Old folks, as Arnold Perry puts it, deserve to be needed. At Lemington Community Services in the basement at Cornerstone Baptist Church, the lines are cast to hook and reel them in.

Mr. Perry, a longtime neighborhood activist, hatched a plot with Joy Starzl, the nonprofit's executive director, to enlist the elderly in the fight against decline and ennui -- the neighborhood's and their own -- by offering help, asking for help and just having fun.

To its lineup of birthday breakfasts, bingo, card games, coffeehouses, happy hours and a men's club, the nonprofit has added regular fishing excursions this summer, thanks to a $5,000 grant from Pittsburgh 250. It is targeted to older men, but women and several younger men came along on the first Sunday afternoon of fishing and picnicking recently in North Park.

"Most of our homeowners are older folks," Mr. Perry said. "We want to tap into their talents and their abilities with a call to come out and be part of changing the neighborhood back."

Mr. Perry got involved in March, "when Miss Starzl sent me out to meet everybody in a six-square-block area" from the church at Lincoln and Campania avenues. "I knocked on doors -- homes, churches, stores. I've met everyone on the Lincoln Avenue corridor."

The neighborhood's well-being has sunk over decades, with vacancies and plant growth that cast an oddly rural glow over the urban decay. One of the city's largest neighborhoods in area, it officially has three names -- Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar -- but its social service advocates are trying to distill it into a village.

More than 50 elderly people participate in the nonprofit's activities, and a younger component of volunteers -- the Go-Getters -- help them by weeding gardens, mowing lawns, fixing door hinges, making repairs and doing home maintenance chores.

"Our goal is to help seniors stay in their homes in the safest possible way," said Ms. Starzl. Her agency also dispenses information about predatory lending, Medicare and services available for the elderly, and trains people as caregivers.

Ms. Starzl said the agency also hopes to get city-owned houses to repair and resell and vacant lots for gardens, and to raise money to buy the former Lemington Home for the Aged.

Helping people live at home and feel better is the everyday work.

"Depression is a serious unspoken problem among older African-American men," she said.

Mr. Perry rallies his men's group, his "church without walls," to meet in people's homes "or wherever we're needed."

At the fishing outing, he said, "This is church, too."

Amid the laughter and the teasing -- "Is that a fish or bait?" -- the camaraderie extended to men whom Mr. Perry has brought into the group as consultants.

John Mosley, a licensed counselor and retired professor of psychology, has worked with Mr. Perry on a community garden project. Andrew Petersen, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, joined the men's club after meeting Mr. Perry at a track meet.

Mr. Petersen said he is sympathetic to Mr. Perry's vision to help older African-American men get out, interact with younger people and discuss spiritual issues.

"A lot of African-American men don't like church, but there's a need for them to understand their purpose and identity," he said.

Among those at the fishing outing was Paul Henry, of Penn Hills, who said he just came for the fellowship.

"I don't even have a fishing pole," said Mr. Henry, sitting in a lawn chair, looking out at the lake. "I just came out to be with this group."