Men’s group giving back while hunting for a new home
Delorme (pictured) said a big focus of the group is to be a mental health resource, something men can have a hard time searching for. (Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7FM)
A local men’s group is fighting isolation by bringing retired men together to help support the community.
Three years ago a Nanaimo & District branch of Men’s Shed was started as a way to combat loneliness in older men in the community. The group holds weekly walks and coffee meet ups, monthly dinners, and community based projects, all to give men purpose.
One of their newest projects is to build little free libraries that will be donated to members of the community. But as the group continues to grow, they’re looking for a new shed where the members can gather, hang out, and work together on these projects.
CHLY attended one of the weekly coffee meet ups at the Country Grocer on Bowen Road in Nanaimo.
“Walks on Tuesdays, coffees on Thursdays. We rotate from one location to the next so that it's fair for everybody for commuting to the coffees,” said Jim Delorme, president of the Nanaimo & District Men’s Shed Society
After working as a carpenter, Delorme joined the group last year following his retirement, wanting to find something to do in the city.
“People retire or they lose a spouse and they're lost, and this gives them something to do other than stare at a wall and be depressed. They can help in the community. They can socialize with other members. We have all different trades,” Delorme said. “We got electricians, we got plumbers, we got mechanics, we got woodworkers. So there's so much knowledge to draw on. If you need a hand with something, we can call upon each other for help. It's great.”
He said a big focus of the group is to be a mental health resource, something men can have a hard time searching for.
“There's too many men out there that are just stewing in their own despair. They're depressed. They've got no purpose in life.” He said. “If we can help by giving somebody a sense of belonging and purpose, then they want to get up in the morning to do something.”
Many of the men in the group work on craft projects together with residents at seniors centres.
“We've done community gardens for a number of organizations around Nanaimo and Ladysmith,” he said. “If someone in the community or organization needs help with something, they can ask us if we can do it, fine, if we can't, then we'll let them know.”
After the group was able to fix a member of the community’s little free library, Delorme thought building their own would be a great project for them. As a way to give the men a purpose and bring more community connections through the libraries, the group has started building the little libraries for anyone interested in having them in front of their homes.
“We're not looking to get paid for them,” he said. “We're not selling them. We're giving them to them as a way of giving to the community because that's our goal is that we're a community service type scenario. So the more we can fundraise for it, the more we can build.”
Delorme said they have started a GoFundMe as a way to fund and continue the library project.
“We're just going to continually make them as long as we can afford to make them, and this is why we started the GoFundMe,” he said. “We've got the cost down to roughly $75 a piece worth of material to build these, but we're giving them to the librarians for nothing.”
But while working on the libraries, Delorme said the group is still on the hunt for a new shed to call their own.
“We lost our shed almost two years ago, and most of my fundraising last year was just raising funds to pay for the storage container that we kept all our tools and stuff in,” he said.
He explained that when the group first started, they were able to rent a large work shed from a non-profit agency for a low cost, but the building was later sold and they lost access to the shed. Delorme said currently, most of the woodworking projects are being done at his own garage that can only fit a couple of people at a time.
“We're looking for something that's close to free, about 800-ish square feet, that's got room for shop equipment and a table and chairs, maybe even like a little coffee area or some place where we can gather and enjoy,” he said. “We're pretty low maintenance. If we have to fix something up, we'll fix it to make it work. It's just our budget isn't that great.”
Keith and Dave are two members of the Nanaimo & District Men’s Shed group who joined this past year.
Keith said he joined the group as he is nearing retirement and wanted to find a way that kept him active and getting off the couch. He said he’s enjoying a bit of everything the group does.
“The meal once a month, this kind of thing and the projects,” Keith said. “I'm living in an apartment, so I haven't got a lot of tools, but these guys are resourceful. I'm handy and I enjoy stuff, but I just haven't got the physical equipment. They do, a lot of them do.”
Dave has been a member of the group for almost five months now.
“I came from Ontario seven years ago, and I was quite healthy and active at that time, and I was doing a lot of repairs around the house,” Dave said. “Then I had cancer, had the operation, I've been cancer-free for over four years, but depression set in, and I was a couch potato. This gave me a way out, and gave me some time with the guys and some freedom.”
He said he heard a news story about the Men’s Shed group in Victoria and wanted to see if there was one in Nanaimo.
He said seeing everyone weekly is what keeps him coming back.
“Camaraderie, getting out of the house, working with my hands again,” Dave said. “It's an all-round thing”
More information about the Nanaimo & District Men’s Shed group and how to sign up to attend any of their meetings can be found on their website bcmensshed.ca/nanaimo/.
Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.
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