Knitting Relationships

On Wednesday early-afternoons in the Yawkey Boys and Girls Club’s Generations Incorporated (GI) Room, you will find a group of Reading Coaches and AmeriCorps Members using some of their most creative skills. However, it’s not literacy related. These members (all women, at the moment) are knitting. As part of G.I.’s Healthy Aging Program, Crafternoons give our older adults a chance to show off their skills while forming close-knit relationships.

For Anna Coleman, a Reading Coach at the Yawkey, it’s a time for her to continue her hobby of making blankets for patients at the Boston Children’s Hospital. For others including Esther Williams, a Reading Coach at the Yawkey, and Kim Bohling & Meg Licht, AmeriCorps Members, it’s a chance to make scarves, blankets, cowls and socks for their families and loved ones.

It was hard to tell with all the chit-chat and laughter heard throughout the room but these ladies are quite focused on their projects.  There is a strong hope that Crafternoons will expand to many more participants. This seems quite likely, telling from the intrigued looks given by other volunteers entering the room as the event was winding down. As Anna and Esther finished what they were doing they enthusiastically transformed from knitters to reading coaches, putting their needles and yarn away while effortlessly pulling out their folders and grabbing books to read with their students for the upcoming sessions. These hardworking volunteers provide successful results using their experiences and wisdom while warming the hearts (and bodies) of others, interweaving young and old.

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