In the quiet of a shutdown, students and seniors forge new friendships

A program called Grandma’s Hands has begun hosting virtual dinner parties as a means of connecting and engaging with Black grandmothers during the coronavirus pandemic. Funded by a grant from the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the program also helps connect participants with fresh produce from Black- and Indigenous-run farms in the Portland area.

What started as a small group of young adults wanting to help their aging parents navigate telehealth during the coronavirus pandemic, is now a multi-state program that provides devices to seniors and low-income people as a way to close the digital divide. The group has grown to over 300 volunteers and partners with local health care providers, who in turn help their patients set up their new devices provided by the organization.

A hotline staffed by teenagers for teenagers has been providing peer-to-peer support and counseling services in Arizona for years but has played an even bigger role during the coronavirus pandemic. The group quickly pivoted to reduced staffing shifts to limit exposure to the virus and implemented longer hours for texting services. Not only have calls to the hotline increased, so has the number of those who want to volunteer.

The How Are You Today? program connects elderly Hungarians with young people who are also deprived of social connections during the Covid-19 pandemic. Festival Volunteer Center joined with Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta to connect about 70 pairs for regular, supportive conversations to alleviate loneliness. Volunteers are trained to maintain boundaries to avoid certain emotional risks, however many participants have formed strong bonds and want the program to continue in some form after the pandemic. The organization is working on sustainable funding solutions to enable long-term operations.

In New Hampshire, nursing homes and veteran's homes are turning to online video conferencing and outdoor socially-distanced activities to manage the patients' feelings of isolation during the coronavirus pandemic. Although it does not replace in-person contact, residents have expressed that it has helped and the facilities say that they plan to keep some of the technologies in place post-pandemic so out-of-state family can "visit" more often.

To help senior citizens through the coronavirus pandemic, teens and young adults are teaching the older people in their communities how to utilize technology. From "using FaceTime, finding reputable news on Facebook, and ordering groceries online," the skills these young volunteers are teaching help bridge the gap between social distancing and isolation.

People in Bend, Oregon have turned to social media in order to help at-risk community members during the coronavirus pandemic. Utilizing Facebook Groups to connect with one another, the moderators aim to conduct "acts of kindness that are most easily crowdsourced" such as picking up groceries or walking a neighbor's dog.

The city of York trained volunteers to help identify causes and solutions to loneliness and social isolation, an issue with public health consequences. Volunteers conducted research and spoke to 1,000 fellow residents and 100 other stakeholders to identify community knowledge and priorities. Working closely with local partners, volunteers helped design and implement solutions, including pairing young runners with isolated older citizens to serve as coaches and provide motivation. Participants reported positive outcomes, like feeling less lonely and experiencing improved well-being.

In Battle Creek, Michigan, a church has turned to holding online Sunday service during the pandemic, and in doing so, has gained a larger congregation. While there are limitations to attending online services, and some don't feel like "Internet-based connections" are real, around 200 people still attend each online service, including some individuals from overseas.

To raise awareness and encourage downloads of a contact tracing app, the team of volunteers who were built the app partnered with the Guam Visitors Bureau to collaborate on a grassroots outreach campaign. Using Zoom and WhatsApp groups to create public trust with "organizations, schools, and cultural groups across the island," the effort culminated in "a rate of adoption that outstrips states with far more resources."