This weblog was written by Donna Jackson, Senior Strategic Contract Negotiator at Cisco, world co-lead of Cisco’s Adult Caregivers Inclusive Community, and Founder and Executive Director of the Noble Strength Foundation and its Age To Age® program. Through a community of world volunteers, Age To Age® helps the aged fight loneliness and isolation by connecting them to their family members—wherever on the planet—utilizing the Age To Age® platform and Cisco’s Webex conferencing expertise.
April is Global Volunteer Month. During this time of 12 months, I’m reminded of the numerous Cisco volunteers who’ve given their time and abilities to broaden the attain of the Noble Strength Foundation and Age To Age® program.
From Pain to Purpose: The Age To Age® Story
The thought to launch Noble Strength Foundation and the Age To Age® program got here from a devastating state of affairs that my circle of relatives and I went by, wherein caregiver burnout resulted in us not having alternatives to see our mom. This was an avoidable state of affairs, and I knew that expertise may very well be a part of an answer the place we may assist scale back loneliness and isolation for seniors and deal with caregiver burnout.
From designing and engineering the platform to connecting folks, Cisco workers’ selflessness has introduced our aged neighborhood nearer to their family members. Here are a number of of my Age To Age® program volunteer highlights:
Intercontinental Connections: Donna and Aldo’s Story
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I had the good fortune of assembly a lady in her late 80s residing in North Carolina who desperately needed to reconnect together with her cousins in Italy. Through the Age To Age® app, which facilitates connecting and scheduling volunteer visits with the aged, I used to be launched to Aldo, a Cisco worker primarily based in our Rome workplace. Aldo occurred to be visiting the very small Italian coastal village the place this lady’s cousins dwell. It was a contented and fortuitous accident that we needed to make the most of, so we arrange a gathering for the household to reconnect.
The reunion was great! Although a few of the members of the family had been aged and partly listening to impaired, and neither get together proficiently spoke the opposite’s language, the dialog went easily due to advances in Cisco’s expertise, utilizing enhanced decibels and closed captioning translations. The spotlight of the gathering was when the lady realized Aldo’s identify. Aldo was additionally the identify of her late father, a coincidence that took the connection to a different stage, making it really feel much more particular and intentional.
Words can’t totally describe the way it felt to allow a connection between family members by expertise we use day-after-day. Meeting a piece colleague from throughout the globe-someone I possible wouldn’t have met underneath regular circumstances-made the expertise much more significant.
Taking a Personal Experience to Another Level: Michael’s Story
Michael attended one of many Lunch-and-Learn periods we organized for Cisco workers to spotlight the work of the Noble Strength Foundation by its Age To Age® program. The program’s objective and strategy resonated deeply with him. “I used to be a caregiver to each of my mother and father, and after attending the Lunch-and-Learn, I felt a private connection to this system. Soon after, I volunteered to attach a person who had been admitted to a medical facility along with his spouse and daughters.“
Traveling a number of hours day-after-day to go to him had turn into more and more tough for the person’s household. The capability to take care of day by day visits by a easy pc connection was invaluable. “The family said this service was an answer to prayer, and I experienced such fulfillment from being able to positively impact their lives during this tough season of life,” Michael shared.
A Double Love Connection: Sonya and Thomas’ Story
Sonya and Thomas started courting after assembly at Cisco. Sonya had heard about Age To Age® and was wanting to become involved. The request she selected coincided with a protracted weekend to the seashore that she and Thomas had deliberate for themselves. “When we discovered the visit was to connect an elderly man with his girlfriend, it felt even more special to us,” Sonya stated.
The getting older couple had lived in the identical assisted residing neighborhood and noticed one another day-after-day. However, his caregiver son and household had relocated a number of hours away, they usually weren’t tech savvy. Sonya shared, “As our romance was budding, it was wonderful to witness the elderly couple’s love story, and to be part of connecting them after several months of them being apart.” Sonya and Thomas had been so moved by the expertise that they proceed to be devoted volunteers. “We are excited and hopeful to be part of more wonderful stories like this,” Sonya stated.
“Fun fact,” Sonya shared. “Thomas and I married shortly after that Age To Age® visit, and we now have two children.”
From Local to Global
In 2017, I used to be given the chance to “pitch” the work of Noble Strength Foundation and the Age To Age® program to my leaders at Cisco. As a direct outcome, a partnership fashioned, and we had been capable of scale this system’s affect from native to world by Webex and a worldwide workforce. Cisco was fairly actually the car by which I used to be capable of flip the ache of my household’s expertise right into a objective a lot higher than I ever imagined.
Studies present that social engagement for lonely or remoted seniors is crucial, in some cases, extra vital than day by day drugs. As the Age To Age® program has grown, we’ve got measured the instant results of the social connections made by visits and located the research to be true. Our recorded statistics constantly replicate improved very important indicators, consuming, urge for food, and extra restful sleep.
Be Part of Expanding Our Impact
As of 2024, by the work of greater than 150 Cisco worker volunteers throughout the globe, we’ve got enabled over 3,000 hours of connections by the Age To Age® program, and that quantity continues to develop. I’m so grateful to volunteers like Aldo, Michael, Sonya, and Thomas, who’ve enabled so many connections, and to the Cisco engineers (Yee F., Vinny M., Susila M., Natarajan P., Chheang D., Vyshnavi P., Adrian S., Vikrant N., and Hui Eng L.) who helped to create the Age To Age® app for our nonprofit.
In collaboration with the Cisco world companion neighborhood, we’ve got a possibility to scale this system’s affect and help much more aged purchasers and their caregivers.
If you want to be taught extra about partnering with the Noble Strength Foundation, please contact data@noblestrengthfoundation.org.
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