Eldera - A Virtual Village By Donna Miller

The worldwide pandemic has been trying for people everywhere. However, among the struggles, there have been amazing bright spots! One of those for me has been Eldera. My initial letter from the founders says, “Quarantined around the world, we came together to build a virtual village where we can share wisdom, attention, and time… and hopefully make someone else’s day better."

My daughter-in-law, Jess, introduced me to Eldera because I was enjoying reading to my granddaughter, Agda, on FaceTime each week. Jess shared that one of her friends was beginning a program that paired interested adults with a child to read, help with homework, and just talk!

I signed up reluctantly and was paired with a fouryear-old boy in New York City in early May. He and his mom were quarantined and we met several times on Zoom. He was adorable, bashful, and fun to get to know. When I asked him a question, he would turn and tell his mom the answer. Mom didn’t really get a break but after a few visits she felt free to move slightly away or work on her computer. I was so pleased when he finally made a comment directly to me!

I have also been paired with a four-year-old girl near Albany. She is full of life, imaginative, creative, and smart. The first visit she read a couple of beginning readers to me and I read to her. Since then we have built with blocks and shared our creations with each other, played school, and read several books every week. She has taken me outside to see the fairy house she was building, the lawn chair stable she built for her bouncy horse, her new climbing equipment, the neighbor’s swing set, and her garden. I have watched her garden grow from tiny plants to tomato plants and sunflowers at least seven feet tall. I have enjoyed getting to know her mom as well and hope that I have been encouraging to her. Since both Mom and Dad work in a university setting and with many foreign students, my little friend has been protected at home for months!

My third pairing is a three-year-old-boy in Brazil. (Thankfully he does speak English.) The second week, he asked to hear a book I read the first week again. The third week he sang Old McDonald to me. In his version, Old McDonald has an elephant on his farm! I promised him a jungle animal book next week. Dad is working from home and watching two little ones while Mom works in a store. The boy has begun to call me Grandma Donna, and I look forward to each visit.

Most of the Eldera mentors are working with older children. Occasionally, we have a Mentor Council meeting - a Zoom session with the founders to share what we are doing, ask questions, and get ideas from each other. Some mentors are reading a chapter book with their children and discussing it one chapter each week. Others have helped with homework and encouraged special interests. Jewelry making, self- publishing a book, writing poetry, and telling jokes are some of the interests that have been explored. Several Korean girls are teaching their mentor Korean words. It is fascinating to talk to others across the country with varied backgrounds, accents, and skills and hear how they are reaching out to their children.

Occasionally, Eldera has a special guest and invites the families and mentors to join in. I was able to “meet” an astronaut and my granddaughter logged in to meet with a children’s author. Last week a doctor met with the Mentor Council to talk about developmental issues and how to build trusting relationships with children.

Eldera is always on the lookout for mentors. They currently have a waiting list of over one hundred children all over the world. The founders said that when one parent has a good experience, they tell all their friends and many more children sign up. As we enter a new school year with many children learning virtually, there is a great need!

Is Eldera something you would be interested in? The founders - Dana, Kate, and Jules are great at matching mentors to children that will work well together. I asked for younger children. Kate called me “the toddler whisperer,” but working with the littles is easy for me because I have taught Kindergarten and work with twos and threes in Sunday School.

Visit Eldera’s website and explore. They make everything easy. They email you and the parent to introduce you, help you choose a time that works for you, set up the Zoom meetings and respond to emails quickly. The idea behind Eldera is as old as our ancestors’ villages and it brings back intergenerational bonds! Each Elder Mentor is vetted with a background check similar to the ones used in schools. This intergenerational community now includes people in 37 states and 12 countries.

Who would you like to work with? What wisdom and skills can you share? I encourage you to invest in a child. One of my former bosses always said, “Every child needs someone who is just crazy about them.” I am rapidly becoming crazy about some children that I may never meet in person.

Check out Eldera at https://www.eldera.ai

Donna J. Miller is a retired elementary school media coordinator and a preschool curriculum writer for LifeWay Christian Resources. She lives in Hudson, NC.