By Kai Curry
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
When Aditi Dewangan’s grandfather passed, she turned her focus onto the elder population around her, particularly those living away from their families in senior care facilities. It is common among Asian and Pacific Islander cultures to take particular care of elders, or has been common traditionally. Dewangan, a senior at Interlake Senior High School in Bellevue, took this a step further and started her own foundation—Senior Care First—a nonprofit that helps alleviate the loneliness experienced by the oldest, and sometimes most forgotten, among us.
“When their families drop them off, it’s kind of like their families are saying ‘goodbye’ to them,” said Dewangan, who started volunteering at local senior care organizations a couple of years ago. She noticed that family and friends tend to visit mostly only on special occasions—birthdays and holidays—and that most of the time, while the staff she has encountered have been wonderful, the seniors at these facilities are very isolated. This isolation, according to the Washington State Department of Social & Health Services, can contribute to health issues, and was exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, the over-60 population amounts to about one-sixth of the adults in our state, with western states having the highest percentage of residents in assisted living altogether, at about 40%, per the latest figures by the National Center for Assisted Living.
But this isn’t about numbers for Dewangan, this is about empathy. Through her spearheading efforts, Senior Care First officially became a 501(c) this summer. She has brought on other volunteers from her neighborhood and around the world. Dewangan started by helping out onsite at different facilities nearby—making popcorn for movie night, setting up for BINGO. Then, she had an idea which was ingenious in its simplicity and effectiveness. She began delivering pick-me-up cards to residents. Dewangan told the Asian Weekly that it “made her day” to see how happy the seniors were to have someone from the outside showing that they cared—so she kept going. Thanks to the Foundation’s website, and word of mouth, people as far away as India, and in multiple states, are now taking part in Dewangan’s greeting card initiative.
Although Senior Care First has adopted several card designs that they use for this purpose, Dewangan is careful about making sure the cards never feel artificial and are always heartfelt. She doesn’t police the way other people want to contribute with their own cards. She does offer them the use of the Foundation’s own supplies, and she asks that everyone tape a piece of chocolate inside each card. Dewangan and her volunteers have also done fundraising for the fight against Dementia/Alzheimer’s and to support the Foundation’s expenses. To date, Senior Care First Foundation, with Dewangan as its founder and CEO, have raised over $1,250 towards research, delivered 2,500 cards, and obtained over 100 volunteers. They are partnered with 16 senior homes. “It just keeps growing,” Dewangan said. “Who wouldn’t love getting a card?”
Dewangan described to the Asian Weekly the smiles that break across the seniors’ faces when they are surprised by a card. During her visits over the past couple of years, she has noticed that most of the residents in these facilities do not go outside into the community much, nor does the community come to them. And they love to talk. You don’t even have to say anything yourself, Dewangan observed fondly. Just sit down next to one of the elders and they will start telling you stories. She appreciates the wealth of knowledge and experience these older people possess, and she hopes that, through her Foundation’s card deliveries, she can “brighten their day,” their week, or their month. “Even if it’s just a little heartwarming message, which I try to have each of the cards kind of contain, I think it’s super important that they get that.”
When her own world becomes too stressful as a senior in high school applying to college and busy with classes and the like, Dewangan has found it helpful to sit down with an elder.
“I fell in love with senior citizens because they just have so many important things to say,” she said. Their presence gives her perspective and reassures her that everything will be okay. “It’s kind of full circle for me.” This is a benefit and a wisdom that those who do not mingle with other generations will never experience. And the benefit goes both ways, as the presence of a young, smiling face, and the delivery of a thoughtful card, makes a difference in the life of an older person whose days might otherwise have become very monotonous and lonely.
Dewangan has a particular interest in pursuing a career in the area of mental health in Asian communities, where she identifies a strong need for culturally competent care. She likes to take note of how people from different cultures have different “go-to” remedies for their ailments and thinks it could be important for caregivers to possess that kind of knowledge and those kinds of treatments. She mentioned, for instance, a certain ointment that her family, which is of Indian heritage, uses instead of alcohol and a Band-Aid. Her parents are software engineers and she has an older brother at Vanderbilt University. Dewangan would be happy to attend the University of Washington; yet, as a lifelong Washingtonian, she also thinks California sounds pretty good.
During the holiday season, Dewangan and volunteers from Senior Care First Foundation will be making the rounds of the senior care facilities in their neighborhoods, delivering cards and chocolate. Anyone interested in helping by delivering cards, or through donations, is welcome.
Kai can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.