Help Uplift Seniors and Combat Loneliness
Join the Harvard Club of Washington DC, LeadingAge DC, and Stoddard Baptist Nursing Home for an exciting community service intitiative that will allow us to safely connect with older adults in DC and provide important support!
In order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, many of us have been practicing social distancing, staying at home, and forgoing in-person visits with friends and family. Increased social isolation and loneliness can negatively impact our health and well-being and older adults are at increased risk for the harmful physical and emotional effects on quality of life caused by feeling isolated from your loved ones. Physical distance is currently very important for public health, but this effort does not have to lead to social isolation. As the holiday season approaches, finding ways to connect virtually with our older neighbors is essential to combatting social isolation and loneliness. Please join your fellow Harvard Club members to support residents at Stoddard Baptist Nursing Home in maintaining social connections throughout this pandemic.
Our goal is to match each Harvard Club volunteer with a Stoddard Baptist Nursing Home resident who would benefit from some additional communication and connection during these challenging times. Through a combination of letters, phone calls, video conferencing, texts, shared photo albums or whichever form of communication works best for you and your resident, we will be able to form meaningful connections that can help counter loneliness. This is also a family friendly event and little ones can contribute by drawing pictures or creating cards to be shared with the residents. This is great opportunity to start talking about giving back and community in a tangible way that kids can relate to, that can also be really fun!
This summer, HCW member Corey Cappelloni ran over 200 miles to see his Nana Ruth at a Scranton nursing home and to help raise awareness about the loneliness and isolation many nursing home residents are facing during the pandemic. He kicked off his run with the support and cheers from the Stoddard Baptist Nursing Home in DC and now you have the opportunity to join him in this critical effort to support our older adults.
If you are interested in volunteering with this important initiative, please click the button below and you will be contacted by the event coordinator with additional instructions. Please contact Community Service Chair Sharifah Holder ’10 at communityservice@harvard-dc.org with any additional questions.
More Information about our Partner Organizations
LeadingAge DC is an organization of not-for-profit, mission-driven senior service providers throughout the District dedicated to making Washington, DC a better place to grow old. LeadingAge DC represents a strong and undiluted voice for not-for-profits in policy, education and public arenas and promotes practices that support, enable and empower people to live fully as they age.
Stoddard Baptist Nursing Home provides elders with a safe and secure place to call home. Founded in 1902, Stoddard Nursing Home is a nursing and medical care facility that cares for hundreds of Washington-area seniors each year. They continue fulfill their mission to serve those in need with compassion, dignity, and grace.