Here is what it feels like for a quarantined elder-

Edna is quarantined in an institution because of Covid.
Now she does not get touched- her caregivers have gloves,
Now she sees no smiles, only masks,
Now she is isolated...
But Edna's been lonely for a long, long time.

She is not happy because she has no purpose.
Elders used to feel useful.  
They used to hold the village's relationships,
but no longer...

Edna needs to feel valued again-  

We know a young person can help ease her loneliness.
We know there is a magic connection between the young and old,
but we want something deeper-

"Adopt a Soul" asks Edna to help a younger human being.
Her brain is meant to solve human problems,
not to sleep all day or be just entertained.

We want Adopt a Soul to help Ed and Edna grow together. 

The quarantine shows us our need for connection.
We can make this quarantine a blessing-

 

"We must be
Socially Distanced and Spiritually Connected"
                                          -(Gov. Cuomo) 

Our Elders are unhappy,
and we are unhappy for the exact same reasons-
because we are not useful enough for each other!
Help us do this!

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DONATE TO SUPPORT 'ADOPT A SOUL!'

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BE A PARTNER!

1. Make a journey for the young and old that is transformative and done using an iPhone, Laptop or Ipad and Spotify, Google Hangouts, and YouTubeWatch?
2. Make an interaction that makes Old and Young not feel wasted,
   which brings them together with the ambition of growth through music, love, story and relationship.
3. Eventually, create an app to pair them up? 
4. Create a questionnaire for the Youth and Elder to answer-
   • Elder: What songs are the soundtrack to your life?
     (This will help the Youth prepare a music list for the elder.)
   • Both: What have you experienced in your life?
     Do you have wisdom about – Loss? Love? Shame? Ambition? Loneliness? Feeling lost?
     Separation?
5. Create preparatory educational materials that create an ambition for each call.
6. Create a series of videos and prompts to structure the calls.
   
   • First, prompts about music and the memories associated with the music.
   • Imagine the elder has wisdom about shame and the young person, has concerns about it- perhaps a prompt could be:
     • ‘Start a conversation based on your experiences around shame.
       What song reminds you of that time of your life?
       Listen to it together.
       Sing it together using a Lyric Video’
7. Perhaps there is a Life-Story-Work component to this. Perhaps the youth prepare a Life-Story Book for the elder as we did with Elders in Mexico.
8. Create a process that reduces isolation and releases wisdom in the elders and in the youth.