June 19, 2025 • 8 mins
Deb Bibbins, founder, and Gary Sekorski, co-founder of For All Ages, join us live from the Travelers Championship. Founded in 2019, the nonprofit is dedicated to ending loneliness by connecting generations through meaningful programs.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I'm
Alison Demerz. I'm here at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell.
We're doing interviews for Birdies for charity. I have alongside
me right now. Gary Sikorski, co founder For All Ages,
and deb Bibbins, the founder of For All Ages. Good morning, good.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Morning, Thanks so much for having us.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Good morning my pleasure for people who don't know about
For All Ages. How did it all begin and what
is it all about?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Well, we launched the organization back in twenty nineteen after
watching some family members go through a tough time dealing
with loneliness and we thought, you know, there needs to
be a solution here in the state, and so we've
created that solution. We're dedicated to connecting the generations and
inspiring action to end loneliness and improve health. And since
(00:47):
launching in twenty nineteen, our programs have touched the lives
of thirty eight thousand residents across the state of Connecticut
of All Ages, something we're really really proud of.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
So tell me how it works. I know how it works.
I think it's absolutely amazing, But how does it work?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Well, we have a couple of different components of our organization.
The first is the intergenerational programs that we run, and
our most popular is called t AT three. It's an
intergenerational friendship community that connects an older adult resident with
a Connecticut college student for a weekly phone call during
the college semester. We've now had seven hundred people go
(01:26):
through that program with phenomenal results for both the younger
and the older adults, reducing loneliness, giving a sense of belonging,
then giving people the sense of confidence to go out
and have some broader engagement within their community. So the
other side of what we do is all around social
health education, and we do that in a couple different ways.
(01:50):
The first is through publishing resource guides. We just published
one yesterday around the connection between loneliness and Alzheimer's disease
and other dementias and other chronic illness, just trying to
spread awareness of the problem. And we also are the
convener of the Connecticut Collaborative to End Loneliness, which is
(02:11):
a statewide initiative. We have leaders of cross sector organizations
from faith institutions to healthcare providers, to adult living communities,
mental health organizations coming together to foster social connectivity through
a series of initiatives that we have.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I mean not to sound like a downer, but we
need to be realistic. Loneliness can cause people to die.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yes, yes, so, our federal government estimates that someone dies
from complications due to loneliness every three minutes. In the
United States, more than sixty percent of us are feeling lonely,
and the loneliest population is actually the young adult population
age eighteen to twenty two. Certainly it affects all of us,
(03:01):
but all of the research that's coming out over the
past three or four years have just been incredible to
understand the connection between loneliness and heart disease. Thirty percent
higher chance of developing heart disease if you're chronically lonely,
fifty six percent higher chance of having a stroke, and
(03:22):
fifty percent higher probability of developing some form of dementia.
So our entire mission is about reaching people, whether they
are lonely or whether they just need more social connection. Right.
I mean, it's something as humans we all need to
do something about to uplift ourselves and to help our
family and friends. And so Gary and I come together
(03:44):
and say, all right, well, how can we create opportunities
for community members locally within their community to foster social connection.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
What kind of success have the programs had so I.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Can tell you t at three eighty percent, the people
that go through the program have a reduction in loneliness
and an increased sense of belongingness. You know, we hear
stories at the end of every semester, either from an
older adult or from college students. One college student after
our spring semester reached out to us and said, look,
(04:17):
I just want to thank you for this program. I
didn't know I was going to need it, and I
had a really tough semester and had my part tell
them teammates. Had my teammate not been there for me,
I'm not sure I would be here today. And so,
you know, if we can touch one life, then we're
doing what we're meant to be doing.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I mean, if anybody could just see how you glow
the both of you and smile, and how you're changing
lives for the better, you can totally see it. Do
you have any events that are coming up.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yes, we do. You know, it's all about connection, like
what Dev said, and these are some just quick events
going to happen throughout the rest of the year. We
have some other things as well that you can see
on our web page which is for All Ages dot org.
But here's here's here's the most important ones we thought
we'd share again. We're an official charity for this year's
ever Source Hartford Marathon on Saturday, October eleventh, and we
(05:11):
kind of stepped it up a notch and we got
we have a T shirt design contest to give everybody
of all ages a chance to design our T shirt
to share that with any anyone from you know, a
younger child all the way up through an older adult
who's an artist maybe or maybe who's not. And of
course we invite people to join our team or you
can either walk to charity five k, you can do
a half marathon if you want, it's all up to you,
(05:33):
or simply raise funds because this is this is something
that we really need to support our mission. So that's
the first one. The second one is actually something that
we recently came up with, which is kind of fun.
You know, given the disconnection in our society. We're on
a mission to connect people, really, that's what we're all about.
So we came up with this kind of fun idea
called Cherish the Moment. We cherish spelt chai r Cherish
(05:56):
the Moment, and it's a series of evening pop up
events in vintage weblined lawn chairs. We set the chairs
out in pairs and we just invite people to sit
down and have a conversation and make a new friend.
