Beyond family: How older Americans living alone rely on those willing to help

Gardner (right) lives alone in a Chicago condominium complex. Loverde (left), an elder-care specialist, lives in the same building and is Stern's friend. — Photo: JOY LOVERDE/TNS

DONALD Hammen, 80, and his longtime next-door neighbour in south Minneapolis, Julie McMahon, have an understanding. Every morning, she checks to see whether he’s raised the blinds in his dining room window. If not, she’ll call Hammen or let herself into his house to see what’s going on.

Should McMahon find Hammen in a bad way, she plans to contact his sister-in-law, who lives in a suburb of Des Moines. That’s his closest relative. Hammen never married or had children, and his younger brother died in 2022.