Our mission is to help men and women 55 and older be creative, productive and independent, and to seek broader recognition by the general public of the skills and capabilities of older people.

Our goal is to enhance the quality of life of older adults and build community through group crafts activities that:

  Celebrate the vibrancy of older adults’ lives

  Encourage life long learning and individual creativity

  Promote individual self-actualization through new experiences

  Empower individuals through a strong sense of accomplishment and enhanced self respect

  Provide opportunities for mutual reciprocity through civic engagement

  Produce high quality products that are unique, ethnically diverse, and heritage based

Our programs now include the following:

Community Service and Outreach Programs

  Community Service program for older crafters in senior programs in the NYC area, to make practical items that are contributed to local charities of their choice that help homeless families, abused women or children, or otherwise needy people

  Elder Crafters Helping Others for unaffiliated crafters to make items that are donated to NYC charities that help the needy

  Intergenerational program to bring together older crafters with teens and preteens

  Civic Engagement Projects for independent seniors in the NYC area to make practical items that are contributed to NYC charities that help the needy

Artists in Residence (Visual Arts) Projects

  Participants document their neighborhoods, themselves or their lives via appliquéd wall hangings, collage or paintings, which are then exhibited publicly

Training Programs

  Train the Trainers program which offers crafts workshops for representatives of agencies in NYC serving older adults, mainly senior centers and nursing homes, where the representatives return to their groups to teach what they have learned

  Crafts Programming Service to provide professionally taught craft workshops directly to members of senior groups in New York City

  Elder Crafters Teaching Others to provide senior groups in NYC with non-professional but experienced older crafters to teach craft workshops