Seniors build lasting friendships through crocheting class in Brooklyn
CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Crocheting is more than just a hobby - it's helping bring home-bound seniors in Brooklyn together, giving them a way to stay active and providing them with a support group.
Those lessons are coming from an unlikely source, a blind woman who's a long way from Brooklyn.
"I'm a senior, I'm 80 -- I'm over 80 let's say," said crocheting class participant Theresa Walker.
Halfway across the country, some 1,500 miles away in Nebraska, is Tammy Schomerus, her crocheting instructor.
Walker and Schomerus, along with a few others in Brooklyn, meet every week on the phone.
"Most of the programs that we think about are programs where we go to senior centers to do what we're doing on the phone," Walker said. "Usually, seniors are home with nothing to do and they say they're bored or whatever, but this is something to do."
Walker has crocheted all sorts of things like hats and blankets, and she's learned it all from Schomerus, who is blind.
"The nice thing about being on the phone is there are no borders," Schomerus said.
"Well listen, Tammy is a great teacher and we're so glad to have Tammy," Walker said. "Tammy has a handicap but she still instructs us on our crocheting and she is a very pleasant person."
Over the phone, the group has built real friendships.
"We have a good time because we laugh, and we joke with her being where she is and us being where we are, and we just talk about different things," Walker said.
There have even been a few surprises.
"She got married recently, and we were so happy for Tammy," Walker said. "We didn't know she had a boyfriend."
It's all part of a program by One Community, providing ways for seniors to stay active.
"Your brain is just like any other muscle in your body, if you don't use it, it goes soft," said One Community program coordinator Charnora Simon. "And so not only are they having fun, they're engaging with the other participants in the program, but they're thinking and they're using their brain. They're learning."
The class has proven to be mutually beneficial for the teacher.
"I still learn; there's lots of stitches that I'm still learning," Schomerus said. "I love it, it encourages me to grow."
It's also been beneficial for the students.
"Sometimes I'll start a project and when I finish the project, I'll say 'wow, what beautiful work I've done,'" Walker said.
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