At a long table in front of the stage in Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center’s big multipurpose room, older adults sit around a long, narrow table with their heads bent. They’re not praying; they’re looking intently at trays filled with beads and stones. They line pieces up in patterns, study them intently, and move them around. Sometimes they break their patterns and start all over. While they work, they chat, swap pieces, and laugh.
“I like this class, my jewelry class,” said Rhoda Roddey. She was working on a bracelet of flowing, differently-shaped blue stones. “It’s challenging, because I don’t know how to put pieces together to make it look elegant, but they teach us that.”
Roddey wasn’t a crafter when she took up jewelry-making, so she enjoys the challenge of playing with color and shape. Working on a striking red-and-black necklace at the other end of the table, Lourdes Santiago points out that it’s a tactile hobby, too.
“I like the feel the touch of it,” she said. “And I just go with the flow sometimes, what feels right at the moment.”
Santiago used to crochet, but arthritis has made that more difficult. She finds jewelry-making easier on her hands. Her classmate Charlene Bass agrees: “It keeps me moving my hands. It’s therapeutic for me.”
Jewelry-making is so popular at Lincoln Square, there are two sessions per week. One is taught by a professional; three years ago, Center Director Viktoriia Zakhary asked member Blanca Padilla to launch this more casual gathering, which is called “Blanca’s Jewelry Club.” The trend reaches beyond Lincoln Square, too. Our Isaacs Older Adult Center has a class, and the center at our headquarters on Columbus Avenue has a longstanding jewelry-making group.
Scientists say crafting can enhance brain function and slow cognitive decline. It’s also just fun. “I get a boost because I’m like, ‘Oh, I got to finish this necklace.’ It gives you something to want to come back to,” said Bass.
“You need to get out,” she added. “You got to get air. You got to get some sunshine. Walk by and smile at people. And then by the end of your day, you feel good. And that’s what this does.”