Most teenagers don't exactly rally to help out with household chores. But the "Elder Buddies" program has motivated about 30 of them to clean up after District seniors whose homes are in such disarray they're at risk of eviction.
The seniors' faces typically "light up when the door opens," said Lindsay Gund, a Buddies volunteer. Signs of appreciation like that make "all the late nights of homework after getting home from this worthwhile," said Gund, a junior at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School.
Georgetown Visitation students Molly Smith, left, and Lindsay Gund, visit with Minnie Fuller, as part of the Elder Buddies program.
(Courtesy Of Elder Buddies)
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"Most of the seniors are [like] hoarders -- people who find it difficult, if not impossible, to get rid of their belongings," said Karen Greene, coordinator of the program sponsored by the nonprofit AARP Legal Counsel for the Elderly. "That's everything from junk mail to envelopes to paper bags to their newspapers." Buddies services are available to D.C. residents 60 or older.
Among those who ask Buddies to help seniors are resident managers, neighbors and even lawyers involved in landlord-tenant court cases, said Greene. Teens -- accompanied by an adult Buddies staffer -- then start visits, which begin as cleaning missions and often become opportunities for taking walks or playing checkers, said Greene.
For volunteer information, call 202-434-2077. Applicants must be 14 years or older; adult Buddies are welcomed. Buddies is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's "Faith in Action," a national advocacy program for seniors. For more information on Action, call 1-877-324-8411.
-- Samantha Sordyl
