In 2017, a group of ten strangers came together to learn how to make a digital video story over three days.
Ten digital stories were created by seniors to share how they meet others and stay connected in a project we called Thunder Bay GIANTs:
Grand Individuals Aging with Neighbours in Thunder Bay
Since 2017, the project has been showcased at national + international conferences, blogs, on TV, and as a featured show at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.
It’s sparked further projects and collaborations and continues to have an enduring impact today. The project was funded by a grant from the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program.
It addressed social isolation among seniors and touched on three dimensions of age-friendly communities: Housing, Social Participation, and Respect/Social Inclusion.
Meet the Thunder Bay GIANTs
Learn more about our GIANTS and watch their digital stories! Click on a GIANT to view their poster and video. Return here to choose the next GIANT or use the arrows + names at the bottom of each page to view the next video.
Download the GIANTs educational toolkit - it has been used everywhere from elementary school classes to university courses. It contains the scripts from each digital story, as well as discussion questions to help start a dialogue based on the them of each story.
We also created a poster with tips + tricks for aging in place, and a document to list your Team of 8. Downloads available below!
The GIANTs program inspired multiple additional projects over the years:
The Friendly GIANTs Showcase on Shaw Spotlight Community Link television highlighted people who are older so we can all learn from them about how to age gratefully and gracefully. This television program reached older adults in their homes through a method they are comfortable with accessing - television!
Friendly GIANTs Showcase
The GIANTs Castle featured presentations on alternative housing arrangements, home maintenance, and improvement strategies, as well as a trade show comprising local businesses and services interested in helping older adults make their aging at home dreams come true!
The GIANTs Castle
The Thunder Bay GIANTs were hung at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery on March 12, 2020, shortly before COVID changed the world. Our two week show stayed up for 6 months until it was safe to go back into the gallery!
GIANTs on Display
The stories, photographs and quotes have informed, educated, entertained and connected people of all ages. The storytellers and coaches have bonded and former strangers have become a new community of friends. They demonstrated how the process of sharing stories and respecting others as they tell their story can be a powerful means to create community, reduce social isolation and increase self-confidence.