Golden Years – WOMANKIND

This Elder Abuse Awareness Month, Womankind is celebrating the beauty and richness of older adults' Golden Years. Imagine the wealth of knowledge and experience they possess, the things they have witnessed in their decades of life, the history they have lived through. In early June, the world honored the living veterans of the 75th anniversary of D-Day during WWII--all in their 90s!
June is dedicated to raising awareness about elder abuse and the financial exploitation and neglect of older adults. In our direct work with this population, we promote healing, active aging and community engagement. Join us all month in celebrating the golden years of those in our lives and our community. The best is yet to come!

Acts of Kindness

An act of kindness can be the very thing that creates a positive impact and experience for the seniors in our community, including parents and grandparents, who may feel isolated and lonely. Womankind’s Later in Life team is dedicated to lessening this feeling through our activities and programs for older adults. Here are some moments of kindness we've experienced at Womankind.

Portrait Series: What do you think of when you hear "Golden Years?"

Project EngAging is a wellness group for older adult survivors of gender-based violence. Later in Life staff facilitates a safe space to help participants, along with individuals identified as their support networks, to relieve stress and tension by being active. The group helps empower and engage older adults to stay physically active and utilize expressive arts to promote self-expression.
Womankind thanks Bloomingdale's for their generous donation of clothes and accessories for this photo shoot. The women chose their outfits to celebrate their golden years, a special period in their lives. This was an opportunity for everyone to honor their past, while looking forward to an exciting future filled with endless possibilities and hope.
Portraits by Sheng Lin / @chinatownvibes

Just like the women in Project EngAging, the senior women in Womankind's Active-tude group also celebrated their Golden Years with a fashion show, with clothes and accessories generously donated by Bloomingdale's. This activity brought them lots of joy and made them feel youthful.
Active-tude is a Later in Life program for adults over 50, where Womankind provides a platform for them to volunteer in their community. They can be trained to help educate their peers on gender-based violence prevention or they can be a Later in Life program volunteer at a variety of events throughout the year.

Later in Life Program staff does phenomenal work with educating the community on elder and later in life abuse, and especially with engaging older adults. We provide training to a small team of Senior Ambassadors, as well as activities including ballroom dancing, movement exercises, Muay Thai, and expression arts and craft for our different groups.
Participants have expressed how the groups help them feel less isolated and lonely because they look forward to seeing the facilitators every week along with their friends in the group. Previous participants who have attended multiple cycles shared that they’re now willing to travel to all three boroughs just to attend the group.
Womankind was honored to celebrate survivors' Golden Years this Elder Abuse Awareness Month, and we are proud to help them heal from their trauma and violence. As we wrap up this month, thank YOU as well for supporting Womankind and older survivors of gender-based violence.