Since 2023, the Bridging the Gap program has continued to expand with more schools and independent living facilities wanting to be involved each year.

Participants have included students from Olathe West, Olathe East, Olathe South and Blue Valley Southwest high schools.

Interested students can sign up online for an interview time slot of 30 minutes, where they are paired with an older adult at one of the local independent and assisted living facilities that has partnered with Johnson County Department of Health and Environment, including Aberdeen Village and Cedar Lake Village, both in Olathe.

During the interviews, students are encouraged to ask questions about their interviewee’s life, examples of how they overcame adversity, advice they want the younger generations to know and more. Each interview is audio recorded and shared with participants to either use for school projects or simply keep as a personal memento of the experience.

According to Evelyn Dubey, community resilience coordinator at JCDHE and program facilitator, Bridging the Gap fosters new, intergenerational connections being formed in real time.

“Since beginning the program, all participants have said they enjoyed the conversations they had and were able to personally connect with the people they had conversations with, along with a majority saying they would want to participate again,” Dubey said.

“The feedback we get from participants is a testament to the impact and power of connection,” said Charlie Hunt, JCDHE director.

“Many of them have reached back out to form continuous, lasting connections with the people they originally interviewed. The importance of this program is being able to bring together different generations.”

More information about Bridging the Gap and participation in the program is available by visiting this webpage.