What I Learned Talking to Seniors Every Week as a Teen

“Hello, this is Nolan calling from GoldenVoice Outreach.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, then softly;
“You remembered me?”

That was the moment I realized how much a simple phone call could mean to someone who felt alone.

I am a high school student in Sharon, Massachusetts. When I was fifteen I founded GoldenVoice Outreach (www.goldenvoiceoutreach.org), a nonprofit dedicated to alleviating senior loneliness and isolation through weekly phone calls. At first I thought I was starting a service project in hopes of making a difference. But the truth is, I didn't expect it to change my life.

Each week I speak with senior citizens who live alone, many of whom rarely leave their houses and have very little social interactions. Some talk about their careers and education. Others about recipes, family stories, and small moments from their week. Many share stories about their kids and grandkids. One woman talks about her time working for the Rockies. A time that she gets the opportunity to reflect on every week. Though short, these calls of no more than forty-five minutes are full of warmth, honesty, and connection.

Loneliness amongst seniors is not just sad, it is a serious health risk and a growing epidemic. According to the U.S. Surgeon General’s 2023 report, loneliness can be as damaging to physical health as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day.¹ Though quiet, loneliness is extremely common in older adults. CDC studies have shown that about one in three adults over the age of forty-five reported feeling lonely, and one in four adults over the age of sixty-five are considered socially isolated.² Those seniors that are isolated face significantly higher risks of dementia, heart disease, stroke, and depression.³ Those numbers are not just statistics, they are the people I talk to every single day.

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified this growing isolation. At high risk, seniors were instructed to stay alone, many of the people I speak with were forced to spend months completely isolated from the world. No visits from family, no trips to the store, not even a wave from a neighbor. A University of Michigan poll from 2020 reported that half of adults aged fifty to eighty felt isolated during the pandemic, more than double the number from two years before.⁴ The pandemic was a reminder for seniors, a reminder that connection is not just something nice to have, it is something they need. It made my weekly calls feel even more urgent. In a time where the world has gone quiet, even short conversations can break through the silence.

What I have learned is that loneliness can be invisible. It does not always sound like sadness. Sometimes it sounds like, “Thanks for calling,” or “I didn’t expect anyone to remember my birthday.” One senior told me I was the only person he had spoken to all week long. I was stunned. Not because of the loneliness itself, but because of how quietly it existed. The man did not sound upset telling me this, almost like he was used to it.

I have also realized that teenagers and seniors have far more in common than one might think. We are both trying to figure out who we are, in different ways, and we both want to be heard. Our generations need more interaction and connection. We need to learn from each other and grow.

Running GoldenVoice Outreach has shown me the power of listening. Not just hearing them, but hearing the words they are saying. It has made me realize that solving large problems does not necessarily require large resources, but rather consistency and care. I used to think leadership meant being in charge and organizing people. Now I think leadership also means being a listener, a learner, and someone who shows up week after week, even when no one is watching.

Throughout my calls, I think about the society we are becoming. A society where our oldest citizens spend their final years in silence, hiding in the darkness. It saddens me to think that our most valuable members are being forgotten. People sending seniors to nursing homes, not calling for months on end, ignoring opportunities to visit and spend time with our loved ones. Yet, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Through my calls I have seen hope. Hope that this can change. Hope that stories of seniors will be shared and not forgotten. Hope that no senior will ever feel like they have no single person to turn to.

If you are a student reading this, I hope you will consider reaching out to a senior near you. A grandparent, great aunt or uncle, neighbor. Make a call. Write a letter. Ask them about their life. You might be surprised. Seniors have so many valuable things to share with us, and we need to allow them the time to speak. A time for them to open up about their lives, rather than sitting in silence watching ours move forward.

There is this one woman I speak to every wednesday. She always picks up on the second time I call and at the end of every conversation she says, “You made my day.” But what she doesn’t realize is, she makes mine too.

1. U.S. Surgeon General Advisory, Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, 2023
2. National Institute on Aging, “Social Isolation, Loneliness in Older People Pose Health Risks,” 2019
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Loneliness and Social Isolation Linked to Serious Health Conditions,” 2023
4. University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging, June 2020