LETTERS AGAINST ISOLATION
Send Self-Isolating Seniors Letters to Brighten Their Days!
ABOUT
Hi! We are Shreya and Saffron. During the current Covid-19 crisis, we’ve been doing our best to support our self-isolating grandparents by calling them every day.
We realized that without visitors or the ability to interact with the wider world, many senior citizens may be growing lonely. Senior loneliness is a well-documented issue and has effects not only on seniors’ mental health but on their physical health. We believed that we could do something to help this situation. We decided to spread some joy and write handwritten letters to residents of assisted living facilities and care homes. When growing demand for letters outpaced us, we started Letters Against Isolation.
HOW LETTERS AGAINST ISOLATION WORKS
If you decide to get involved, once a week, we will send you the address of an elderly care facility in the continental US. You’ve got the fun job of writing as many letters as you would like to! You can write about whatever you would like, but remember that these letters will be brightening days; try to make them cheerful, and be creative! Do not include your address, phone number or anything else that would identify yourself and do not send gifts. If you are in need of ideas, please feel free to contact us as lettersagainstisolation@gmail.com. We welcome younger volunteers to send decorated cards.
When you finish writing your letters, carefully copy the address onto your envelope(s), and mail your letters! Once you’ve mailed your letters, let us know at lettersagainstisolation@gmail.com how many letters you sent. This is really important as it allows us to work with the senior centers, and allocate volunteers more efficiently.
SHREYA PATEL
Co-Founder
Shreya is an incoming freshman at Washington University in St. Louis. She is interested in entrepreneurship and serving her community.
SAFFRON PATEL
Co-Founder
Saffron Patel is a 10th grader at the Buckingham Browne and Nichols school in Cambridge. She loves STEM, photography, and is passionate about volunteering in her community.
GET INVOLVED!
Get in touch with Letters Against Isolation to learn more about our work and how you can get involved.
Letters Against Isolation has been written about in newspapers like The Washington Post and on online news platforms like The New York Times, featured on news channels like CBS 8, and shouted out on the podcast Wonderful.