The pandemic was making Martha feel lonely.

We saw a big change in Martha!

Martha is in her late 60’s, living with her son and daughter-in-law and their two kids. Before the pandemic, she would come to the Roberti Community House for sewing and loved the social time with friends. During the pandemic, her family was determined to protect her health, so she stayed home.

She loved helping out with the grandchildren, but was getting lonely and depressed the longer the pandemic went on. Martha felt she lost touch with how to interact with anyone but her family – she was losing herself.

Since the sewing group was not yet meeting due to Covid restrictions, we invited Martha into the Roberti Culinary Pathway (RCP) kitchen to learn and help out. RCP helped her find herself and blossom into a more confident, happy person. She had a place to talk with others, learned to chop and cook for her family and others, and helped us to maintain a clean kitchen.

Martha said, “… they asked my opinions on spices and I felt like my help mattered.”

Maribel, RCP Culinary Manager, added that, “We saw a big change in Martha from when she first started. I feel we helped her gain confidence in herself because older woman don’t feel they have a voice and she found it here.“