We hope you will be a part of this vital effort to empower more youth to engage isolated adults in need.
Sweet Readers COLLEGE will be accessible through our updated web site and new mobile application where pairs of college students can receive specialized, interactive training, connect with their peers and engage and discover older adults around the world in creative and impactful new ways.
Our goal, with your help, is to raise $100,000 by July 31, 2021 to create and sustain an innovative new web site and integrated mobile application that will enable us to both pilot Sweet Readers COLLEGE and also communicate most effectively with all of our constituents – from our middle school Sweet Readers to the care partners of our oldest adult participants. New technologies will help us give our communities the easiest and joyful ways to learn, engage and share their experiences and for us to better measure the impact of our work together.
Our goal is to raise the needed funding through a full community outreach….every donor and dollar counts and with your help, we will be able to scale our work just when it is needed most. Because while the pandemic appears to be coming to a gradual end, isolation and loneliness are continuing harmful factors we aim to eliminate!
Join our drive for change by clicking below and to learn more, meet Ella and Arya below and below them, hear some of the voices from our communities and below that, read more about who we are.
Thank you for being here.
Sweet Readers Background
Founded in 2011, Sweet Readers connects trained middle school students and older adults both with and without cognitive impairment, through the arts. The Sweet Readers Classic programs, housed in school classrooms, eldercare centers and major museums help to build and bridge communities while enabling participants across four generations to discover each other and make new friends. Sweet Readers was honored to be chosen as a Lead Agency for Global Youth Service Day from Youth Service of America and Sweet Readers Classic has been awarded the 2015 Innovations Award by Generations United and the 2020 Creative Aging Award from Family Caregiver Alliance.
In 2015 Sweet Readers launched the Sweet Readers Council to empower select high school students to develop Sweet Readers communities and raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and brain health. The Council has built and sustained Sweet Readers communities in New York, London, Connecticut, Chicago and Toronto and raised awareness in 50 states and dozens of countries through their documentaries and special events.
In 2020, Sweet Readers launched Sweet Readers CONNECT to empower students ages 11 to 22 to engage isolated adults in need as part of an emergency relief effort during COVID19. With help from the Council, Sweet Readers was able to connect students and older adults in New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Florida, Chicago, Washington State, Toronto and Houston as well as launch the first Sweet Readers En Espanol program, celebrating the many forms of Latin music.
Having succeeded in bridging over 50 communities in 11 states and 3 countries, partnering with 11 world class museums, a network of over 150 eldercare centers and 200 schools, Sweet Readers is excited to launch its newest initiative, Sweet Readers COLLEGE and we are grateful for your support!