Students Supporting Seniors

In spring 2020, Maya began brainstorming ways to help those most affected by the pandemic and decided to focus on the elderly, who comprise approximately 20% of her neighborhood's population. From speaking with her grandmother and seniors in her neighborhood, she learned that many struggled to use technology for their basic needs, such as ordering groceries and communicating with family and friends. In June 2020, she founded Students Supporting Seniors to address this issue. She recorded several YouTube videos on how to use online platforms, designed a website where she posted them so they were easily accessible, and promoted it in her community. In June 2021, she expanded her organization to include in-person assistance and has been making weekly visits to seniors' houses since then. In June 2022, she welcomed 17 new members to her team, who began teaching weekly technology classes at 4 retirement homes in her area. Her organization has been featured on Bannockburn Neighbors Assisting Neighbors, a network of local volunteers who provide social engagement opportunities to older adults, the newspaper of her school, Holton-Arms, and the Bannockburn listserv. Students Supporting Seniors is important to her because it allows her to to give back to her community by using her knowledge of technology to help others. Through her organization, she has also been able to develop meaningful relationships with seniors and help bridge the intergenerational gap. As an extension of Students Supporting Seniors, she is currently working on a research paper on seniors and technology.