In early March, a group of five friends, all rising seniors at Cupertino High School, was coming to terms with how the COVID-19 crisis was playing out on a local level. In-person classes had just been cancelled, and they and their classmates were all stuck at home. They suddenly had a lot of time on their hands, and they realized they could do some good with it.

“We saw the cases keep on rising and everybody’s lives being dramatically affected by this virus that nobody can control,” said Lawrence Fan, 17. “And then on one late-night call, we realized we could be doing something other than just trying to find ways not to be bored.”

Fan and his friends—Alexander Wang, Pranav Eranki, Sivansh Chitti and Henric Zhang—launched COVID Networks, a program that connects residents at local senior centers with high school students, giving both the opportunity to make new connections while in isolation.

Wang said the idea came from some of the students’ family members in retirement homes and assisted living facilities, who said that since it became impossible for them to have in-person visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were feeling extremely isolated. Wang and his friends knew many of their classmates would be eager to volunteer their time, and they reached out to a few senior centers to gauge their interest. He said many were excited by the prospect of one-on-one discussions, and they suggested some other activities that might engage the seniors and students, including yoga and games.

The five co-founders of COVID Networks began meeting daily to figure out how to get their plan off the ground. They each fell into a role—finalizing partnerships, running social media, coordinating volunteers—and began seeking mentorship opportunities. They made it past the first round of an entrepreneurship competition, which helped them refine their mission and outreach strategies.

“We iterated and we just kind of went from there,” Eranki said. “It was a fairly linear process, a steady effort. And I think all of us did a lot of work, and that’s kind of what helped us get to where we are.”

Now, the group has partnered with more than a dozen facilities throughout the Bay Area, including Chateau Cupertino and Sunset Gardens at Gilroy. COVID Networks has also partnered with San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living on a storytelling project, where volunteers interview seniors about their lives. At Cedarbrook Memory Care, volunteers lead seniors in yoga sessions, and Fan said attendance at these sessions has been steadily rising.

With a growing list of partner facilities, the founders began amassing a volunteer base. They began outreach on Instagram and asked friends to spread the word as well. They then began partnerships with clubs at their school that encourage members to complete volunteer hours. By the beginning of August, they had confirmed about 20 volunteers and were in the process of vetting twice as many.

Chitti said growing the platform from scratch required a lot of discipline, but the team members held each other accountable from the start. But he added it was worth the work for all of the rewarding moments, the small instances where he could tell they were having a positive effect on people’s lives.

“I remember when we were leading the yoga session and one woman started laughing, and that really made my day—just small moments like that really make this worth it,” Chitti said.

Wang said the co-founders plan to keep leading the effort during the school year, that they have a schedule and a plan in place to make sure everything continues running smoothly. And once they graduate and go off to college, there is a slate of junior officers who will be ready to take over if the co-founders need to pass the baton.

For more information about COVID Networks’ mission and partnerships, visit https://www.covidnetworks.org.