When Allison Baskin first visited Main Street from California, she immediately felt a sense of community. Her younger sister, Maddie, participates in several Main Street programs—Food for Thought, Commanders Club, Link Up, Friday Vibes and Sunday Social—and uses the fitness center. “I know the things that Maddie really likes and I just saw all of those at Main Street,” Allison says. “It was really cool to see lots of people that share some of her interests.”
Allison’s older sister, Elle, is a facilitator for Food for Thought and Sunday Social and a Main Street Pro member. “We take everything Main Street gives us and we try to extend it and expand and keep it going in our lives well after the program has ended,” she says. “We took the gratitude books we got at Food for Thought and we’ve been writing in them ever since. Ours are full.” Elle and Maddie are hoping to start a book club soon at Main Street. Maddie is an avid reader—she’s currently listening to five audiobooks, “and then I’m reading one book-book,” she says.
The Baskin girls have always been close. Growing up, they’d spend summers at the pool (“every day from morning till night,” Maddie says), ride bikes through their Kensington neighborhood, and learn all the songs from Disney musicals. “I remember playing hide-and-seek in the department stores through all the clothing racks,” Elle says. For Maddie, a sister was a “built-in best friend.”
These days, with Allison on the West Coast, the sisters talk nearly every day and lean on one another for emotional support. “Sometimes I just need somebody who understands me at a deeper level to laugh with me,” Allison says. “Sometimes all you can do is laugh, right Maddie?” Elle adds. “Get a good chuckle in.”
