Renee Renews Purpose at Community Connections
For Renee, connecting with those around her through Knitting All Together has helped improve her overall well-being and happiness. Being widowed at a young age and suffering from depression, having this opportunity to form relationships and give back to the community has had a positive impact on her life.
TrueNorth’s All Together programs, like Knitting All Together, bring community members together around common interests and volunteerism. Having these opportunities to connect and help those in need has reinvigorated Renee’s life.
Coming to Knitting All Together for the first time was scary for Renee because she did not know what to expect. However, Renee quickly felt welcomed and started forming friendships with others in the group.
One of the best parts of Knitting All Together for Renee has been feeling a sense of purpose and belonging. Renee says, “This group gives me something constructive to do, to look forward to and to be accountable for. In the past, I may have had all good intentions of attending some community event, but when the time came, I’d stay home. Nobody was there to care if I came or not. I didn’t have to be accountable.”
The relationships Renee has formed have helped her feel more connected to the community. Hearing about the lives of others while working on projects to donate to local causes has given Renee opportunities to make an impact with the connections she has formed and the work she has done.
When reflecting on the value All Together has added to her life and the community overall, Renee says, “The value I see on our end is the fact that it gives us a place to go–those of us who need that socialization, who need that sense of purpose and belonging. And I think that helps us as much as the person that’s receiving whatever it is that we’ve made.”