Editor's Note: The following story mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 to speak with a trained Wyoming caregiver.
A new no-cost group in Jackson aims to spark connection through hands-on projects, especially for retired men, to combat male loneliness.
Mark Winston is a founding director of the nationwide Men's Shed Association. He’s lived in Jackson on-and-off for 15 years and said it's common to hear his peers eager to exit their working years. But three months later, “they're climbing the walls, because, even though everybody promises they'll stay in touch, [...] that doesn't really happen.”
Research shows men tend to have fewer friends than women and be less inclined to make new friends, according to KFF News.
White men over 60 are also the most at-risk group for dying by suicide in Teton County, according to Teton County Community Prevention Specialist Beverly Shore. That’s due in part to access to firearms and further isolation. Wyoming ranks third in the nation in suicide rates, according to the latest data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Only Montana and Alaska ranked higher.
This is the third time in six years Winston has tried to get a Jackson chapter off the ground. The first time, the COVID pandemic landed, forcing even more isolation. A few years later, he couldn’t find a partnership in the Senior Center. That has since changed, he said.
Jackson Hole Men’s Shed leader Frank Fanning, a friend of Winston’s, told the group they could set an agenda as they got to know each other. The most important thing, he said, was first getting out of the house.
“What you start hearing is your wife, if you have one, [is] ‘Why don't you get out of here and do something?’” he told the group.
What sets Men’s Shed apart from other social organizations like the Elks Lodge or Rotary, he said, is you don’t have to pay to join. But similar to other clubs, members can drop into other chapters around the country and the world.
Shore joined the first info session in October and told the group it could have access to grant money aimed at preventing substance abuse and suicide to fund projects, like building shelves for a community group.
“Everything is about community and that truly is prevention,” she said.
After a meeting in October at the Senior Center, held over cheap eggs Benedict and coffee, the initial group of 13 decided to slate meetings at 8:30 a.m. every other Thursday in the same spot. The goal is to make this chapter stick.
