Emily Lerner, Founder and Executive Director of Perfect Pair 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization
In October of 2020, Enid, an assisted living resident, and Melanie, a college sophomore, met on Zoom for the first time. They were paired because they both grew up in NYC, speak Spanish as their second language, participated in theatre, and love to read.
They were matched through Perfect Pair, a nonprofit I founded alongside Rachel Alessio and nine other University of Michigan students. Perfect Pair is dedicated to filling a gap in senior care by creating one-on-one connections with students and providing resources for residents to re-engage with activities they love. Perfect Pair’s first building was the same one I volunteered in for four years throughout college. Residents I deeply cared for joined the program where they have engaged in everything from learning languages and painting for the first time in years to sharing the grief of family losses or the joy of a virtual Christmas dinner with their pair.
The program works by providing seniors a one-on-one relationship with their “match,” a college volunteer. Pairs are matched based on background and interests, sharing everything from a love of art to Jewish faith. Each pair is provided with supplies to re-engage with their passions, like poetry, cooking, gardening, and more.
Enid (bottom) and Melanie (top) reading “The Great Gatsby” during their weekly book club.
For Enid and Melanie, this looks like weekly meetings filled with their book club (they are currently reading The Great Gatsby), practicing Spanish, and more recently, growing basil. Enid initially joined the program because she was looking for companionship, and she now calls Melanie “a second granddaughter.” Melanie gushes about Enid, often talking to her outside of their scheduled time because she has “too much to tell her.”
Perfect Pair looks different for each pair that participates. It uniquely caters to each resident’s diverse passions. While Bernie and Daniel share a love of engineering and advocacy and compete in trivia together each week, Mary and Madison love the outdoors and yoga, and spend their meetings having deep conversations about topics like Buddhist meditation practices. Each resident and volunteer can share their passions with one another. They grow with each other through both their commonalities, which the program uses to match them, and their different lived experiences.
From both volunteer and paid experiences in assisted living, I’ve found that social isolation and feeling a lack of purpose are common among residents, as they are away from the communities they lived in for most of their lives. Seeing first-hand the adversity that residents face led me to create Perfect Pair, where each resident is carefully matched with volunteers based on similar interests. After just one year, we now serve hundreds of seniors across four college campuses, and we are looking forward to expanding further.
Perfect Pair is not just for the residents, it’s equally as important for the volunteers. “My meeting with Joan is truly the highlight of my week. With a hectic school schedule, I love getting the chance to relax and unwind with Joan whether we are painting or showing each other our family pictures. She truly means so much to me,” said Ketaki, a Perfect Pair volunteer. Ketaki was paired with Joan because they both love space (Joan worked in the space program at North American Aviation and Ketaki is part of the Michigan Aeronautical Science Association), played tennis, love the outdoors, and love to travel.
Joan shares the same sentiment about meeting with her pair. “I really enjoy being a part of Perfect Pair. Ketaki, my match, is very nice and we get along very well. She plays tennis, and I used to play tennis, and we both have the same dream of going to the moon. Together, I’ve gotten to do a lot of artwork with her, including painting California and the mountains where I’m from.”
Perfect Pair has exceeded all of my wildest dreams. It has grown into a program that connects generations and builds meaningful relationships, while empowering residents and volunteers to reconnect with art, reading, culture, religion, language, and more. Next year I will enter medical school to pursue a career in geriatric medicine, and I am excited to build upon this passion for senior care through my education and to continue to expand Perfect Pair to create more surprising friendships.
To learn more about our organization, head to www.perfectpair.org, or watch this video created for us by the University of Michigan www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFucuV6t4No.
What a fantastic organization! I have loved watching Perfect Pair grow over the last few years and all of the joy that it beings to assisted living residents and students alike. I cannot wait to watch as Perfect Pair continues to expand, fostering these beneficial relationships and leading to endless laughs and friendships.
Thank you so much Carly, your support means the world to us!
This program is so cool!! I know my grandma who lives in assisted living has felt a lot of social isolation and a lack of connection, especially compared to when she was living out of her own house. It’s so awesome to see this program empowering both the residents and the students to forge connections and re-engage with passions they have. So inspired by the work this program is doing.
Thank you so much Anna – it means a lot!!
This was an amazing article! It’s always so sweet to hear what the pairs have to say about each other. I’m truly humbled by my experience volunteering and working in Perfect Pair.
Shriya your pair is so lucky to have you AND you are an incredible board member on the team. We could definitely not do what we do without you!!!
I feel so grateful to have had the chance to work on this program and meet my pair! Great article:)
It’s wonderful that you participated in the program, Madison!
Truly the best volunteer and chapter president, Mary and Perfect Pair in general are so lucky to have you!!!
Beautiful! Wonderful! Would love to talk to Emily about joining forces with what we do. Very similar in our program ideas. Somehow I feel like we could each make each other stronger and bigger and better and allow for more lives to be touched! Way to go Emily! and way to go, Pioneer Network for bringing all of these people to the forefront so that we can do even more!
The team at Pioneer Network loves being able to make connections – and I think this will be a wonderful one!
love this idea!!!!
Thank you so much for your kind words! The Bridge is also doing some really incredible work – looking forward to connecting to see how we can touch more lives and support each other’s programming 🙂
What a great idea for extending the opportunities for engagement for those living in assisted living communities, and an opportunity for a connection with those who’ve lived through segments of history, for the students.
Thank you so much Donna! Yes, it’s definitely amazing for both members of the pair – students and seniors get incredible perspective and also a new great friend 🙂