Volunteer Program Connects NoVA Students With Senior Living Residents

Nearly two years ago as a recent Centreville High School graduate, Isabella Solano was lonely and started to show up daily to visit senior living residents. At those visits, she felt more like a friend than a volunteer.

"I remember the very first time I walked into a senior community, and it kind of changed my life overnight," Solano, the program manager of Herralink, told Patch. "I have never felt so welcomed by a group of people before, and it was really like everything else kind of just washed away, and it was just me and the people that I was in front of, they were getting to know me."

Solano thought the experience was worthwhile for other young adults. That's why she founded Herralink to coordinate visits with older adults in participating senior living communities in Northern Virginia.

To date, that program has reached thousands of seniors, including those who are room-bound or who have little to no visitors.

The volunteer base is focused on high school seniors, who need to fulfill service hour requirements to graduate. Hundreds of volunteers have come from 40 high schools in Northern Virginia.

Students will meet with senior residents to do activities such as arts and crafts, play bingo or simply have a chat. The activities program allows students to sign up for an activity meeting their interest or schedule.

Solano says students can get a more meaningful experience by being paired with a resident identified as being room-bound or having few or no visitors.

In this day and age when people communicate online, Herralink allows people to form a bond with a new person.

"Herralink is a platform to help you make friends, which is just so much more meaningful than just coming in for service hours," said Solano. "You meet so many different types of people when you walk into these senior communities, and I've often seen volunteers really form very meaningful bonds with a few of them, and they'll start to come in on weekends and after school just to visit that one person."

Where Herralink Is Operating

Herralink first launched with visits at skilled nursing facilities in Gainesville and Dulles. Since then, the program has worked in 15 senior living communities in Prince William, Loudoun and Fairfax counties.

Solano says it is now expanding into Alexandria, Arlington County and Falls Church, as Alexandria-based Goodwin Living welcomed Herralink earlier this year. It works in all kinds of facilities, from skilled nursing facilities to memory units, adult day centers, and now independent and assisted living.

One example of a successful pairing involves student Hudson and Dulles Health and Rehab Center resident Erica. The senior resident moved into the nursing facility after her second stroke and the death of her husband.

But that hasn't stopped her from being "one of the brightest lights in this world," according to Solano.

The senior has said the visits are "the difference between being lonely and feeling like you're still part of a community."

"Her family isn't able to come visit her, because she lives in a different state, and so up until now, she's really just spent most of her most of her time just with the employees," said Solano. "I met Hudson through joining the one-on-one program, and I really thought that he could use that vibrant energy in his life to kind of break him out of his shell. And so I connected the two, and they have met each other every single week without fail. He's only missed three times for the SAT."

Volunteers can sign up to help as a guest, short-term volunteer or long-term volunteer. For more information about volunteering, visit www.herralink.com.