There seems to have been a list, written or not, of widows. The church members met these women's needs for shelter, clothing, and food, and these women were expected to devote their lives to serving the Christian community.
As Paul will explain in 5:11-16, widows who were younger than 60 years old might get married again. Therefore the Christian community was to care only for widows who were older than 60. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/translate-numbers]])