The centre offers members of the community the chance to host activities based on their own interests and talents. Piitz, who used to teach line dancing for the city of Waterloo, now lives near Village Mosaic and had been teaching steps to fellow parishioners over the age of 50 at Christ the King parish. Sr. Conrad Lauber approached her to see if she would share her experience at Village Mosaic. Line dancing is good for both the body and mind, she said, and Piitz now enjoys the chance to share her skills with the group monthly. But she also appreciates the comfortable atmosphere, where it’s normal to drop in just to say hi.

“There’s so many things you can do,” she said. “So many people live alone so it’s worth it even just for conversation.”

Village Mosaic opened unofficially in the spring, getting a feel for what the core age group would want, but celebrated its grand opening in October and offered its first large event, a Halloween party attended by 50 visitors in costume. The next big event on the horizon is a Christmas party, but daily activities are constantly on the roll.

John Dreman and Ana Maria Prieto heard about the centre from a fellow parishioner at St. Leo’s parish. They now come by at least twice a week, often to play a game of cards.

“The activities are wonderful,” Prieto said. “You can dry flowers and make cards or bookmarks or pictures for the wall. If you cannot play cards because you do not have a foursome you can knit. There are so many things.”

Dreman said another highlight is the foot clinic offered by Sr. Elaine Guidinger. Guidinger spends an hour with each client, providing foot care in a relaxing environment.

“It’s very good to say the least,” he said.

Because they do not want to compete with existing services for the mature population of south Etobicoke, Village Mosaic tries to be more of a gathering place than a service provider.

“We really don’t want to be duplicating services,” said Sr. Anne Marie Marrin, the director of Village Mosaic.

“A lot of them have lost their contacts, like their children have moved away, their friends are in nursing homes or have died and so on. So this is to re-build that structure that’s been lost,” Lauber said. “They need a safe place to go to where they can meet compatible people. The essence of it is forming a community where they can make connections, where they can form relationships and where they can share their interests with someone else.”

Many of those who visit Village Mosaic quickly make new contacts and exchange phone numbers.

Jeannine McCafferty, a regular at the centre since the spring, said the 50-plus group club she ran at Christ the King didn’t provide as great a network to other seniors in the neighbourhood. Although she pursues other activities and hobbies in the community, at Village Mosaic volunteers have helped her learn how to use computers and she enjoys relaxing with a crossword puzzle or doing beadwork.