Memory Care Connections is a student-led program that facilitates relationships between high school students and memory care residents. By partnering with local memory care organizations and senior living homes, we facilitate a pen pal program, where students and residents connect through regular letters. Our team delivers hundreds of pen pal letters per month to both residents and high school students, assisting residents with reading and writing their responses. Our mission is to improve the quality of life for memory care and assisted living residents by providing them with companionship and a sense of connection to the younger generation.

At the same time, the program provides high school students with a valuable opportunity to engage with and learn from older generations, creating meaningful intergenerational connections. Memory Care Connections helps create lasting friendships and enriches the lives of both students and residents, building a mutual friendship through pen pals.

After spending time with his grandfather in an assisted living facility, Henry Carpenter, our founder, was inspired to start volunteering at a local memory care facility, the Emerson House. After learning about the lack of youth volunteer support for memory care patients, Henry wanted to find a way for students like him to connect with residents. After holding a lunch meeting with a few friends, he, along with Co-Founder Adrian Schulman, launched a pen pal program to involve more students. Shortly after the meeting, Henry and Adrian delivered the first few letters to residents at the Emerson House.

These letters brought immense joy to the residents, who were excited to share their stories and communicate with younger generations. Many residents found themselves recalling memories and experiences they hadn't thought about in years, as the act of writing letters back and forth helped them reconnect with their past.

This experience laid the foundation for what would become Memory Care Connections, a program that now works with multiple high schools and assisted living/memory care facilities, delivering hundreds of letters per month between students and residents.