Older Americans Month: Communities of Strength
By Ellen Cowell
Botetourt County Libraries and the Local Office on Aging celebrate Older Americans Month (OAM) this May by encouraging community members to share their experiences. The Administration for Community Living leads the national celebration. They chose this year’s theme Communities of Strength to recognize the vital role older adults play in fostering the connection and engagement that build strong, resilient communities.
In tough times, communities find strength in people—and people find strength in their communities. Older adults are a crucial source of this strength. Through their experiences, successes, and difficulties, they have built resilience that helps them to face new challenges. When communities tap into this, they become stronger too.
In the past year, we’ve seen this time and again in Botetourt County as friends, neighbors, and businesses have found new ways to support each other.
Strength is built and shown not only by bold acts but also small ones of day-to-day life—a conversation shared with a friend, working in the garden, or taking time for a cup of tea on a busy day. And when we share these activities with others—even virtually or by telling about the experience later—we help them build resilience too.
Here are some ways to share and connect:
- Look for the joy in every day: Celebrate small moments and ordinary pleasures by taking time to recognize them. Enjoy a book or film, start a gratitude journal, or call a friend or family member to share a happy moment or to say thank you.
- Reach out to others: Even if you can’t get together in person, you can still connect with others. Leave a small gift on a neighbor’s doorstep, offer to help someone with outdoor chores, or write an encouraging note as part of our Senior Pen Pal project.
- Build new skills: Learning something new allows us to practice overcoming challenges. The library offers physical and online resources in genealogy research, arts and crafts, financial training, health and wellness, and, of course, reading! Call us for ideas for new authors to try, new titles to read, free online classes to take, and resources of a wide variety of subjects.
- Share your story: There’s a reason storytelling is a time-honored activity. Hearing how others experience the world helps us grow. Interviewing family, friends, and neighbors can open up new conversations and strengthen our connections. Don’t forget to document these conversations. Contact the library to find out how. Also, check out the Botetourt County Libraries History Detective series on YouTube.
When people of different ages, backgrounds, abilities, and talents share experiences—through action, story, or service—we help build strong communities. And that’s something to celebrate! Join the conversation and share your own story with someone today!
