Aimée Hayes has spent her career in the theater as a director and producer, shaping narratives and bringing stories to life on stage. Now, she is using her passion for storytelling to advocate for an often-overlooked population: aging artists.
As Hayes and her husband Tim Sanford—both lifelong theater professionals—witnessed a decline in opportunities for older playwrights, they felt compelled to take action.
“Theater is about language,” Hayes said, “it’s about the writer. And there’s nothing more difficult than a writer whose work isn’t being read.”
Recognizing that older theater artists were losing opportunities to have their plays produced and discussed, Hayes and her husband built The Tent Theater Company as a collaborative space where these artists could find support and a creative community. The organization took shape through direct engagement with playwrights, offering them readings as well as a space to exchange ideas and foster artistic growth.
Now, Hayes hopes to bolster what she’s learned throughout this experience with academic theory and knowledge by pursuing her Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) degree at Fordham.
“I love what I’m learning,” Hayes said. “I love learning about human beings, why we do what we do, how we fail our communities, how we support them. It’s just invigorating.”
A Natural Transition
Hayes’s social work journey is a natural extension of her passion for creating community in the theater world. Understanding the humanistic motivations and desires of an actor is key to any good director, and the same holds true for social workers and their clients.
“It’s so funny how it parallels so beautifully, understanding humans and what they need,” she said.
Her personal service work didn’t start with The Tent. Hayes lived in New Orleans following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, seeing firsthand how the destruction rattled the community in unprecedented ways. The community relied on one another to rebuild.
Hayes, working at the time as the producing artistic director at Southern Rep Theater, formed partnerships with organizations helping restore the city. The Theater showed plays with elements of social justice to stand in solidarity with the community. It was a powerful moment.
“It helped me see that when we’re helping each other, and working together, we can rebuild,” she said. “That’s how you get back. That’s how you regain your stride.”
Watching her city bounce back, and the work it took to get there, had a profound effect on Hayes. While the theater was an incredible resource for sharing narratives of success and loss, it was missing a hands-on element Hayes desired. She wanted to be on the frontlines of direct service.
“I want to do something that’s substantive, and there’s so much need,” she said. “I want to be person-to-person with people, helping them get what they need—whether that’s comfort, solace, case management, or goods. Social work was the way into that.”
Aligning with a Humanist Approach
Hayes chose Fordham for its Jesuit roots and commitment to a humanist approach. A graduate of Loyola University, Hayes associated Jesuit institutions with rigorous academics and healthy classroom debate—both of which, she said, are vital to a student’s growth.
“There was always room for discussion,” she said about the Jesuit teaching style at Loyola. “I don’t need to agree with you. Let’s grapple with ideas.”
However, a moment of doubt on the NYC subway almost turned Hayes around—literally. On her way to Fordham’s Lincoln Center for the first day of class, Hayes’s nerves kicked in. She considered getting off the train and heading back home.
“I had a moment of, ‘I can’t do this,’” she said. “[But] As soon as I got into class and met everybody, I thought, ‘These people are just like me. We’re all in service to the same goal.’ And that was so life-affirming.”
Now, Hayes is glad she stayed on that train, and is taking advantage of everything Fordham—and social work—has to offer. She’s traveling to London this summer as part of the GSS Summer London Program. In addition, she’s currently interning at the City Bar Justice Center, where she works with clients through the federal pro se program, providing case management services.
And that’s not all: Hayes has officially been accepted into Fordham’s prestigious Palliative Care Fellowship for her second year. Starting in September, she and her cohort will receive specialized coursework and field training to prepare them for working with older adults who need palliative care services. Hayes said she is even considering doctoral studies after graduation.
“Maybe there is research I can do with the Tent members,” she said. “There’s not a lot of research about how artists age. There’s a lot about how audiences receive art or what they think about art as they age, but how do artists, age, and what do they need to do that?”
Far from that moment of doubt on the subway, Hayes said she feels like she is right where she belongs in the program.
“I felt at home right away with the professor and the class, and I thought, ‘These people will be part of my life for the rest of my life,” she said. “That’s a gift.”
