ARCH - Aging Resources Consultation Help
Friends Growing Older Together:
'We are all aging — it's what we do!'
The ARCH Program is for Friends in NYYM, NEYM, and beyond, who are facing changes brought by aging — and interested in supportive community to navigate practical, emotional, and spiritual matters.
NYYM: [email protected] / NEYM: [email protected]
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ARCH Book Talk - August 6, 2026. 7 PM
Through Japanese Eyes: Thirty Years of Studying Aging in America.
With Yohko Tsuji
Join Quaker author Yohko Tsuji on Zoom as she presents her research, with a Q&A facilitated by ARCH.
In Through Japanese Eyes, based on her thirty-year research at a senior center in upstate New York, anthropologist Yohko Tsuji describes old age in America from a cross-cultural perspective. Comparing aging in America and in her native Japan, she discovers that notable differences in the panhuman experience of aging are rooted in cultural differences between these two countries, and that Americans have strongly negative attitudes toward aging because it represents the antithesis of cherished American values, especially independence. Tsuji reveals that American culture, despite its seeming lack of guidance for those aging, plays a pivotal role in elders’ lives, simultaneously assisting and constraining them. Furthermore, the author’s lengthy period of research illustrates major changes in her interlocutors’ lives, incorporating their declines and death, and significant shifts in the culture of aging in American society as Tsuji herself gets to know American culture and grows into senescence herself.
Through Japanese Eyes offers an ethnography of aging in America from a cross-cultural perspective based on a lengthy period of research. It illustrates how older Americans cope with the gap between the ideal (e.g., independence) and the real (e.g., needing assistance) of growing older, and the changes the author observed over thirty years of research.
ARCH Foundations Workshop Online, Fall 2026:
Registration Open
ARCH Foundations Workshop: Growing Older Together
Mondays, October 5, 12, 19 and 26 6:30–8:30 PM Eastern · on Zoom
Aging is something we all share — yet it can feel lonely. The ARCH Foundations Workshop invites Friends to explore the gifts and challenges of aging in community, grounding our reflections in mutual care and spiritual connection. Together we’ll practice deep listening, vulnerability, and mutual accompaniment - deepening connections and supporting one another as we navigate the changes of aging. Open to Friends of all ages, abilities, and experiences.There is no cost for any ARCH event. SIgn up here
Monthly Aging Worship Sharing:
The Wisdom of Aging Worship Sharing: How is spirit moving as we age? Join this monthly opportunity for spiritual deepening and gathered worship sharing amongst Friends. First Tuesdays from 9 - 10 a.m. Eastern. On Zoom. For more information and to register, click here.
Join an ARCH Group:
ARCH Groups are ongoing monthly spaces for peer support and community building based on shared interests, experience, and wisdom. ARCH Groups happen on Zoom and are free of charge. The Zoom link and calendar invite will be sent by email when you register by clicking the links below.
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Join the Inside Outside Letter Writing Collective
Connecting incarcerated people within NYYM with Friends on the outside: a mutual ministry that brings connection and understanding to participants on both sides of the walls. Visit the Inside Outside Letter Writing Collective page to find out more and get involved.
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Order a Quaker Values & End of Life Decision Making Workbook
A 2023 revision of the classic ARCH Workbook is out! Information and ordering instructions are here
To have copies of the End Of Life Workbook or A Tender Time mailed to you, please email [email protected]
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Bring an ARCH Workshop to your Meeting, Worship Group, or Region
Workshops can be done in person or on Zoom. A list of potential topics is below, but presentations can be tailored to your community, group, and time frame.
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Spirituality and Aging
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Change as Opportunity (trauma-informed)
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Advance Directives and End of Life Decision Making
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'Share the Care', Developing Care Teams
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'After COVID, What 2?' (body-focused)
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Befriending Grief
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Awakening the Sage Within
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Death Discussions
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Contact an ARCH Local Coordinator
The ARCH Program has 6 part time Local Coordinators to connect Friends and Monthly Meetings to resources in the NYYM and NEYM regions. Currently Local Coordinators are available in New York, Long Island, New Jersey, NorthEast, Purchase Quarter, and for the prisons.
Contact us to make a connection with ARCH in your area.
ARCH is in conversation with NY Quarterly Meeting's Concern for Quaker Living Working Group.
ARCH works with Philadelphia Yearly Meeting on a Quaker Aging Resources webpage.
ARCH endorses Baltimore Yearly Meeting's wonderful book A Tender Time, Quaker Voices on the End of Life.
Take action with Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) to protect Medicaid and SNAP here
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Support ARCH
Are you someone who appreciates the care and nurture of the ARCH program and would like to contribute to our ongoing ministry? Please consider how you can support this work and share your appreciation with others.
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Make a designated financial contribution to support the ARCH program
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Make a contribution to support the integrated ministries of New York Yearly Meeting
Use the links below to
The ARCH Program is made possible by a grant from the Friends Foundation for the Aging and the support of individual contributions.
Please consider donating to ARCH by clicking the link below, or by sending a check to:
NYYM 15 Rutherford Place, NY NY memo: ARCH