A graduate student researches her elderly friend's favorite sports team before each visit. A pianist plays "Yesterday" for a memory care ward. A woman tends friendships she describes as being done "in honor of her grandmother's legacy." What began as one Michigan student's intuition -- that her college friends and the elderly residents she'd come to love might genuinely support each other -- has grown into 26 chapters across 17 states, with 630 student volunteers. A nonprofit founded in 2020, Perfect Pair matches college students with older adults in assisted living facilities and private homes to address the growing crisis of social isolation among the elderly. Colorado, the third-fastest-aging state in the US — where more than a quarter of the population will be over 60 by 2050 — is home to one of the program's most active chapters at the University of Denver, founded in 2023. Students and older adults are matched based on shared interests identified through surveys, and while the organization offers an activity catalog covering everything from photography to book clubs, most pairs simply prefer to talk. Lerner, now completing a residency in geriatric medicine at the University of Washington, acknowledges a nuanced challenge inherent to the program: when students graduate, matches must be thoughtfully transitioned, and when older adults pass away, the organization provides structured support systems for student volunteers. Internal surveys confirm measurable benefits on both sides of the pairing — older adults report reduced loneliness, while students gain perspective on aging and feel less isolated themselves. As Lerner observes, "There's just a lot more similarities than differences across ages."
