Seniors At Assisted Living Centers Want Some Pen Pals

North Carolina-based seniors go viral after requesting pen pals

Last week, Phoenix Assisted Care, a senior living facility in North Carolina, put out a call on Facebook asking members of the community if they would write letters and become pen pals with some of the many residents that live at the facility. Phoenix Assisted Care shared sweet photos of their residents with a note outlining each individual’s interests and favorite talking points, so if you scrolled through the photos and found a senior with something in common, you could send them a letter and bam, you’d be pen pals. The call for pen pals was such a hit that the Facebook post went viral and now Victorian Senior Care is looking for pen pals for seniors across their many North Carolina communities.

“Thank you so much for all of your love and support! We never imagined this would get so big, but we are extremely excited about it and very blessed,” the community of assisted living facilities wrote online. “We have more sweet residents…wanting a friend to write to. Check out each picture to find someone with a similar interest you would like to chat with.”

Each resident posed for a photo and shared their interests on a giant poster board. If you spend a minute scrolling, you might meet Ms. Iva, who is looking for pen pals from Alabama.

Or Bonnie, who would love a pen pal who knows sign language and likes to read.

Or Doris, who wants to chat with someone about birds and church.

And Robert, who loves steak, hot dogs, and deer, and who wouldn’t want to talk shop about that?

Victorian Senior Care shared photos of residents from eight different communities and these residents are feeling the love, with the original post being shared more than 300k times. Victoria Senior Care updated their Facebook post on June 30, 2020, to say that they’ve been receiving letters from around the world and to be patient if you haven’t received a return letter yet. The company also said they’d update their page shortly with photos of residents who may not have received any mail yet and would love some pen pals. They also shared adorable photos of some residents who have received their mail.

One wise commenter chimed it with an awesome idea to “look up your local care homes and see if you can write to some seniors in need of love in your own area” to “spread the love.”

Another commenter pointed out that it’s really helpful to include a stamped envelope with your letter so your pen pal doesn’t have to spend their own money buying stamps.

The pandemic has made it much more difficult to connect, but programs and ideas like this one are so sweet and a lovely reminder that despite well, everything going on outside, there’s still some good left in the world.