As Perry Lutheran Homes gets prepared for Project Deliver The LOVE this week, building a relationship with the elderly community is important. 

Marketing Director Mollie Clark says it’s important for relationships to be built in the community with elderly citizens. She points out  the importance of having a personal connection with people in the community to avoid feeling isolated. 

“They do often feel kind of isolated from their church community, that community they once worked in or volunteered in. So, it’s extremely important for those individuals to stay connected to really meaningful things.”

Clark explains just how many people may potentially feel isolated and how the pandemic has made it worse. 

“Pre-COVID pandemic studies reported that over 40-percent of those age 65 and up regularly experience loneliness and so COVID obviously just made that worse. They did a June 2020 study and reported that over 55-percent felt isolated and that was June of last year so we really know that number has only increased.”

Clark tells Raccoon Valley Radio that sometimes people can feel isolated even when they have staff around them. Clark says one way they hope to foster these relationships is through the Project Deliver The LOVE event taking place on May 12th.