Muna Yassin, a 17-year-old from Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology, spends many weekends curating art activities and building relationships with hundreds of residents across metro Atlanta.
“At first, I thought I was just going to sit and do some crafts with a couple of people,” she said, “but I didn’t expect it to have such a huge influence on me in the long run.”
Yassin brings small crafts or even just a small notebook to jot down the numerous stories the residents share with her. “Sometimes they’ll tell me about all the crazy stuff they did in high school, and it’s just genuinely so entertaining to hear about how similar we are growing up,” she explained. “They’ve lived through so many things. I get such good advice from them.”
Her visits also gave her a brief sense of relief from her own stressful schedule. “It’s actually funny because I went in thinking I would be helping them, but they ended up helping me,” she said. “When I leave, I feel so much more relaxed and not as stressed about the week ahead of me.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic worsened social isolation, it also destabilized the entire elder-care workforce. Georgia, like much of the nation, saw a steep decline in long-term care staff during the pandemic. Nationwide, the number of nursing home employees dropped nearly 15% from 2020 to 2021, then recovered before recovering in 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But staffing levels are still below what experts recommend.
At Merryvale Assisted Living in Covington, Activities Assistant Stacy Tyre sees firsthand how much youth interactions matter.
“There was one instance when a kids’ choir came and sang, and they were like young kindergartners,” she recalled. “A whole group of them came, and they sang for the residents… the residents who could tell just really loved being around young people.”
Tyre then explained that the visit didn’t just end with singing.
“Later on, they also read with the residents. They brought books and just went one-on-one with them,” she said, “They loved that- getting to read to the little kids made them feel like they were helping them. It definitely made them feel good.”
According to the National Council on Aging, approximately one in ten Americans age 60 and up experiences abuse or neglect each year, and many experts say that the problem is widely underreported. Specifically in Georgia, the state’s “Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program” fields hundreds of complaints annually, ranging from poor medical care to daily social isolation. Many of which involve facilities in the metro Atlanta area.
National studies also confirm this same pattern. For every case of elder abuse that is reported, as many as 23 go unreported, according to Science Direct.
Across Metro Atlanta, several programs are actively looking for youth volunteers to create those connections, such as the Agape Senior Services Youth Programs, Hands on Atlanta- Senior Connections, and even local church choirs and school clubs.
For teens across Metro Atlanta, this issue hits closer than it seems. Neglect in nursing homes isn’t just about the shortages in staff or the policies surrounding it; it’s about our grandparents and all the residents we pass in our community, and the simple truth is that teens already can change it.
As Muna put it, “It doesn’t take much to make a difference, but that small impact can last for days.”
