Our story and origin

The initiative we came up with was the Youth Accord Initiative, or “YAI” for short. This involves a group of student performers that set up monthly concerts and other consistent events for the seniors. It also got us thinking, since many students are avid musicians, they often find that they lack non-stressful places to perform. Within our school, we implemented this model at our local senior care center and involved many passionate student performers. We found that through our project, a conceptual model of the Youth Accord Initiative on a nation-wide basis was the most realistic implementation to reduce senior isolation. By creating a cohesive, nation-wide group and giving a name to this cause, we believe that we can bring light to this important issue. That being said, the overall well-being and general health of many seniors are jeopardized due to the isolation many of them feel—in some cases, even when they’re not living alone. Prolonging this emotional state can be detrimental to a senior’s prognosis. Thus, we hoped that we could better these isolated seniors’ conditions through teen interaction and music.