Bridging the Generational Divide, One Dinner at a Time

Once a month or more, San Antonio residents come together for dinner with strangers. Typically, they gather around tables with fresh flowers and seats for as many as eight people. Pasta or another simple entree is served family-style. Guests talk about people in their lives, their proudest moments, their sources of joy.

Opportunities to break bread are a popular antidote to what many describe as America’s “loneliness crisis”.The Longest Table, a New York-based nonprofit, for example, helps organize communitywide potlucks across the country. But the dinners in San Antonio, hosted by the San Antonio Area Foundation, go further to bring different generations together and challenge assumptions about age.

At each table, as many as five generations sit side by side, from preteens to adults in their 80s and 90s. Members of the Silent Generation swap stories and wisdom with Alphas, teens mix with middle-aged adults, and Gen Z professionals compare notes with Boomers edging toward retirement. 

Eighty-five percent of participants leave saying they made a meaningful connection. 

“Something beautiful and magical happens...We're finding that there is a big yearning for connection.” Jane Paccione, San Antonio Area Foundation Managing Director of Collective Impact 

Researchers report the dinners help reduce isolation for older adults. 

"So much of the conversation about aging and isolation focuses on the problem.” Emily Joy Nicklett, associate professor in social work at the University of Texas at San Antonio

The dinners show “what a solution can look like: modest, replicable, and genuinely enjoyed by participants.”

The Area Foundation launched Generations Over Dinner in 2024 as part of its Successfully Aging and Living in San Antonio, or SALSA, initiative, an ambitious effort to improve life for older residents. More than 70 organizations, government agencies, and businesses are participating in efforts on social connection, caregiving, housing, and more. 

Benefits extend across generations. The 90-minute encounters help knock down stereotypes about the young and the old, says Ginny Brown, executive director of San Antonio Oasis, which offers classes, activities, and service opportunities tailored for retirees and older adults. “They reduce the divisiveness between ages,” says Brown, who has joined Oasis members in several dinners.

Gen Zers lose their reputation as slackers, and seniors are seen with new vitality and value, says Sarah Davis, program associate at the foundation. “The young people see how cool it is to age, and the older generations hear all of these young people so eloquently sharing their passions and excitement for the future.” 

The Area Foundation is on track to host dinners with 200 tables this year — up from 34 last year — with more than 1,400 guests. Partnering with local community organizations, it plans to expand further in 2027. Oasis, meanwhile, is collaborating with a local school district to host lunches with students, Oasis members, and others.

More than 50 guests from the first dinners have trained to serve as facilitators. 

“I wanted to stretch myself and my ability to help people tap into their stories — not forcing them, just inviting them.” Edna Herschberger, a 24-year-old social worker with STCH Ministries.

Some dinner guests are creating events of their own. Allen Blair, a 50-year-old Air Force veteran and a community engagement manager with the San Antonio Spurs basketball team, is planning a dinner for Spurs staff and their families. He has attended several Generations Over Dinner meals, in part because his first experience reminded him of Sunday family dinners when he was growing up. At the foundation’s dinner, the youngest guest was 12, the oldest 82, and the conversation was “really rich.” 

“Everyone left just feeling good.”