Elece Hempel, Executive Director of the Petaluma Senior Services Center casually sits in the Senior Café, a dining spot for seniors. Filled with rows of empty tables and chairs, the room feels unusually lonely. “Nutrition is very, very important, but the connection to other individuals has always been the key to this program,” she says. Hempel recalls, “the seniors said to us, ‘but we’re going to be alone… who am I going to talk too?" Hempel didn’t wait long to address the concern. We built a program called “You’re Not Alone” and this is an opportunity for other people in the community to reach out and speak with a senior every day.