With post-pandemic pressures and social media angst, many mental health resources are directed towards young adults. Professionals allot less time to other age demographics, but at the Mental Health Association in Tompkins County, there is a program dedicated to fighting this trend.
For two years, the Pearls Of Wisdom Senior Support Group has serviced members of the 55+ community experiencing mental health struggles related to aging. The group meets on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to noon, free from commitment or cost. A safe space for seniors to openly discuss their lives, this project has provided consistent relief and solutions to Ithacans in the later stages of life.
Since its beginnings, Pearls Of Wisdom has expanded its reach, with multiple regular members and frequent visitors using meetings as a sharing platform. It is led by state-certified peer specialists Larry Albro and Micaela Corazón, who have been devoted to assisting Tompkins County seniors for many years.
Albro, who founded the support group in 2022, spent a large part of his career working for in-home family care. He was inspired to create Pearls Of Wisdom after witnessing one patient’s uphill battle with depression and isolation. His mission throughout the program has been to provide a place where seniors can reflect on their experiences and engage with each other.
“We really don’t care what people’s diagnoses are. What we want to know is how they’re doing at the moment,” Albro said. “We want to meet people where they are and have conversations, share our journeys.”
Embarking on this project with Albro, Corazón recognized the disparity facing Ithaca’s senior demographic. Her past in supporting AIDS patients gave her insight into the medical trials seniors face, while many years as director of the Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service Of Tompkins County crisis line have prepared her for online assistance. Regarding common issues this age group faces, she also spoke about the loneliness many people face at this time in their lives.
“These are scary times, especially if you’re single,” Corazón said. “You want to know how many people are there for you.”
As so many seniors endure isolation, Pearls Of Wisdom has served as both a healing space and a social forum. Albro and Corazón aim to facilitate discussion rather than direct it, fostering organic conversations by beginning every meeting with a round table check-in. Participants take three to five minutes to debrief what is happening in their week and review how they are feeling.
“Often during those check-ins, common themes come up. If everything goes well, we get cross-talk. And during those times, the less talking that Mika and I do, the better we are at our job, because our job is to link peers with peers,” Albro explained.
Hosting meetings online has also had unique benefits in helping hosts engage more closely with participants. Although Pearls Of Wisdom was begun virtually because of the pandemic, involved seniors voted to continue Zoom sessions when asked about transitioning to in-person. An online environment has eliminated difficult commutes, making the group more accessible to users with mobility issues. Additionally, it has allowed seniors outside of Tompkins County to take part in conversation.
“Sometimes, we actually had a woman log in from Belgium. Somebody was logging in from New York City for a while,” Corazón said. “In many ways, our agency serves Tompkins County residents, but if you’re in a Zoom group, you could log in from any place.”
Pearls Of Wisdom has reached a wider audience with its online presence, and seniors are also welcome to drop into the Mental Health Association in Tompkins County’s downtown center on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Albro and Corazón are looking to increase drop-in hours while offering one-on-one peer counseling. They engage in further in-person endeavors with the senior community by visiting hospitals and nursing homes. Corazón spoke about these trips fondly.
“Larry and I go to the hospital on Friday. We want to reach out to people there and say, when you’re ready to come out of the hospital, you can call us,” Corazón said.
As the senior population often relocates, these extra outreach measures are heavily utilized. Many attendees move out of the area after finding Pearls Of Wisdom, but a core group of five has appeared regularly for Wednesday discussions. Four of these five are in their 80s, even though the majority of adults logging on to meetings are in their 60s and 70s.
Whether participants are referred to the program by therapists or discover it after stressful health experiences, it has been a continuous light for many in recovery since its pandemic era start. Although seniors congregate on this platform to review daily lives and enjoy each other’s company, the group addresses many difficult conversation topics.
“We talk about stuff nobody wants to talk about, you know, we’ve talked about end-of-life issues, or who’s going to care for us if we become disabled. These are not taboo topics,” Corazón said.
With serious exchanges like these, peer specialists take time outside of paid hours to support seniors fighting terminal illnesses.
“There’s a member of the group who’s going through a physical health crisis right now. It’s pretty severe. It’s a cancer crisis. And so we’re right with that person,” Corazón mentioned proudly. “We had another group member who was really sick and in a nursing home. We went to visit that person.”
Both Albro and Corazón have worked tirelessly to serve this demographic that a lot of mental health agencies neglect. One member spoke about how Pearls Of Wisdom helped them following their spouse’s death.
“Being widowed and living alone has been a big adjustment for me. Luckily, I found the Pearls of Wisdom Zoom Group over two years ago and look forward to it every Wednesday,” they said. “I feel less lonely and more supported being in this group with people that I have gotten to know fairly well. I can share whatever is on my mind, good and bad, in privacy and without fear of judgment.”
Another senior expressed that speaking in group settings has helped them embrace their challenges.
“Listening to what’s going on in other members’ lives helps me realize that I’m not unique, that everybody struggles. Talking about the hard times can put them into perspective, and somehow, mine become more manageable,” they explained.
The hosts hope to expand the program to two full weekly sessions. And with its success so far, this is certainly a possibility. The demand to join this community grows as Pearls Of Wisdom members take on topics kept in the dark.
“Sometimes I think nobody wants to talk about senior topics,” Corazón said. “But we create a safe space where we normalize them because this is where we are in our lives. It’s welcoming, and it’s comforting.”
Kira Walter is a reporter from the Cornell Daily Sun working on The Sun’s summer fellowship at The Ithaca Times. This piece was originally published in The Ithaca Times.