MCLEAN, VA — Generation Union, a Presidential Volunteer Service Award certified nonprofit, has a mission of uniting young people and elderly folks across the greater Washington, D.C. area
“Through youth volunteerism, we aim to uplift elderly mental health — an overlooked issue that has devastating consequences, such as elderly depression and suicidal thoughts,” said Areen Hashemi, the organization’s co-executive director. The Herndon High School student founded Generation Union with Rachel Noh and Emily John, who are both students at McLean High School.
Generation Union hosts social events, such as its Mother’s Day Picnic, Bingo Night,and Pink and Red Hat Party. Through those events, the 501(c)(3) charitable organization’s more than 250 youth volunteers form long-lasting bonds with the elderly.
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Outside of hosting events, Generation Union has led fundraising initiatives, such as the $3,000 it recently raised for Justice in Aging, an organization that improves elderly healthcare.
Patch asked Generation Union’s three founders to share their thoughts about the importance of bringing young and elderly people together and what impact the nonprofit’s efforts have had on both of those groups.
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Why do you think it’s important to unite youth and elderly folk?
AREEN HASHEMI: The New York Times covered a study of 23 intergenerational program studies from nine countries, and concluded that those initiatives reduced elderly depression and even improved elderly physical health as well.
That is Generation Union’s exact mission: bettering elderly mental health. Unfortunately, many elderly people in retirement communities experience loneliness and neglect. As a mental health advocate myself, I know the mental health advocacy space is growing, but elderly mental health is overlooked. What Generation Union hopes to accomplish through our social events is to show everyone — regardless of age, disabilities, etc. — that they are worthy; that they belong.
A beautiful example of community-building and belonging that I witnessed was with a senior at Pacifica, Helen, who has hearing difficulties; whenever we played Bingo, she felt embarrassed that I had to repeat numbers or show her the Bingo card I called out. When Kirsten, our volunteer who is fluent in American Sign Language, learned about this, she started volunteering regularly and became Helen’s best friend. Kirsten signed the letters and numbers whenever we played Bingo so that Helen could play too!
Although small and simple, our events act as a beacon of light for elderly folk and work to create an inclusive community where everyone feels loved.
RACHEL NOH: To give a little bit of context, my inspiration for starting this type of volunteer work were personal experiences involving my grandparents’ diagnosis with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’S — both age-related and neurodegenerative disorders. By learning more about age-related disease, I was introduced to the world of senior care, and I would spend time on weekends volunteering at my local nursing homes or memory care centers.
Through conversing with the care managers and nurses there, I found an extremely prevalent but unfortunate issue for many senior citizens is lack of social connection. While senior living facilities do a great job of fostering community, a common issue is that families drop off their senior relatives, then are unable or unwilling to visit and spend time with them, causing a lot of elderly residing in these homes to feel isolated from the world. It has been proven that social isolation and loneliness cause or worsen serious health issues, like dementia, which have no cure.
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Because of these cases, social connection can do a great deal. We find senior residents absolutely love spending time with our youth volunteers, and extremely value the friendships and connections they make. Intergenerational friendships are becoming increasingly less common, but they are so special in that they foster a unique exchange of experiences and perspectives, which Generation Union encourages completely.
EMILY JOHN: My inspiration to start Generation Union came from my personal experience with my grandmother. My grandmother and I had a language barrier as she spoke Malayalam and I only spoke English so it was hard for us to communicate on our own, she also wasn’t very technology adept so we had trouble interacting with each other and staying in close contact. In addition the generational gap made it extremely difficult for us to relate to each other and my grandmother’s mental health suffered as a result. However, eventually we were able to connect through my teaching her how to use technology and the bonding experience we got from this really closed the generational gap between us and allowed us to form a meaningful connection. Growing close to my grandmother inspired me to do the same with others. This journey between my grandmother and I really taught me the importance of limiting generational gaps and connecting the youth and elderly.
What do you find most gratifying/fulfilling about the work Generation Union does?
HASHEMI: At the recent Mother’s Day luncheon that Generation Union hosted, Hoop and I were blinking back tears as we were beyond overwhelmed by how grateful and happy the residents at Waltonwood were by our simple gesture. We had no idea how many mothers were unable to celebrate with their children and grandchildren. As immigrants, Hoop and I live about 7,000 kilometers away from our grandmas. Being able to spend mother’s day with grandmas who were also distant from their grandchildren was double heartwarming, as we related to their sense of longing; we were honored to make their special day a bit more special over food and heartwarming conversations.
Through volunteering, we see firsthand the impact us volunteers make, and the kindness we share is reciprocated. I believe that is the most invaluable and gratifying part of my work with Generation Union.
NOH: One of the driving factors to starting Generation Union was to help solve that issue of social disconnectedness that elderly folk living in nursing homes often face. We offer senior residents a sense of companionship and friendship. Senior residents and their care managers comment a lot that they don’t really see a lot of younger people, and seeing how Generation Union is able to create those meaningful connections and joy between younger and older generations has been an honor to be a part of.
It has also been wonderful to see the progress that Generation Union has made over the years. At the start, we were a smaller group volunteering at local nursing homes in Northern Virginia. We’ve been able to expand our mission and impact through our presence in a number of high schools and a university around the world, which has been amazing to see.
JOHN: I find the bonds made along the way the most gratifying part about the work we do. For me personally, I met a really important friend and mentor along the way at our Easter arts and crafts event. I was able to make a personal bond with a woman named Diane and exchange life stories with her. I’ve had a plethora of volunteers tell me they have made meaningful bonds with various seniors along the way and it’s great to learn about their lives and make a new friend along the journey. It is so fulfilling to see the seniors laugh and smile as they interact with volunteers and just seeing those bonds being actively made is so special.
More information can be found online at Generation Union or via Instagram.
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