FriendshipWorks, a nonprofit organization aiming to connect people with older adults to combat loneliness, is looking to recruit volunteers in the Newton area.
“I think it’s a really good opportunity, meeting people to learn about life and yourself,” said Sami Ernst, a 29-year-old who has volunteered with the organization for a year and a half. “There’s a lot of people who are really lonely, and I think it’s really important that we build community and support each other.”
Social connection is as essential to human health as food, water, and shelter, according to a 2023 statement by former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. He said loneliness is associated with a greater risk in diseases such as depression, dementia, and stroke, and can have the same mortality impact as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Of the five programs offered by FriendshipWorks, three are offered in Newton (Friendly Visiting, Medical Escorts, and Friendly Helping), and PetPals and MusicWorks are offered in other areas. The non-profit group is currently focused on finding volunteers for its Friendly Visiting program, in which volunteers each visit an older adult once a week to build a lasting friendship.
There is also an increasing need for volunteers as Medical Escorts, who accompany older adults to medical appointments, and Friendly Helpers, who provide short-term assistance with specific tasks for older adults, according to Karen Poggi, the Newton FriendshipWorks coordinator.
Currently there are more than 20 older adults in Newton waiting for a Friendly Visiting match with a volunteer, according to the coordinator.
Volunteers have said they get as much out of the relationship as they give.
Emma Ardiff, a 58-year-old who has been volunteering for FriendshipWorks since 2018, said she cherishes the opportunity to befriend someone she otherwise might not have met. It’s important, she said, for communities to have cross-generational engagement, and for people to be involved in community service.
“Everybody needs connection and community,” Ardiff said, “and I think that FriendshipWorks has brought me [closer] with the community in Newton.”
Robbie Berg, a 68-year-old who has been volunteering for FriendshipWorks for two years, shared a similar experience. As a former physics teacher at Wellesley College, he was able to relate to 83-year-old Larry Speiser, who has a background in electrical engineering.
Berg said that despite Speiser’s age and health problems, “he’s still very sharp in certain areas.”
“His memories about technical stuff, again, it’s a little spotty, but some stuff he remembers really well,” Berg said, “so we could have these sort of technical conversations.” They also bonded over a surprise connection: Speiser and Berg’s parents grew up in the same neighborhood and went to the same high school.
FriendshipWorks invites potential volunteers to attend an event it will hold on Tuesday, September 30, at Newton Free Library’s Druker Auditorium (330 Homer Street), from 5:30 – 7:30PM. The free event, called Making Music, Making Connections, will feature live music, dancing, music, bingo, prizes, and food. It will highlight the MusicWorks program, through which performers play music or sing for seniors in residential buildings. Register here.
“When part of the population is not well, then the whole community is affected by that and can be not well,” said Laura Willis, the marketing and communications strategist at FriendshipWorks. “We believe that when we’re helping that segment of the population, we are helping the community overall and those neighborhoods that we serve.”