June 2018
Where can senior citizens go to learn hip-hop? Is there a place seniors can go to make new friends? And where can seniors do more than play bingo?
Amy and Damien Temperley have created such a place called Aging Is Cool. As I walked into one of the fitness classes Damien teaches, I noticed multiple people warmly talking to each other while getting ready for the task. They seem present and ready to mingle while warming up their bodies by walking in a circle. As Damien and Amy get the room ready, there are many hugs and smiles in the room, simultaneously being kindly available to each person's inquiries. As the seniors prepare for the class to start, they each claim a chair and keep the conversations going. How did this all begin?
Before Aging Is Cool was born, Damien was a physical therapist to older adults in senior centers and Amy was a nonprofit consultant. In their areas of expertise, they were exposed to an older generation capable of much more than what was being offered.
"People think of aging as this really sad, pathetic thing, and most people aren't sick. Most people are quite able to do everything you and I do. And they're smart as hell and we discount that. We're like, 'okay, you're over sixty, you don't work anymore; therefore, you don't have any value,'" Amy says frustratingly.
The couple wanted to change that perspective and recognize the vitality still present within this age group. Also, the number one danger among seniors is isolation, so the social element is just as important, maybe even more, than the fitness element. They aim to bridge seniors on both spectrums and look at this generation more holistically.
The fitness classes include brain training, balance, cardio, boxing, and more. All the classes are easy and allow participants to push themselves as much as they feel comfortable, either by doing the exercises in a chair or standing. There are even classes taught by phone if a senior is homebound and unable to attend physically.
Aging Is Cool also brings in speakers that teach classes on various interests, from English fashion to French Impressionism, to the history of Dunkirk, and more. In one case, seniors in the Alzheimers unit were teaching and pointing out details in a work of art that the instructor didn't even notice before. They were still capable of teaching the teacher.
They have created a bond, a family, a tribe amongst each other. After exercise classes, about 30 seniors plan where their next destination. Today, they decided to have lunch at Central Market. Previously, they decided to get beer and pizza at the Beer Garden. The group tends to be very vocal and influences each event opportunity based on their interests. One suggested going to see roller derby, which Amy and Damien are excited to facilitate and make possible.
Some in the group can still drive and volunteer to carpool with others to attend classes held in assisted living centers. There, they get access to new people and potential new friends. As a result, seniors who don't live in these assisted living centers delightfully come back to check on the new friends they've made on their own time. "Friendship, that is bigger than what we do. Relationships are being developed. They go to the movies. They go to eat, you know, they check in. That is everything." says Amy.
Amy and Damien hope to replicate Aging Is Cool in other areas, particularly low-income communities. They have found the options for seniors in low-income areas to be very dismal, so they are currently working on a nonprofit model to raise funds to make their program more accessible. They will be working with doctoral students from the University of Texas to document, evaluate, and prove that their program has excellent results. They hope to demonstrate that Aging Is Cool generates more physical mobility, sharper brain activity, and less depression among their members. To build on those goals in the next few years, they also want to make sure they collaborate closely with all nonprofit organizations working in the senior space to maximize its effectiveness.
They face some obstacles, however. "Getting people to come is challenging because traditional marketing doesn't work, "says Amy. "Ultimately, this group is word of mouth because it is scary. The thought of going to a fitness class is intimidating."
The growth has been slow and organic, which frustrates Amy and Damien to an extent because they want to give and offer so much more. They currently have multiple instructors waiting in the wings to teach. If they can raise more money, they will be able to expand and create more programs for seniors "who really want to do things for themselves, interact, meet people, and boogie."
"We don't have kids…we don't have what we are creating with these folks, so part of it is for us…they are part of our larger family," says Amy. As I finish talking with Amy and Damien, Damien suddenly jumps up. "I always give her a hug goodbye," and runs out the door to hug one of his regular students before she leaves. "They're very close," Amy smiles. How much everyone matters to each other here is genuinely undoubted.
2021 UPDATE:
As the new Covid-19 world has come into existence, many of us had to pivot and adapt. This is definitely true for Amy and Damien, the founders of Aging Is Cool. As an organization dedicated to serving senior citizens and retirement communities, the most vulnerable community to the virus, change was imminent. "Our passion is still there, but because of Covid and high-risk adults are such a high-risk population, a year ago in March, we pretty much lost all of our programming," said Amy. So now, in 2021, Aging is Cool is operating a modified version of itself. Their free quintessential fitness, brain training, and lifelong learning classes are now offered virtually every day on zoom. They will also add an outdoor class at the beautiful Waterloo Greenway in downtown Austin once a week.
In January 2021, they partnered with the organization Heart and Soul Care to create a new website, A Mighty Good Time, that provides a national online calendar of activities for ages 50 and older. They include live, virtual, or phone-based classes, many free or for a nominal cost. Currently, there are over 60 organizations posting courses on the website, including Aging Is Cool. Even though they had to downsize from 30 to 5 instructors, they are reaching more people through technology than before. In the past year, isolation has become an enormous health risk in the senior citizen community. Aging Is Cool's ability to expand and continue operating during this time is a true blessing and a refreshing, uplifting gift to counter what we have lost.