Here is fun.

Older adults are among the fastest growing populations in California.

By 2030, residents over 65 are expected to out number those under 18.

1 in 5 older Californians live alone, and a 2023 U.S.

Surgeon General advisory associated the long-term health effects of social isolation with smoking 15 cigarettes a day We visited five senior centers in Southern California -- Watts, Lincoln Heights, Culver City, Westchester and Tehachapi to understand how senior centers offer vital opportunities for connection.

We met with people during the pandemic as the senior centers shut down and accompanied members as they returned to the centers when they reopen their doors.

Senior centers offer meals, classes, and opportunities to foster new relationships.

Some come for a hot meal.

Others attend to learn a new language or to participate in a dance party.

Manon Liebenberg, a longtime yoga practitioner, comes to the Culver City Senior Center for yoga classes twice a week.

She cited loneliness and the loss of friends as reasons for why she attends.

Older adults face disenfranchized grief grief that is not often socially acknowledged.

They live on fixed incomes, navigate health needs, transportation challenges, and the loss of spouses, housing, mobility, and independence.

Senior centers provide community support.

Social interaction is also one of the key parts of Governor Gavin Newsom's Master Plan for aging.

Very little data or academic studies exist about senior centers.

They are historically underfunded.

They rely on a combination of federal, state, and local funds.

Many search for other options to sustain their services like donations.

Even the senior centers with the best services face an uphill battle to pay for those services.

For cash, light and Calmatters I'm Isadora Kosofsky.