Elder Exchange Program - City of Longmont

In 2025 the City of Longmont’s Senior Center launched an Elder Exchange program with the Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Indian Reservation. In this first-of-its-kind program, elders from both communities met to honor, preserve and amplify elder wisdom across Native and non-Native cultures and communities. This program builds upon the historic Sister Cities relationship formed between the City of Longmont and the Northern Arapaho in 2021. The intention of the program is to build long-lasting relationships between elders and families of both communities.

“We feel extremely honored to be able to help build these powerful and important connections,” said Senior Services Manager Ronnie Maynes. “We hope to promote healing and reconciliation by acknowledging past traumas – both personal and historical – and to highlight the hopes we share for our communities and children.”

2026 Elder Exchange

Details coming in Q2, 2026.

2025 Elder Exchange Video

In March 2025, Northern Arapaho Elders from the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming traveled to Longmont, CO for the first Elder Exchange between these two Sister Cities. The City of Longmont was established on land once inhabited by the Northern Arapahoe’s ancestors. A few months later, Seniors from Longmont travelled to the Wind River reservation to visit and re-connect with their new friends. This video chronicles the visits and honors the lasting friendships made.

During the March 2025 visit to Longmont, Northern Arapaho elders and their families participated in a series of events including a welcome dinner at the Longmont Museum, a visit to the History Colorado Center’s Sand Creek Massacre exhibit and attendance at the Denver March Powwow. In July 2025, Longmont seniors traveled to the Wind River Reservation where they visited the Thermopolis hot springs and Sinks Canyon State Park, learned about the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative and were honored guests at the Ethete Powwow.

Three people visit a Museum exhibit as part of the elder exchange between the Northern Arapaho and the City of Longmont

Two women work together on a quilt as part of the elder exchange between the Northern Arapaho and the City of Longmont

Several people sit in the Longmont Museum artium as part of the City of Longmont's Elder Exchange program with guests from the Wind River Reservation, 2025.

Dozens of people are seated in the Longmont Museum atrium as part of the elder exchange between the Northern Arapaho and the City of Longmont

Contact

For more information about the exchange, please contact Senior Services Manager Ronnie Maynes at 303-651-8411.