Support for Seniors: A Conversation with Yale College Community Builders

Yale students enjoy a unique and world-class education. And while educating aspiring leaders in scholarship and research is a cornerstone of the Yale mission, so is service to all sectors of society, in an environment that supports free exchange of ideas through diverse, ethical, and inclusive experiences.

In this webinar, the speakers will share their stories and discuss the impact of their service engagement during and beyond their time at Yale. In addition, they will talk about their work in the context of today's challenges, including the COVID-19 landscape, and ways to get involved.

Panelists

Jacob Cramer ’22

Jacob is the founder and executive director of Love For Our Elders, a nonprofit that fights loneliness with love in 75 countries and all 50 states. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Love For Our Elders has mailed more than 100,000 handwritten and video letters of love to senior communities, shared stories of the world's most inspiring seniors, and run public awareness campaigns with Squarespace, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Hailing from Cleveland, Jacob is a junior in Benjamin Franklin College majoring in psychology with an advanced Spanish language certificate.

Ava Thomas ’22

Ava is the founder and president of Memory Mat Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization supporting elders with memory loss. Memory Mat Inc. has created and distributed personalized laminated placemats with pictures and phrases that act as memory jogging cues for seniors with Alzheimer's and dementia. Memory Mat Inc. received support from Yale's Tsai CITY Student Catalyst Fund and partnered with both Hilarity For Charity and Home Instead. Ava is a student-athlete at Yale, majoring in Economics and Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology. She is also an alumna of Gilmour Academy outside Cleveland.

Moderator

Ariel Horowitz ’19 MusM

Hailed by The Washington Post as "Sweetly Lyrical," violinist Ariel Horowitz has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world and premiered her original pieces for violin and voice at Carnegie's Hall's Weill Hall and the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater. An avid teacher, she serves on the faculty of Mount Holyoke College and is the founder and artistic director of The Heartbeat Music Project, a tuition-free program for K-12 children living in the Navajo Nation. She is the recipient of numerous prizes, including the 2019 Yale-Jefferson Award for Public Service, and in 2020 she was honored with the Concert Artists Guild Ambassador Prize, joining the CAG roster.