restaurants before COVID, going to tea houses.... After COVID, many of them moved to other places. Now they're even farther away. Some moved to Staten Island, Long Island, or other places like Coney Island.... So it's not very close. Now, most of my friends are from this [senior] center. Many of my old friends are not near me anymore.... We chat on WeChat.... WeChat is quite good because at least you can contact friends far away. For example, I have a relative in Germany, and sometimes they WeChat me. I don't check WeChat [often], but when I do, I see there's a message, and I find out someone is looking for me. I think it's a good way to stay in touch."