How older Centre County residents can stay active as weather turns cooler amid COVID-19
Senior-focused organizations around Centre County give the 50-plus crowd opportunities to stay engaged and active this fall and winter. As outdoor activities become less of an option in the colder months, organizations are turning to online and limited in-person options for safe socialization and community engagement.
Brynn Rousselin, director at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Penn State, said the organization began moving many of its offerings online in the spring and is now taking a hybrid approach to its classes and social events.
“It’s really been an amazing journey for us. Mid-March came and the university decided to cancel all in-person programming, in particular for our audience, given their demographic. Within weeks, we pivoted and we were teaching our members to use Zoom, so we could prepare them to move all of our courses online, or as many as we possibly could,” she said. ”We ended up providing, in April, 17 courses on all different topics, just to get people acclimated to Zoom. Over the summer ... we offered 40 courses online, plus multiple social events online. ... This fall, we’re offering 100 programs, and it’s a combination; we’re officially back to a hybrid approach.”
OLLI, which has locations at the University Park and York campuses, offers membership-based programming for adults aged 50 and up to learn and grow via classes, social events and special interest groups.
“What I really think is special about OLLI is that we say it’s for the love of learning. There are no grades or assignments or tests involved. It’s truly enjoying learning for the sake of learning,” Rousselin said.
This fall, the 1,200 OLLI members who call Centre County home can join both in-person programming at the OLLI location in the Outreach Building at Innovation Park, and online and hybrid classes.
“For the people who are eager and anxious to get back to person-to-person interaction, because they feel isolated and alone, they’re able to start joining us for in-person programming. Then we have a larger majority of programs happening online; some of them are a true hybrid, with people in the classroom and online at the same time,” Rousselin said.
In order to keep members safe this fall, the OLLI staff has implemented strict guidelines.
“We require all members to conduct a self health assessment. ... We are requiring face masks at all times, indoors and outdoors, at any of our programs. We’ve purchased quite a bit of cleaning supplies,” Rousselin said. “We are wiping down surfaces before and after every course that happens in-person. We have enhanced our check-in process. A member of our staff checks everyone in and ensures all the guidelines are followed. We’re also reducing the number of handouts. We’re trying to reduce touch points for people.”
The Centre County Retired & Senior Volunteer Program is taking similar precautions. RSVP connects adults 55 and older with nonprofit organizations throughout the county, to both offer seniors ways to engage with the community as well as connect local nonprofits with much-needed volunteers.
Though RSVP works with 70 nonprofit partners, coordinator Brenda Reeve said many of these partners aren’t quite up to working with volunteers yet, which is just one of the reasons RSVP is steering senior volunteers to two of its remote volunteering options: the Nexus Pen Pal Program and the VITA volunteer tax preparation program.
“The fabric of volunteering has completely changed,” Reeve said. “RSVP is looking into the future and how to meet the changes of our community.”
For the Nexus Pen Pal Program, Reeve said, “We have about 800 students in the Bald Eagle Area School District, pre-K through fifth grade, (who participate).” Seniors write one letter to entire classes, pre-K through second grade, then individual letters to students in third through fifth grades. “It’s at all the elementary schools — Howard, Wingate, Port Matilda and Snow Shoe.”
With the VITA program, volunteers become IRS-certified, and there’s no need for an accounting background, just computer knowledge. From there, RSVP acts as a go-between, ferrying tax information between individual filers using the service and the volunteer tax preparers, to lessen risk of exposure.
Reeve stressed the importance RSVP holds for both area volunteers and seniors. “With all the budget cuts and everything else going on in the community, our community really needs volunteers at this time, but volunteering also gives the volunteers a sense of belonging in the community, and a sense of staying active. It may not be on-site, but it still lets the community know that seniors are here and we’re here to help nonprofits grow.”
Rousselin also emphasized the importance of community and belonging for seniors as we look into the fall and winter months. “With COVID, (there) is the chance that we could fall into isolation and loneliness when we’re not connected to a greater community. OLLI provides an opportunity (for seniors) to connect to their peers — other people who are likely retired, but still curious and eager to learn, and looking to build relationships and connections with other seniors in the area. OLLI is a great way to do that.”
More information about OLLI memberships can be found at olli.psu.edu. Rousselin also encourages potential members to call the OLLI office, at 867-4278. “We’re a very hands-on organization, so if they have questions or want more information, we’re very happy to chat with them if they call our office.”
Reeve also encourages those interested in volunteer opportunities to call the RSVP office, at 355-6816. “We’re willing to sit down with anyone looking for their volunteer niche in the community. That’s what we’re here for. ... We’re here to help them, both the volunteer and the nonprofit partners, meet and make a perfect match.”