North Fulton County

Local pen pal program connects families with seniors sheltering in place

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Angela Holcomb hasn’t seen her own family since January. Her parents in a memory care facility and she’s in a nearby assisted living facility and has been sheltering in place since the beginning of March.

“It’s a big mess because I enjoy going out and doing things and we can’t do that now because of all the social distancing,” she told Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik. “I miss my family.”

Dunwoody recreation department employees were brainstorming ways to engage the community virtually. They came up with the idea of pairing families with seniors as pen pals.

“We thought it would be fun for people to write to them and for people in the community to participate in the program,” said Kate Borden.

Since they started the program, they’ve had more than 60 participants, including Holcomb, who lives at Country Gardens.

“It’s great. We really, truly enjoy it,” she said. “You don’t know how much you miss contact until someone writes you a letter or calls you or something.”

IN THIS 2GETHER:

Jen Rosenfelt told Petchenik she was already planning to have her boys, Charlie, 9, and Leo, 13, write letters when she learned about the Dunwoody program.

The boys are now paired with one of Holcomb’s neighbors.

“It’s just nice to know that I’m helping someone who’s alone right now,” Charlie said.

Leo told Petchenik he hoped to bring a smile to someone who couldn’t be with their family during the pandemic.

“It’s very important that they stay connected and happy during these times,” he said.

The city is still accepting pen pals. If you are interested, you can e-mail parks@dunwoodyga.gov.