'Adopt-A-Resident': Local students connect with senior citizens through virtual pen pal program

LAS CRUCES – In an effort to connect students and New Mexico senior citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic, a J. Paul Taylor Academy parent started a virtual pen pal program with hopes to expand the inter-generational communication within the area.

Heidi Moccia, a local health insurance broker dealing with Medicare insurance, has two daughters enrolled at JPTA. She said the idea for “Adopt-A-Resident” came to her through her work and experiences of friends not being able to communicate with their family members face-to-face during the pandemic shut down.

“It was just kind of an idea, and we said, ‘Well, I don’t have a solution. I don’t have it all worked out, but I think that there is a need and maybe we can, you know, kind of help a little,’” Moccia said.

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She contacted Haciendas at Grace Village and JPTA. Five sixth-graders, including Moccia’s daughter, agreed to volunteer for four weeks toward the end of the school’s fourth quarter in May. Ten residents were involved in the pilot version of the project.

Moccia said residents were excited after the first call when they found out the students were going to continue calling. Both residents and middle schoolers started becoming friends through weekly, hour-long Zoom meetings.

Gary Coppedge, CEO of Haciendas at Grace Village, said while in-person visitation is the best, residents have enjoyed the virtual pen pal program and getting to know the students.

And written letters are still being exchanged between residents and students at Oñate High School. Students involved with the student council started the written pen pal program in May to help older members of the community during the pandemic.

"The written letter is good, but being able to see somebody's facial expressions and being able to talk to them just adds another level of personal engagement," Coppedge said.

Related: Oñate students become pen pals with residents of Haciendas at Grace Village

Once summer break started and scheduling conflicts were added into the mix, Moccia said three participants in the program -- Addie, Amelia and Gaia -- decided to continue the calls through their time off from school. The students were a little nervous at first, Moccia said, because they were talking to strangers. But now, students are sharing their pets and more with residents.

“Last week, one of the students sang to the residents while we were on the call,” Moccia said. “One of the residents was very emotional getting to listen to that, so we’ve talked about letting them, you know, play their instruments or figuring out how to do some other … virtual games that they can interact with.”

She said one student painted rocks with birds, flowers and other images that the residents liked. The rocks were delivered to the residents and were one of the topics of conversation on their talk Wednesday, July 15.

Moccia said there are plans in the works to grow the effort to include all 24 seventh-grade students at the school in the coming weeks. She said she is working with Jamie Sells, physical education and health teacher at JPTA, to implement the calls into the social and emotional learning component of the school’s curriculum by highlighting empathy and social and emotional learning.

Moccia added that the virtual pen pal program has the potential to expand to even more grade levels, schools and senior facilities in the future.

JPTA Executive Director Eric Ahner said he thinks the virtual program is a positive effort and does not "see any reasons that it would necessarily have to be limited" to only the seventh-grade class. However, in transitioning classes to online delivery, Ahner said JPTA would have to make decisions that would move their students forward in their education without creating gaps.

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"If that can be integrated into a program like this, where we're making connections with other community members in a positive way, then I think there is a double positive in play," Ahner said. "And I hope that we can continue to find creative ways of connecting to our community. I think that's an obligation that all public schools have."

Moccia can be reached by email at [email protected] if any individuals, groups or senior-serving organizations are interested in getting involved in the virtual pen pal program.

Other pen pal programs

Other facilities in the area have adopted more traditional pen pal programs that community members can join, including The Village at Northrise and Solstice Senior Living at Las Cruces.

Veronica Cordova-Lucero, director of admissions and marketing at The Village at Northrise, started a pen pal program to help alleviate anxiety, depression, lack of sleep and lack of eating that many residents are experiencing while isolated. She said she has more than 60 community participants ranging "from students to seniors to people in the community who are also dealing with this difficult time being isolated or quarantined at home."

Once contacted, she sends the volunteer the resident's name, address with apartment number and a description of the resident, so the volunteer can write the first letter and begin the communication. Cordova-Lucero can be reached by phone at 575-556-6102 or by email at [email protected].

Cristy Ballard, senior vice president for sales and marketing for Solstice Senior Living, said the company quickly implemented a pen pal program at their 32 communities in the country in March to keep their residents connected to the "outside world." She said employees at their locations also started doing decorated theme carts, such as game carts or happy hour carts, to keep the residents active and give them something to look forward to.

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"We have popcorn carts, where it's not like the machine, but it's like we package the popcorn and then deliver it to them," Ballard said. "We have dance carts, where we've got like a jam box with music and we're going down the hall and everybody's getting out into where their door frame is, and then we have someone within social distance instruct them on...exercises."

While she said the disruption in routine leads to inevitable disappointment in not being able to see family members, Solstice employees do what they can to connect residents and family through Zoom and conference calls. She said that, in some communities, residents are sent care packages with word search books, puzzles and other items to show residents they are being thought of.

Ballard said Solstice is open to ideas from the community as to entertainment for their residents, such as outdoor music performances, which she said the residents greatly enjoy, or parades. If the Las Cruces community is interested in sharing ideas, sending care packages or pen pal letters, they can contact the Las Cruces executive director by phone at 575-222-8094.

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The New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Care Department also has its Create and Connect Campaign, designed to connect community members with aging and long-term care residents throughout the state through letters and pre-recorded videos that are distributed along with food boxes. However, letter writers are advised to wash their hands before writing the letter, use a regular-sized envelope, write legibly and not lick the envelope to seal it. Letters can be sent to:

ALTSD

Create and Connect Campaign

8500 Menaul Blvd. NE, Suite B-350

Albuquerque, NM 87112

Leah Romero is a fellow with the New Mexico Local News Fund and can be reached at [email protected] or @rromero_leah on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: 'Adopt-A-Resident': Local students connect with senior citizens through virtual pen pal program

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