Hello everyone. My name is Matt, I’m the Clinic Manager of Fourth Street Clinic’s Medically Vulnerable People (MVP) Program in Sandy, Utah. I was asked to write something in honor of Healthy Aging Month this September.
As I step into my mid-40s, I’ve found myself thinking more about what it means to live well and age healthily. These days, a yoga mat has somehow earned a permanent spot next to my bed for nightly stretching, which may be one of the clearest signs that I’m officially entering this conversation.
Perhaps healthy aging isn’t only about adding years to our lives; perhaps it’s about how we respond to life changes, redefine ourselves and find meaningful purpose. I learned that from a woman I met years ago at the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi. She had lost her husband, became separated from her children and was forced to leave her country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. She was also living with HIV and had undergone a double mastectomy after breast cancer. Like many of the women I met there, she was rebuilding her life while carrying unimaginable loss.
Despite her circumstances, she was warm, social and full of strength; people naturally looked to her for leadership. What struck me most was not simply what she had been through, but how she chose to move forward. She recognized and worked to solve a problem in her community – people living with HIV were struggling to access their medications safely and privately when the local system exposed names and subjected them to stigma.
Think about that for a moment. Here was a woman in her 50s, living in a refugee camp, grieving the loss of her husband, separated from her children, living with HIV and a survivor of breast cancer. Yet, she was still serving, leading and looking for ways to make life better for someone else. She was aging with purpose.
My experience with her changed how I think about aging. Purpose doesn’t require perfect circumstances; it can be found in extraordinary things, but it is more often found in ordinary ones: caring for a loved one, mentoring someone younger, volunteering, creating, teaching, serving our community or simply being present for someone who needs us.
That idea is something I think about often in my work at Fourth Street Clinic’s MVP Program. Our patients are experiencing homelessness and navigating some of life’s most difficult circumstances, and while medical stabilization is an important part of what we do, so is creating a space for people to reconnect with themselves and their sense of possibility.
For someone who has experienced homelessness or housing insecurity, healthy aging can look different. It means having consistent access to things we often take for granted: healthcare and medication, a safe and stable place to live, or simply being surrounded by people who know your name and care about your wellbeing. These foundations make it possible to focus on more than just survival.
We see that in the MVP program every day. Connection is created through community town halls and gardening boxes, or even games of bingo. Life-skills, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), movement and stress-management groups build confidence. Access to cleaning supplies, laundry and private bathrooms gives patients the ability to care for their own space and reclaim a sense of independence. These things may seem small, but they create opportunities to choose and take pride in daily life.
The woman I met in Malawi taught me that purpose can survive experiences that would make many of us feel defeated. Even after profound loss, there can still be something worth building, someone worth helping and a community worth serving. Our patients in the MVP Program are navigating circumstances they did not choose – but they have taught me that our circumstances do not define who we are or diminish what we have to offer: stories, experiences, wisdom and compassion.
These are things I remember when I think about healthy aging. It is not just about taking care of our physical health or adding years to our lives. It is about having the opportunity to stay connected, maintain independence and continue to find purpose. For some people, that may mean solving a problem and leading change in a community. For others, it may be tending a garden, learning something new or simply having a safe place to rest and recover.
At Fourth Street Clinic and the MVP Program, I see every day how important those opportunities are.
Written by: Matt Haroldsen, MVP Clinic Manager