When LaLa Bence retired after more than 25 years as a preschool teacher, she knew she was going to miss being around children.

So when a friend told her about San Diego OASIS’s CATCH Healthy Habits program, she knew she had found her new home. San Diego OASIS is an organization that offers adults age 50 and over with meaningful life activities.

The CATCH Healthy Habits program offers trained volunteers the enjoyable task of facilitating a healthy lifestyles program for elementary school children throughout the San Diego region, from Escondido to Chula Vista.

Bence, who is of Mexican origin, began volunteering for CATCH since September 2011 at the National City Boys and Girls Club. There, she was able to teach mostly Latino children about living a healthier life.

“It was a wonderful experience,” said the 69-year-old. “It was difficult for me to retire, because I wasn’t going to be around children anymore, but this program helped me reunite with children again. It helped me fill the void that I had in my heart.”

It is because of positive community programs like CATCH Healthy Habits that The OASIS Institute, of which San Diego OASIS is part of, was named to the Social Impact 100 Index, a list of the top 100 nonprofit organizations in the United States that have broad social impact. The organizations were nominated and selected based on their track record of developing model programs that demonstrate social impact.

“We’re extremely honored that OASIS has received this honor,” said Simona Valanciute, San Diego OASIS Executive Director. “This validates our belief that people 50 years of age and over are doing great things. This is proof that the stereotype is not true: Adults over 50 are taking care of themselves, and at the same time are helping others live healthier, more meaningful lives.”

Valanciute said that, according to the San Diego Association of Governments, there is more than half a million people over the age of 60 living in the county. That number is expected to double by 2030, she added.

“That’s a third of the county’s total population,” she said. “OASIS is here to really put them to work.”

Valanciute said that at the moment there are 1,000 trained volunteers, not only in the CATCH Health Habits program, but also in tutoring young children and other programs.

“The result is gratifying on both sides,” she said. “Not only are we helping children, but adults can make a positive impact in their own lives.”

Bence is so happy at OASIS, that she is now also tutoring at the Juarez Elementary School. “I get more out of it than the children,” she said, smiling.

Both the OASIS members and young children find equal delight in the after-school interaction. Volunteers and donations for the CATCH Healthy Habits program are always needed.

“In a day, if I get one good laugh I consider myself lucky and these kids have a hundred laughs, every day,” said OASIS member and CATCH coordinator John Dunnicliff. “Children laugh all the time, so I come to CATCH to get my laughs.”

Another Latino member of OASIS is Carlos Arias, a retired engineer who worked all over the world, and currently volunteers at the OASIS office and takes lots of classes at our Mission Valley location.

To these San Diegans, OASIS brings a new meaning to “successful aging.”

“A major trend in healthy living is preventative care,” said Valanciute. “Here at OASIS, we’re a community of people that are invested in each other’s well-being and we’re constantly growing and learning about how to be happier and healthier. We’re more than an organization; we’re a familial community of adults who love life too much to stop growing.”

For more information, visit www.SanDiegoOASIS.org.