Claire Bonfilio spent more than 50 years as a social worker in Brookline, building the kind of human connections that come from decades of showing up for people. When the pandemic shuttered her office in 2020, the 81-year-old suddenly found herself isolated, mourning everything that had defined her life in town.

She found her way back through Neighbors Connect, a membership-based community for middle-income older adults run through Ethos, the Jamaica Plain aging services organization.

"The research says that longevity is associated with two things. One is social connection, and the other is keeping your mind active," Bonfilio said. "For me, [Neighbors Connect] provides both."

The group, formerly called JP@Home, serves about 135 active members across Brookline, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Hyde Park, Mission Hill and Roxbury. Members can join community walks five times a week, monthly dinners, morning brunches, backyard wine and cheese nights, riverboat cruises, live storytelling, and lectures on topics like artificial intelligence. A private app called Band even lets members arrange rides to doctor's appointments or help each other move.

Jamaica Plain resident John Wicker, 81, co-founded the group roughly 15 years ago and hosted more than 40 people in his backyard in June — enough that younger neighbors in his building tease him about throwing the biggest parties around. For Wicker, the stakes of staying connected only grow with age. Friends die, move south, or relocate to continuing-care communities and "just disappear," he said.

Co-founder Anne "Tottie" Gelbspan, a longtime Brookline resident who'd moved to Jamaica Plain, cold-called Ethos director Dale Mitchell to pitch the idea. He asked for 200 signatures of interest before committing. She delivered 70. He launched it anyway. The group is now part of the national Village Movement, which started with Boston's Beacon Hill Village in 2001 and has since grown to more than 360 similar organizations nationwide.

Membership runs $425 to $995 a year depending on tier, with a three-month trial available for full and household memberships. Brookline residents 60 and older can email [email protected], call 617-522-6700 and ask for the JP@Home coordinator, or visit ethocare.org/jphome.