The Emeryt [Pensioner] Foundation from Warsaw was founded in 1992 in order to integrate senior citizens and encourage them to support each other. Every year some 1,400 individuals take advantage of various forms of assistance. The Foundation co-finances medications and provides material and financial support to those in need. Twice a year - before Christmas and Easter - there are public charity actions called the Charity Days. During those meetings seniors who live alone and are underprivileged receive food coupons and gifts, while seniors groups give performances. There are regular meetings of the D±b [Oak] Club held at the Foundation, and trips, cinema and theater evenings, meetings with doctors and lawyers are organized. Through lobbying activities, the Pensioner Foundation tries to protect the interest of senior citizens.
Association of Single Pensioners and Disabled, in 1996 in a former school building on the outskirts of the village of Proboszyn, organized a house for senior homeless individuals. The home houses some 10 people, giving residents not only a place of residence, meals and everyday care, but also warmth and emotional support. There are also individuals who lived through dramatic life experiences, sometimes physically or mentally ill. Residents perform almost all daily routines in the house, thanks to which they know not only to take, but also to share something with others.
Self-Help Association of Seniors from the Antoniuk Borough in Bialystok was founded in 1993. Seniors from the Association visit other less active seniors offering daily help or repairs of house appliances (some 40 people are visited). Regularly there are meetings with a psychologist, a lawyer, social workers, a doctor, Members of Parliament. For the past six years the Association has organized summer vacation for seniors and their grandchildren in the gardens belonging to the seniors for 40-50 people. All work is done by participants themselves. During the vacation, seniors cook, play games, go on walks, sit by the bonfire, and exercise together. The largest annual event organized by the Association is the Seniors' Day, in which 500 people participate. During the ten years of operation, 127 seniors were convinced they should actively contribute.
Self-Help Association of Seniors from the Antoniuk Borough in Bialystok, starting in 1993, has published the periodical Usmiech Seniora [A Senior's Smile]. The quarterly is edited with the participation of senior citizens and deals with the issues of life in the senior age. It informs about interesting events in the region, presents the life of seniors abroad, publishes health and legal advice. The work of other seniors' associations from Bialystok is presented, and literature by seniors is published. U¶miech Seniora has a print-run of 300 copies and is distributed free-of-charge.