Loneliness and isolation are common experiences for elderly people, especially for those who do not have nearby family members or who are not computer literate. What do you know about the elders in your life or in your neighborhood? Are they connected to their families in an enriching way? Do they belong to a caring community of some kind? This conversation is for elderly people and people who live near elders or have elderly people in their lives to explore questions, experiences, and obstacles to showing up for elderly people and to generate ideas for connection.

Facilitator Pamela Slaughter is a lifelong Oregonian with varied interests. She retired from her career as an adult protective service investigator for Multnomah County, where she saw firsthand how devastating loneliness and isolation can be. Pamela is the founder and executive director of People of Color Outdoors, a nonprofit designed to help facilitate the reconnection of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to the outdoors. She is the author of the children’s book Hi! My Name is Robin!, published in 2020, which she hopes will encourage families to bird watch together.