So the dates of that is we're going to have
we have maybe up to six schedule, but right now
we have Wednesday July ninth at Elizabeth Park and that'll
(06:17):
be roughly about six o'clock in the evening. It starts
Wednesday July twenty third, which we're really excited about. That's
the Shakespeare Festival at University Saint Joe's, which is kind
of neat. And Thursday July thirty first Evergreen Walk in
South Windsor So, if you're around those dates, come out
and check us out. That's kind of a fun thing.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
And those are all during concerts that are taking place.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Yeah, so it's a nice way to just meet somebody
new and sit down and you know, we've got just
a series of little like icebreaker questions and just get people,
you know, to just get talking. Because again it's all
about just connecting and making a new friend. Absolutely, we
have a really neat event in the evening for people
who are more like night owls, and this is in
collaboration with Marathon Sports in Glastonbury. It's a sip saver
(06:59):
and social summer fundraiser and that'll happen at Illicit Brewery
in Manchester on Thursday, July seventeenth, which is kind of fun,
kind of hitting all different walks of life there. Absolutely,
and the last one I'll mention which is really important
as well, because we all know the around the holidays
can be a really lonely time for a lot of
people for a lot of reasons. So we're going to
continue again this year the twenty twenty five Comfort Enjoy
(07:21):
Holiday Car Drive. The last collection day will be December eleventh,
so mark that down. And this is an organization of
Connecticut's large, largest kindness centered holiday card initiative. And what
better way to uplift somebody's spirit who might not have
some social connection like they need around the holidays. And
this year we're setting a goal for gathering five thousand
(07:42):
cards wow, and they get on. Information will be on
our web page as well, and.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Those cards are going to be delivered to isolated older
adults at assisted living in memory care facilities throughout the state,
to veterans throughout the state, and to patients at the
Hospital for Special Care in New Britain.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Beautiful. Well, we're also here to talk about donations. You
can have volunteers, you could have sponsors, but you're here
for Bertie's for Charity. Today. Every dollar raise they are
going to get fifteen cents from Webster Bank. There's a
child crying in the background. If anybody here's that, sorry,
please go to for Allages dot org or Travelers Championship
(08:20):
dot com and please make a donation. Again. All of
those events that are there, all of the programs and
services that you can take advantage of. I'm speaking with
Gary Sikorski, co founder for All Ages and deb Bibbins,
founder for All Ages. Thank you so much for being
here and for serving the community.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Allison, thanks so much for having us.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Thanks for having us, Alison
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I'm
Alison Demerz. I'm here at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell.
We're doing interviews for Birdies for charity. I have alongside
me right now. Gary Sikorski, co founder For All Ages,
and deb Bibbins, the founder of For All Ages. Good morning, good.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Morning, Thanks so much for having us.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Good morning my pleasure for people who don't know about
For All Ages. How did it all begin and what
is it all about?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Well, we launched the organization back in twenty nineteen after
watching some family members go through a tough time dealing
with loneliness and we thought, you know, there needs to
be a solution here in the state, and so we've
created that solution. We're dedicated to connecting the generations and
inspiring action to end loneliness and improve health. And since
(00:47):
launching in twenty nineteen, our programs have touched the lives
of thirty eight thousand residents across the state of Connecticut
of All Ages, something we're really really proud of.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
So tell me how it works. I know how it works.
I think it's absolutely amazing, But how does it work?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Well, we have a couple of different components of our organization.
The first is the intergenerational programs that we run, and
our most popular is called t AT three. It's an
intergenerational friendship community that connects an older adult resident with
a Connecticut college student for a weekly phone call during
the college semester. We've now had seven hundred people go
(01:26):
through that program with phenomenal results for both the younger
and the older adults, reducing loneliness, giving a sense of belonging,
then giving people the sense of confidence to go out
and have some broader engagement within their community. So the
other side of what we do is all around social
health education, and we do that in a couple different ways.
(01:50):
The first is through publishing resource guides. We just published
one yesterday around the connection between loneliness and Alzheimer's disease
and other dementias and other chronic illness, just trying to
spread awareness of the problem. And we also are the
convener of the Connecticut Collaborative to End Loneliness, which is
(02:11):
a statewide initiative. We have leaders of cross sector organizations
from faith institutions to healthcare providers, to adult living communities,
mental health organizations coming together to foster social connectivity through
a series of initiatives that we have.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I mean not to sound like a downer, but we
need to be realistic. Loneliness can cause people to die.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yes, yes, so, our federal government estimates that someone dies
from complications due to loneliness every three minutes. In the
United States, more than sixty percent of us are feeling lonely,
and the loneliest population is actually the young adult population
age eighteen to twenty two. Certainly it affects all of us,
(03:01):
but all of the research that's coming out over the
past three or four years have just been incredible to
understand the connection between loneliness and heart disease. Thirty percent
higher chance of developing heart disease if you're chronically lonely,
fifty six percent higher chance of having a stroke, and
(03:22):
fifty percent higher probability of developing some form of dementia.
