Retirement Village Shop Volunteer

[wjt]

I met a gentleman who lives in a retirement village in the next town over. He brought some of his tools with him when he moved in (he previously had a 2000 sqft shop) and does some woodworking in his garage. He invited me to see his current shop and during the visit mentioned the village has a woodshop for the members of the community. I asked if I could see it. He said he has the key and I got a tour.

Turns out except for a 91 year old who still does a little wood carving my friend is the only one currently using the shop. He has setup some of the tools and cleaned the space up but the shop is not being used.

I asked if I or members of our Woodworkers Guild could volunteer to maintain, demonstrate, teach and perhaps increase the utilization of this facility.

I contacted the Community Outreach Coordinator for the village and was told there is no one in charge of that shop. If you are a resident you just ask for a key and they give you one.

The Outreach Cooordinator called and sent a couple e-mails. She was interested in pursing this relationship.

Question is whether any of the WoodNet members have volunteered in a retirement village shop (NOT as someone who lives in the village) and how it is working.

Thanks, Bill

[Admiral]

Gee, no, but that sounds like an excellent opportunity to keep our older friends engaged and enthused about a hobby. A lot of older retirees suffer from isolation as their contemporaries and spouses pass away and this could be a life changer for some of the residents.

[DaveParkis]

Thanks for the idea. My club is losing our lease in August and we have been looking for a new location. There are a few communities around here that might be good candidates for us.

[wjt]

This post did not get much response so I will provide an update.

I decided to pursue this idea and was given a one hour orientation and signed a few papers (privacy awareness, HIPPA and a waiver of liability) then was given access to the woodshop.

A slow process with no definite timelines. Just spending some time in the shop. Rearranging some equipment & benches and general cleanup as the shop has seen little use in the last two years. I have met a couple residents and one those encounters follows.

Thanks, Bill

_______________________________

I was at the shop when John, a 93 year old sculptor, came in. He had a piece of gnarly looking Osage Orange on his workbench. He had marked it with a piece of chalk where he wanted to cut one end off. He wanted to start the cut with the cross cut miter saw. Not the safest cut to try but I offered to help when he said he had never used the saw. With a little creative clamping I was able to cut part way through the 8" diameter log.

Then it was over to the workbench where he reached for a rip saw. John keeps his tools sharp. We clamped one end of the log to the bench and John held the other end while I started sawing. After a couple minutes John said he would take a turn. I handed the saw to him and took up position holding the log. 50 strokes was about what he could handle. Then we would switch positions. It took about 20 minutes to cut through the log.

John took the log to his workbench and went to work with his chisels and mallets. He said he was "letting the character out of the wood made by its dance with the earth".

[Admiral]

Very cool.  Keep up the good work.

[photobug]

First time seeing this and would like to commend you on your effort to help this community and help woodworkers stay in the game.  If a retirement community has the space it seems like a win, win for the woodworker and the retirement home.  If a person has a 2000 ft shop he may or may not need the money from the tool sales, by contributing his tools he can have access to them and have someone pay the electricity and heat and still have access to woodworking and the shop can grow over the years.

One of the sticking points for my folks when looking at a retirement home for my mom was my stepfather did not want to be without his tools even though he had not used them for years.  I can imagine moving to a home would be a hard move being able to continue your hobbies would make it a lot easier.

[wood2woodknot]

If a retirement community has the space it seems like a win, win for the woodworker and the retirement home.  If a person has a 2000 ft shop he may or may not need the money from the tool sales, by contributing his tools he can have access to them and have someone pay the electricity and heat and still have access to woodworking and the shop can grow over the years.

He should also be eligible to take a tax deduction for a charitable donation, assuming he is in the right tax bracket and is declaring deductions.