VIDEO. Create a link with an elderly person, the bet of the association 1 letter 1 smile

“The idea is to read the letter and bounce back”explains Solange, one of the co-founders of the associationion 1 letter 1 smile. To the Reading a letter addressed to her, a resident confesses the greatest sorrow of her life: never having had a child. In this situation of isolation, Hortense, also co-founder, estimates that they would be the equivalent of the number of inhabitants in Lyon. “These are people who have no contact other than their doctor, pharmacist or baker. So when a grandma stays at the checkout chatting, that might be her only chat of the day.”, she explains.

Letters to create a link

Charles, co-founder of the association, explains that their uncle, who works in a retirement home, told them about one of the problems he encounters in his job: “the aging syndrome”. “One thing leading to another, we wondered what worked with the elderly. It’s a bit cliché but we said the letters”, he confides. They then launched an application and a website to allow anyone who wants to send letters to an elderly person who is in a retirement home.

“In three days, we received a lot of letters, the site crashed and we understood that it met a much greater expectation than we expected.”, explains Solange. After the letters are sent, a team takes care of the proofreading and then sends them to the residents in their rooms. Through these pieces of paper, the elderly weave bonds and cut themselves off from their loneliness.

Since the creation of 1 letter 1 smile, more than one million letters from 183 different countries have been sent to isolated elderly people. The platform also exists in an English version in the United States and England. The association works with 1600 nursing homes across France.