A teen got one trial visit. It became 500 volunteers.

Jiya Joshi was 14 when she started calling Houston nursing homes, asking to volunteer, and getting turned away. One coordinator told her flat out that staff didn't have time to mind both children and seniors. So she changed her pitch. "Could I come just once, a trial visit?" she asked Sharon Williams, activities director at Landon Ridge Assisted Living. "If it doesn't work, I won't bother you again." Williams said yes. Joshi, still grieving her grandmother Saroj, who had died that year, showed up with a box of art supplies and asked a group of residents if they wanted to paint. A woman named Betty said she loved painting, then talked about nursing in Vietnam. Another resident produced a chunk of the Berlin Wall he kept in his room. By the end, Joshi had a dozen new friends. She returned every Saturday, then founded Young and Old United. Within two years, more than 500 students were making regular visits across the state.