Catherine lives 300 miles from the nearest Apple Store. GetSetUp brought the world to her doorstep.

Catherine grew up in Brooklyn, spent decades traveling the country as a national field researcher, and eventually followed a long-held dream to the Pacific Northwest. Today she lives in an Oregon town of about 60,000 people, the kind of place where neighbors plant flowers along the highway, and everyone looks out for each other. She loves it. But it also means the nearest Apple Store is a five-hour drive away, and access to the kinds of classes, communities, and creative outlets that once filled her life can be hard to come by.

That changed in March 2026, when she joined GetSetUp through EasterSeals All Access: From the Heart, a service that helps adults find part-time employment and volunteer opportunities. What she found was far more than job preparation through GetSetUp.

"To me, GetSetUp has just been phenomenal."

Catherine has taken classes across diverse topics from health to arts and crafts, community sessions, meditation, nutrition, technology, and so much more. 

A morning ritual that connects her to the whole country

Before GetSetUp, Catherine's days could feel constrained by geography, by the physical limitations that followed a traumatic brain injury, and by the particular quiet of rural life. The GetSetUp platform cracked that open. Most mornings now, she logs on to say good morning to people across the country, and the exchange energizes her for the day ahead.

"I get to say good morning to people all over the nation, and it's fascinating to hear how everyone is doing. I fill my day with activities that my physical abilities don't limit."

The connections have surprised her in the best ways. Through GetSetUp's Reminisce & Recall sessions, a community session where members share memories from shared eras of American life, Catherine stumbled across something she never expected: neighbors from home. Three people from her original Brooklyn neighborhood, all now living in different neighborhoods, found each other again through the program.

"I met a lady from my neighborhood in Brooklyn at a session. How often do you connect with people like that? And now there are three of us who all came from that same neighborhood."

Technology access, without the five-hour drive

One of Catherine's biggest practical frustrations before GetSetUp was technology. She wanted to understand her devices better, to keep up with a world that seemed to be moving fast, but with no local Apple Store and limited in-person options, learning felt out of reach. 

"The chance to have technology at my fingertips without having to travel five hours, and you can't ask for better friends to share that with."

She's also worked through photography editing classes, sharpened skills she can take into her job search, and even learned how to make a wire tree sculpture in a crafting session guided step by step by a fellow member who knew exactly how to explain the technique. These aren't just hobbies. They're threads in a larger life she is actively, intentionally building.

Writing as a way back to herself

Of everything GetSetUp has offered, Catherine speaks about the writing group with particular tenderness. She describes it as unlike anything she's been part of before; it's a space not for conversation, but for turning inward and putting what's there onto the page.

"The writers group has helped me express emotions that were long suppressed. At the end of the month, we share what we've written: we aren't criticizing, just expressing what each person took away from the writing. Everyone is so moved."

The group was a ripple effect. Catherine had facilitated her own writing group at the local library and introduced it to members on GetSetUp, convinced that the two can complement each other in ways that benefit everyone.

Meeting the body where it is

Recovering from a broken wrist and managing balance challenges that make standing exercise difficult, Catherine was initially uncertain whether GetSetUp's health and wellness offerings would work for her. She didn't think she could participate in the 31 Days to Fitness program at all. Then she discovered it included seated alternatives, and something shifted.

"The instructor had a video just for sitting, and I could do that. It helps ease the stress of feeling limited, knowing there are options."

It's a small thing, perhaps. But for someone navigating a body that doesn't always cooperate, being included rather than accommodated after the fact matters enormously.

A community that shows up and celebrates

Catherine will tell you that GetSetUp isn't just about learning. It's about having a community that notices you, marks your milestones, and shows up in genuinely joyful ways. She describes a birthday celebration she witnessed for an 85-year-old member: participants dressed as Disney princesses, each presenting the story and song from the film their character came from.

"I had never witnessed anything like that. And they offered to do a birthday for me and let me choose a theme. I'm planning to go as Cinderella prior to meeting the prince."

From Friday tea parties to holiday decorating inspiration to the simple ritual of a shared morning greeting, GetSetUp has given Catherine's days shape and warmth. Living alone, she says, can make the holidays feel hollow until she sees what others are doing and feels the pull to join in.

"Everyone on GetSetUp is kind and friendly. It is definitely a safe space."

Bringing the nation together, one class at a time

There's a phrase Catherine returns to again and again: bringing the nation together. It's not an accident. She spent 20 years as a national field researcher, going door to door across every corner of the United States, earning the trust of strangers, listening to their stories. She understood, from that work, how much Americans in different places and circumstances have in common beneath the surface.

GetSetUp, she says, taps directly into that same spirit. The history classes on Saturday mornings. The cross-country conversations in Reminisce & Recall. The neighbors from Brooklyn, she found in a session while she was in Oregon. All of it is a form of connection she spent a career believing in and that she now gets to experience from her living room.

"I love passing on information and bringing the nation together with a great resource like GetSetUp. We have a lot more in common than we think."