Letter to the Editor: Making connections online

In mid-March, as Chicago’s restaurants and other meeting venues began to close, our organization, Skyline Village Chicago, was discussing new ways to connect with and reach out to our members. 

Skyline is a community of older adults engaged in offering, prior to the pandemic, in-person cultural, educational and social programs. Skyline Village Chicago members are active, informed and connected advocates within our unique, vibrant high-rise neighborhoods.

Many of us had become familiar with Zoom, a relatively easy new way to communicate with friends and colleagues. As we considered topics for our upcoming programs, relevant themes began to develop, such as the health crisis, the impending election, and racial tensions.

Neighborhood news organizations took notice and offered to help publicize our events. As a result we were able to extend our outreach and attract a growing number of attendees.

In addition to providing programs of interest, our attendees told us that their participation helped to mitigate the loneliness and isolation that was becoming more of an issue as entertainment and cultural events began to shut down.

So thanks to Chicago Star Media, and to Zoom, our programs are reaching more people than ever before Indeed, we featured a recent program targeted specifically to new “Zoomers” who learned not only to connect with their friends but set up their own Zoom calls.