When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, Carroll alum and current University of Texas at Austin sophomore Allen Zhou was busy studying electrical and computer engineering. Within the span of a week, he — like millions of other college students — transitioned to virtual classes, moving back home and social distancing from nearly everyone.
Allen started noticing the pandemic’s social effects, realizing how unhealthy it is for people to stay alone for long periods of time. So he, his brother Anthony and fellow UT student Aditi Merchant joined forces to create the nonprofit Big & Mini.
“I always wanted to do something good for the world, and I have a strong belief in technology for social good,” Allen says. “Even when I was in Carroll, I was working with my friends and my brother to build different projects to help improve others’ lives.”
In April, nearly 55% of Americans said their mental health was suffering and 47% of Americans said they feel more lonely than usual in a ValuePenquin.com survey. With a goal of eradicating loneliness, Big & Mini pairs young people with older adults, allowing them to connect, form friendships and, ultimately, be less lonely.
THE STIRRINGS OF AN IDEA
Inspired by volunteering at senior living facilities and sharing moments with his grandparents, Allen says he knew both groups would benefit from these connections.
“When COVID hit, it exacerbated loneliness, especially in the senior population and every population, every age group,” Allen says. “I felt like a virtual solution was the way to go so connecting youth and seniors kind of like how I was connected with my grandparents who are across an ocean. I have to use virtual communications to chat with them. Thinking about that, I thought that others would also benefit from this intergenerational connection that I had.”
Allen, Anthony and Aditi started with a single-page website. The fledgling nonprofit used a Google form for potential Bigs and Minis to fill out. Lacking contacts in the senior citizen community, Allen says faculty members at UT and UT Arlington were a big help in sharing their message.
“They connected us to different aging organizations...and that’s kind of how we first spread the word for those populations,” Allen says. “[It] was just cold outreach.”
CREATING THE FIRST CONNECTIONS
While they’ve definitely had some troubleshooting with matching, Allen says the first connection made all their hard work feel validated and inspired them to continue pushing forward.
“There was kind of a sense of, ‘Who knows what’s going to happen,’” Allen says. “You have these two random people of different generations separated by tons of years and who knows if they’ll have a good conversation. We just connected the two people by email.”
After connecting their first Big & Mini, the waiting game began. But it wasn’t long before Allen received an email from the Big gushing about how well the meeting went.
“She was like, ‘Wow, it was so great talking to my Mini, 48 minutes flew by in a second...so awesome,’” Allen says. “Seeing that email, it was just really, really fulfilling and inspiring that virtual communications can create connections this real.”
FAST & FURIOUS GROWTH
At the beginning, the trio manually matched Bigs and Minis. But as people began to sign up and different press outlets took notice — Big & Mini has been featured in the “Houston Chronicle” and on “The Today Show” — the three founders realized they needed a scalable option.
“We created a matching algorithm to do it. People sign up on our website — they create an account, complete their profile...read a short training and then do a short training quiz, and then they’re ready to be matched,” Allen says.
After a profile is manually reviewed, the matching algorithm creates matches for potential Bigs and Minis based on their availability and interests.
“It’s supposed to make it as easy as possible, so after you sign up and then complete the profile and training, we give you the time to meet, the person to meet with, the meeting link and the meeting room,” Allen says. “So everything is contained. We do it all.”
Since starting in April, Big & Mini currently has around 1,500 volunteers and around 500 matches.
“We consider both Bigs and Minis volunteers because we really think about it as a mutually beneficial relationship,” Allen says. “So both sides are volunteering their time to help the other generation learn or think from a new perspective.”
CONNECTING INTERGENERATIONAL FRIENDS
At the end of April, Clare DeGuzman, who lives in Michigan, searched for “video chats with senior citizens.” When the “Houston Chronicle” article about Big & Mini popped up, she was interested.
“I loved it and signed up right away,” Clare says. “I decided to sign up because I loved the idea of the one-on-one connection and because I knew that the platform was such a good opportunity to impact someone in a positive way.”
Matched with a Big across the world in Jordan, Clare says that the first meeting was fun and open.
“It was very warming to know that someone across the world wanted to participate in this community and talk with other people,” Clare says. “I was slightly nervous before my first meeting because I really wanted it to go well, and I hoped that it wouldn’t be awkward. I had nothing to worry about, however, because it was very easy to talk with my Big.”
Clare and her Big still meet once a week, discussing everything from their schedules to food. Clare says her Big also tells her stories about his life and gives her advice.
“Having a Big is like having a very supportive family figure in your life who cares deeply about you and wants the best for you and looks out for you,” Clare says. “It is such a special relationship because each person really puts in the time to meet and talk with each other and you know that person will always be willing to hear about your ups and downs. A Big is someone to laugh with and talk with and learn from.”
Elva Roy, a 75-year-old Big, first heard of Big & Mini from her friend, Noelle Fields, a professor at UT Arlington. Elva leads a community of people aged 50 and older called Ambassadors for Aging Well. Before recommending the nonprofit to her group, Elva wanted to try it out.
“My intention was to be matched, try it out for one or two conversations, decide whether to recommend it and then quit,” Elva confesses. “However, I enjoyed meeting with my Mini and talking with him every Saturday morning...and now I have no intention of quitting.”
Elva matched with 19-year-old Daniel Formella, a Catholic University of America student who is currently taking classes from his home in Southlake until the campus reopens.
“It’s quite wonderful [having a Mini],” Elva says. “I raised three sons and adored learning about all the things boys are interested in when my boys were growing up. [I] find it interesting to know what Daniel is interested in.”
Elva and Daniel’s topics range from politics and religion to Peru and soccer. Since being paired, Elva’s also learned more about Roman history, a subject Daniel is interested in, while he helps her when she’s struggling with learning Spanish because he’s bilingual.
“I like that from the beginning, [the] Big & Mini founders did not represent it as a ‘charity to help frail old people,’ but it was represented to be a way to decrease loneliness for both the Bigs and Minis,” Elva says. “This is a fantastic way to make a new intergenerational friend, which is important to reduce stereotypes that different generations may have about another.”
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE FUTURE
“In terms of the long-term vision that I have…our goal is really to continue that mission of eradicating loneliness,” Allen says.
That vision means launching new offerings, like its new program FAM, which stands for Friends and Mentors. FAM connects individuals who have disabilities to people without disabilities so they can form friendships.
But Big & Mini is far from slowing down, with current Minis already talking about using this platform when they are on the other side of the coin.
“I remember one of our Minis told us, ‘I love talking to my Big so much...I can’t wait until I’m a Big and I have my own Mini,’” Allen says. “So this is a Mini thinking 50 years in the future that Big & Mini will still be here making a positive difference.”
Above all, Allen says his goal is to help others.
“We really think this is just the beginning,” Allen says. “There’s so many more people that need to be helped, and I think we can do that.”