ASHLAND — You don’t have to be Catholic to receive services from or work for Catholic Charities Diocese of Cleveland.
Sheryl Villegas, director of Catholic Charities in Ashland and Wayne counties, attended the Ashland County Board of Commissioners meeting on April 23 to discuss a specific program that has blossomed friendships across generations.
Denise Conrad, a Hillsdale High School graduate, facilitates Catholic Charities’ pen pal program in Ashland County. Several Hillsdale students participate in the program.
Conrad also helps coordinate Golden Centers, free senior programs at multiple locations throughout the county offering social and recreational activities.
She said one of the programs at Golden Centers involved multi-generational mentoring between seniors and kids. Prior to COVID, the seniors and kids would get together in person, but the program pivoted after the pandemic and evolved into the pen pal program.
The first cycle of the program involved one classroom of students from Loudonville, Conrad said. This year, there are 17 classrooms and 355 children involved countywide.
Some of the participating districts this year include Hillsdale, Loudonville and Mapleton.
The range of students involved in the program includes first grade to sixth graders. Most participants are in the third and fourth grades.
“They (students) write in a book back and forth to adults. A specific classroom writes to a specific group in the community,” Conrad said. “Local law enforcement, the fire department, the hospital and several local churches are involved.”
She said seniors at Golden Centers, nursing homes and assisted living facilities are also participants.
“The goal is to increase multi-generational conversation,” Conrad said.
Conversations range anywhere from casual conversations to seeking advice for problems happening in life. All communication between students and adults is monitored and screened by program leaders.
“The communications that go back and forth are charming and heartbreaking, but it’s effective. Statistics say that an average student needs two to three people that aren’t their family to support them,” Conrad said.
“This provides, in addition to helping isolated seniors who really need to have someone to talk to, the opportunity to do that. It involves a lot of different groups, but I think it’s been really effective,” she said.
Near the end of the program, participants complete a survey and offer feedback.
Conrad shared a comment from one of the students involved.
“One of the students said, ‘It’s really great to know that someone I’ve never met before cares about what happens to me,'” she said.
