NISC Programs of Excellence 

• Year Awarded: 2025
• Programs of Excellence Name: Embrace Solitude and Thrive
• Hosting Organization: Liberty Senior Center with Baltimore County Department of Aging, Randallstown, Maryland
• Randallstown Population: 36,000
• 60+ Population: 9,700
• Senior Center Members: 2,253

About Morgan Memoirs

We all need an avenue to share our life stories. This can be especially true if someone no longer has people in their lives who know their history. The goal of Morgan Memoirs was to connect older adults with people who would listen and record these stories.

Liberty Senior Center has a member population which is 98% African American. Many of our members graduated from Historically Black Colleges, so the center reached out to the English Department Chairperson at a large HBCU (Historical Black College/ University) in the area. She, in turn, invited a professor, and a partnership was formed between the university and Liberty Senior Center.

Fifteen members, ranging in age from 65 to 96, volunteered for this program and committed to five days of meeting with students. On the first meeting date, the seniors gathered to learn more about the program and to meet their new partners. When the students arrived, they introduced themselves and were connected with their storyteller.

As older adults started to share their stories, students leaned in to hear every word. Some of the pairs laughed, while others held hands sharing the weight of emotions. Each senior connected with someone who entered their generation and experienced life through their eyes.

For the next several weeks, students visited the senior center to work on the memoirs. They heard stories of love and heartbreak, racism andcommunity, sacrifices and successes. The seniors also heard stories, about learning, friendships and accomplishments, as well as isolation,loneliness and campus shootings. The connections made were beyond expectations.

With the memoirs finished, the center held a celebration, and the members received their stories in the form of a published book. They shared these memoirs with other senior center members at lunch the following month.

This program was created for seniors to make connections and share their stories with the younger generation because there are so many seniors who are isolated and longing for relationships. What was not anticipated was the need for the students to connect with the older generation. Almost all of the students were from other states and did not have family in the vicinity. There had been a recent shooting at the school, which resulted in school officials imposing curfews. COVID outbreaks further isolated these students. The connections between the seniors and the students were very real and genuinely needed for both generations.

Key takeaways from  Morgan Memoirs:

• Senior center members connected with a much younger generation and shared life stories. This was therapeutic to both the seniors and the students.
• Partners at the university shared opportunities for senior center members such as free lectures and art exhibits that they sponsored.
• A university partnership was key to the program's success.

About the Liberty Senior Center

Liberty Senior Center in the Randallstown area of Baltimore County "strives to prevent isolation and encourage socialization and liberation." Membership is open to county residents age 60+.