Courtesy of City of Dublin
While on a long-distance phone call with his grandmother in India, Dublin Jerome High School senior Viraj Bajoria had an idea.
“She was telling me about how lonely she was, and she was saying that one of the things she looked forward to during the week was talking to me over the phone,” he says. “I thought about how a lot of the senior citizens are probably feeling lonely, especially because of their vulnerability to COVID.”
Bajoria recognized that while his grandparents have family to talk to, many older adults may not, or may desire additional relationships outside of the family – especially as the isolating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.
Already a student ambassador with Forever Dublin, part of the city’s initiative to provide resources to aging citizens, Bajoria proposed to the organization a program that pairs teens with older adults for conversation and friendship, dubbing it the Dublin Teen Buddy program.
“It’s kind of blossomed into exactly what he envisioned,” says Shannon Maurer, volunteer coordinator for the city of Dublin. “The idea was to help combat isolation during the pandemic.”
Forever Dublin grew out of Dublin’s Aging in Place Plan, which was formed in 2019 to offer older adults access to information and resources related to transportation, health and social interactions. Dublin partnered with Syntero to provide a Forever Dublin Hub where residents can seek out resources for themselves or others from an on-site staff member.
The Teen Buddy program is a natural extension of those services. Forever Dublin identified interested older adults while Bajoria became a teen leader for the project and sought potential buddies. Before long, the buddy pairs were getting to know each other.
“It was actually really easy,” Bajoria says. “It turned into really normal conversation. I personally never thought I’d create such a meaningful friendship with someone who I’d never met before, let alone them being much older than me. We give each other updates on our lives, suggestions, even advice.”
Looking For a Friend
Photo courtesy of City of Dublin
Buddies Carl Koch and Viraj Bajoria
After Carl Koch’s wife of nearly 68 years, Ann, died four years ago, he needed a new way to get out and make friends. He says he found connections through senior centers, recreation centers and church groups, but the pandemic posed a new set of obstacles.
“I’m a people person,” Koch says. “I like people and I just like to be around people and do things. It was bothering me to be isolated and not have anything to do or people to deal with.”
The pandemic left many older adults feeling lonely and lacking in social interaction, he says.
“It’s like you’re out in the middle of the desert with no direction to go,” Koch says.
When he was approached about participating in the Teen Buddy program, he was glad to do so. Koch says he appreciated the idea of having another friend but also wanted to share the history and knowledge he had with a younger person.
“I feel that young people today really have to know a little bit about what the real world is like,” Koch says. “They don’t know what the past was and what life used to be like when we were younger. … They need to know this. It’s a part of our history.”
Koch was paired with Bajoria through the buddy program and the two became fast friends.
Like the other buddies, the two first introduced themselves through letters and then adopted whatever methods of communication they were comfortable with. While it was unsafe for buddy pairs to physically sit down together during the pandemic, they exchanged emails or phone calls and the teens occasionally dropped off gifts. Some were even able to arrange window visits during which a teen visited their buddy from outside their window.
The buddies had their first in-person meeting in early August.
Teaching Together
Koch describes Bajoria as an impressive and intelligent young man. Bajoria, for his part, was fascinated by Koch’s history but also surprised at how well he adapted to the pandemic.
“He was telling me how much fun he was having with his friends, and that kind of made me think, ‘How can I have fun with my friends despite COVID?’” Bajoria says. “He was making it work with his friends, he had weekly things set up, so I started to think, ‘OK, the pandemic is still there. How can I make it work despite it?’”
Like Koch, Bajoria found himself isolated by the pandemic as well. He was attending classes virtually, not seeing friends and rarely having interactions outside of his home. The Teen Buddy program helped him connect with someone beyond that limited bubble.
Maurer says the Forever Dublin team observed a similar experience with other buddy participants – the teens were gaining as much as they’d planned to give.
“I think it started as the teens looking at this as a volunteer opportunity, but it really did turn into a mutually beneficial experience,” she says.
The success of the buddies has inspired Forever Dublin and Bajoria to continue the program. The inaugural group of buddies had their first in-person meeting in August and most of the participants – including the teens transitioning to college – plan to continue regular communications with their buddies.
“I’ve heard feedback from (the other teens) about how they’re able to share their problems with their buddies and their buddy acts like a mentor and gives them advice, so they kind of have a pretty meaningful relationship,” Bajoria says. “It feels great that a bridge is being formed between generations.”
Cameron Carr is an associate editor. Feedback welcome at ccarr@cityscenemediagroup.com.
