Strangers are calling older adults stuck at home during pandemic — just to talk

Strangers are helping older adults ward off loneliness and feelings of isolation while being stuck inside due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Across the country, volunteers are calling to chat with adults in high-risk age groups whose families may not be able to visit them.

Last month, the city of Plano, Texas, launched a program in which city staff make bi-weekly calls to older adults to check-in, answer questions and connect them to resources in the community, according to a news release.

“It’s really just to give them a social outlet that they might not have otherwise,” Holly Ryckman told the Associated Press.

Ryckman works for the library and is one of roughly 15 city staffers on the call team. The group makes about 50 calls a week, according to the outlet.

“It gets pretty lonely here by yourself,” Dell Kaplan, 81, told the AP, adding that while she talks regularly to her family, the calls give her something to enjoy “besides the usual.”

Solano County, California, has launched a similar program.

Volunteers, including nursing students from a nearby community college, call hundreds of residents age 60 and older as well as those with disabilities to check-in, answer questions and ensure they have the assistance and resources they need, according to a county news release posted by Patch.com.

The Maryland Department of Aging offers “warm calls” for older adults in the state who want to discuss challenges — emotional, financial or logistical — that have arisen during the pandemic, WAMU reported.

AARP’s Friendly Voices program lets older adults across the country sign up to receive calls from volunteers who just want to say hello, the company said online.

The program lets people choose when they receive their calls between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on week days.

“I get off the phone with a smile,” Friendly Voices volunteer Laurie Onofrio-Collier told The AP.

The Friendly Voices team also helps connect older adults with practical needs, according to the outlet. One volunteer even helped a woman play checkers online with her grandchild.

In Rochester, New York, more than 300 volunteers with Lifespan call older adults in the area to connect, WHAM reported.

“They’re sort of like extended family now,” Lifespan’s Deb Palumbos told the outlet. “March 17 was the first day. Now we have 328 volunteers, all different ages, wanting to connect with an older adult.”

Volunteers are screened before being matched with an adult, WHAM reported. Some get three calls a day, others get three a week.

“Some people just want to hear another voice, someone else’s opinion, someone to chat with,” Palumbos told WHAM, adding that some volunteers like to exchange jokes and sing with members of the program.

Some members fear suffering a health crisis alone and find comfort in knowing someone is checking in on them, according to the outlet.

“We get wonderful stories that come back,” she told WHAM. “Those who receive the call say ‘You’re the only one checking on me. You’re the bright part of my day.’”

This story was originally published May 18, 2020 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Strangers are calling older adults stuck at home during pandemic — just to talk."