As the youngest resident at the Silver Key Senior Services complex, 41-year-old Erica King keeps a watchful eye over her surrogate “mamas and grandmas” and fellow community members. “When I first moved here, I never could walk through the door without there being a welcoming party, because everybody would sit in the chairs out there and just talk to each other. That doesn't happen as much here anymore, but it's starting to,” King said.
King told The Gazette she moved into the housing complex over 10 years ago, not as a senior citizen but as a person with a disability. She said as the pandemic changed social interactions, especially so with the senior population, the dynamic in her community shifted and is still recovering. Silver Key was the second stop on Mayor Yemi Mobolade's and Gov.
Jared Polis’ tour of the Colorado Springs’ 1,000 Neighborhoods Gathering Project launch, a new city initiative encouraging residents to host parties throughout the city’s neighborhood hubs, get to know their neighbors, and promote community at a time where isolation and loneliness have become a top mental health concern throughout the country. “In my time being here, this is the most energetic this room has been,” said King’s caretaker, Sandra Haley. Dozens of Silver Key residents flooded the community room Saturday, talking with other and local officials and enjoying a luncheon.
“I felt like we didn't need another government program, we just needed to engage the communit.