“Friendly Callers” ease senior isolation

(KSL) Isolation and loneliness plagued seniors well before the age of COVID-19, but one Utah organization is helping to create meaningful relationships for seniors who are homebound or suffer from any form of isolation.

Nancy Shelley’s days are filled with silence, with only her memories to keep her company. Even those are fading. Shelley was diagnosed with vascular dementia and early-onset Alzheimer’s.

“I had to give up my ability to drive because I knew it wasn’t safe, and so it confined me to four walls,” Shelley says. “And nobody comes in and out and there’s not a lot of calls”

However, one friend has helped to break the silence.

“If Nancy has something going on that she needs help with, especially emotionally, she will call me,” Dahnelle Smith says.

While Shelley and Smith have never met in person, their conversations have all been over the phone as part of the Friendly Callers program.

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