Coverage of aging is supported in part by AARP Arizona
Earlier this year, the city of Chandler launched a new program aimed at supporting older adults. It’s called Golden Neighbors, and it's flourishing — just in time for the holidays.
Golden Neighbors works like a hub.
"And so the idea came about how we can connect our senior citizens with some of the resources that are available and how we could create more resources and a place for them to find the resources," said Priscilla Quintana, the neighborhood program administrator for the city of Chandler.
And those resources are the spokes. So if an older adult needs help with food shopping, they can contact Golden Neighbors. To date, Golden Neighbors has hosted seven community events and served almost 200 people to date.
"t's also about giving them an opportunity to connect with other senior citizens, who are experiencing similar challenges, or just a place to connect with others, a place to meet new friends, new neighbors, and to share life experiences."
Quintana says Golden Neighbors was inspired by her father, who had cancer.
"And we would often see senior citizens who were sitting in the chemo room receiving treatment by themselves and my sister and I would always think, how awful would it be for our dad to have to sit there alone."
And since many older adults are aging alone, Golden Neighbors is hosting a holiday celebration on Dec. 15.
