GFU Students Connect with Local Retirement Communities

By: Natascha Lambing

Illustrated by: Carla Cieza Espinoza

A group of compassionate students from George Fox University (GFU) has started a program called Bridge the Generations to help diminish loneliness retirement home residents may be experiencing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bridge the Generations was born out of a business course when Bryn Heikes and her peers were charged with finding “a solution to a problem you’re passionate about.” Heikes said, “I’ve been aware of how COVID is so hard on people in retirement homes, especially during COVID, they can’t even leave their rooms sometimes.”

In most cases, residents of retirement and assisted living communities could not receive visitors following the outbreak of COVID-19. A year later, regulations may have lifted for some locations, but access to residents’ external connections has not returned. An article published last year by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) by a practitioner from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, said, "We're faced with this heart-wrenching tension between protecting the medically fragile older adults from the virus and cutting them off from outside support and connection, which we know is vital to their overall well-being.”

The group of seven students aims to remedy this difficult situation, to “make sure they [the residents] feel seen and loved [...] but doing it safely,” Heikes said. Bridge the Generations pairs a GFU student with a retirement community resident and provides them with the opportunity to write letters to each other. Heikes and her peers began at the beginning of the fall semester by reaching out to the student body, querying for interest. The feedback they received prompted them to reach out to local retirement communities. When both communities responded positively, they began connecting students with retired residents.

Bridge The Generations officially kicked off on Oct. 22. In combination with prior sign-ups and those who committed in late October, Bridge the Generations currently boasts about sixty students, primarily working with residents of Friendsview Retirement Community. Students can drop their letter off at the drop box located in GFU’s library along with their name and box number, where letters are delivered every two weeks. Heikes said “We’re still working on matching students with people,” but “letters are coming in already.”

Interested students can find more information on the Bridge The Generations Instagram, @bridge_the_generations_gfu.