So our entire mission is about reaching people, whether they
are lonely or whether they just need more social connection. Right.
I mean, it's something as humans we all need to
do something about to uplift ourselves and to help our
family and friends. And so Gary and I come together
(03:44):
and say, all right, well, how can we create opportunities
for community members locally within their community to foster social connection.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
What kind of success have the programs had so I.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Can tell you t at three eighty percent, the people
that go through the program have a reduction in loneliness
and an increased sense of belongingness. You know, we hear
stories at the end of every semester, either from an
older adult or from college students. One college student after
our spring semester reached out to us and said, look,
(04:17):
I just want to thank you for this program. I
didn't know I was going to need it, and I
had a really tough semester and had my part tell
them teammates. Had my teammate not been there for me,
I'm not sure I would be here today. And so,
you know, if we can touch one life, then we're
doing what we're meant to be doing.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I mean, if anybody could just see how you glow
the both of you and smile, and how you're changing
lives for the better, you can totally see it. Do
you have any events that are coming up.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yes, we do. You know, it's all about connection, like
what Dev said, and these are some just quick events
going to happen throughout the rest of the year. We
have some other things as well that you can see
on our web page which is for All Ages dot org.
But here's here's here's the most important ones we thought
we'd share again. We're an official charity for this year's
ever Source Hartford Marathon on Saturday, October eleventh, and we
(05:11):
kind of stepped it up a notch and we got
we have a T shirt design contest to give everybody
of all ages a chance to design our T shirt
to share that with any anyone from you know, a
younger child all the way up through an older adult
who's an artist maybe or maybe who's not. And of
course we invite people to join our team or you
can either walk to charity five k, you can do
a half marathon if you want, it's all up to you,
(05:33):
or simply raise funds because this is this is something
that we really need to support our mission. So that's
the first one. The second one is actually something that
we recently came up with, which is kind of fun.
You know, given the disconnection in our society. We're on
a mission to connect people, really, that's what we're all about.
So we came up with this kind of fun idea
called Cherish the Moment. We cherish spelt chai r Cherish
(05:56):
the Moment, and it's a series of evening pop up
events in vintage weblined lawn chairs. We set the chairs
out in pairs and we just invite people to sit
down and have a conversation and make a new friend.
So the dates of that is we're going to have
we have maybe up to six schedule, but right now
we have Wednesday July ninth at Elizabeth Park and that'll
(06:17):
be roughly about six o'clock in the evening. It starts
Wednesday July twenty third, which we're really excited about. That's
the Shakespeare Festival at University Saint Joe's, which is kind
of neat. And Thursday July thirty first Evergreen Walk in
South Windsor So, if you're around those dates, come out
and check us out. That's kind of a fun thing.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
And those are all during concerts that are taking place.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Yeah, so it's a nice way to just meet somebody
new and sit down and you know, we've got just
a series of little like icebreaker questions and just get people,
you know, to just get talking. Because again it's all
about just connecting and making a new friend. Absolutely, we
have a really neat event in the evening for people
who are more like night owls, and this is in
collaboration with Marathon Sports in Glastonbury. It's a sip saver
(06:59):
and social summer fundraiser and that'll happen at Illicit Brewery
in Manchester on Thursday, July seventeenth, which is kind of fun,
kind of hitting all different walks of life there. Absolutely,
and the last one I'll mention which is really important
as well, because we all know the around the holidays
can be a really lonely time for a lot of
people for a lot of reasons. So we're going to
continue again this year the twenty twenty five Comfort Enjoy
(07:21):
Holiday Car Drive. The last collection day will be December eleventh,
so mark that down. And this is an organization of
Connecticut's large, largest kindness centered holiday card initiative. And what
better way to uplift somebody's spirit who might not have
some social connection like they need around the holidays. And
this year we're setting a goal for gathering five thousand
(07:42):
cards wow, and they get on. Information will be on
our web page as well, and.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Those cards are going to be delivered to isolated older
adults at assisted living in memory care facilities throughout the state,
to veterans throughout the state, and to patients at the
Hospital for Special Care in New Britain.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Beautiful. Well, we're also here to talk about donations. You
can have volunteers, you could have sponsors, but you're here
for Bertie's for Charity. Today. Every dollar raise they are
going to get fifteen cents from Webster Bank. There's a
child crying in the background. If anybody here's that, sorry,
please go to for Allages dot org or Travelers Championship
(08:20):
dot com and please make a donation. Again. All of
those events that are there, all of the programs and
services that you can take advantage of. I'm speaking with
Gary Sikorski, co founder for All Ages and deb Bibbins,
founder for All Ages. Thank you so much for being
here and for serving the community.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Allison, thanks so much for having us.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Thanks for having us, Alison
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.