Our lives are made richer by the people in them—the web of family, friends, co-workers and other people who form our personal social network. And a growing body of research is showing that growing and nurturing our social ties is key to our health and well-being. Every day, YMCAs provide opportunities for people to make meaningful connections with one another, opportunities for Y members like Ann Clem to get the support she needs to stay active and healthy.

More than a place to work out

What started as just a way to stay active after retirement has transcended to a social club Clem calls a “coffee clutch.”

The 15 energetic friends, ages 65 and older, share coffee, stories and fun times together at the Clarksville Area YMCA. Clem and other members say that the “clutch” has ensured that beyond having a physically active lifestyle, they have an active social life as well. Building those social networks would not have been possible without the Y, Clem said. “My day doesn’t begin until I get here."

“It gets you out of the house and in a social environment. My mother used to tell me if you retire and sit in a rocking chair you’ll be dead in a year.”

Turns out, mom was right. There is science to socializing. Researchers say there’s power in our social connections, and they have a big influence on our well-being at every age. Clem, who teaches piano, and her husband Bruce kept her mother’s words in mind when they moved to Clarksville in 2006. Bruce Clem had retired as an Army Colonel after 30 years in the service, and the couple’s first step after the move was joining the YMCA. They now exercise five times a week. And when they finish, they don’t pack up and go home.

“After you do the exercise, you sit down and relax, and that’s where it began,” Clem said. “We started celebrating birthdays from that point. We pass out cards and have dinner. The birthdays were a good way to add cohesiveness.”

Terri Martin, a Human Resources Coordinator with the Clarksville YMCA, said the coffee clutch has become a welcoming committee to many older adults that join the Y. Seniors are a growing demographic in Middle Tennessee and across the country. In fact, they represent about 30 percent of the Clarksville Area YMCA’s members. The center offers lots of ways for them to connect, and in addition to the ice cream socials, unique exercise programs and other activities, the impromptu social club has added even more incentives.

Filling a family void

“The connection this group has made has been amazing! It has really become a tight knit group, yet they are always welcoming to a new person that comes to the Y. They just make their circle a little larger,” Martin said. “We have so many Active Older Adults that have no family close by. The friends they make here fill that emotional void. They all meet people that they have so much in common with.”

From Halloween costume parties to quarterly birthday celebrations, the group remains active inside and outside of the Y. Vernie Hill, who joined the group two years ago, recently organized a trip to Grand Rivers, Kentucky for dinner and a Motown variety show.

The Y members have become a close group of friends for him, since his wife passed away in 2003.

Hill is not unlike many aging Middle Tennesseans. In fact, more seniors now live alone than ever before, but thanks to the friendships fostered at local Y’s, many of them are anything but alone in life.
“They’re my true friends now, and a lot of them I wouldn’t know if it wasn’t for the Y,” he said. “I really enjoy it.”