The NWT Literacy Council is seeking participants for its You’ve Got Mail pen pal program meant to connect youth and seniors through handwritten letters.
The program is open to children aged five to 12 and seniors aged 55 and older.
Aishah Mohammed, a summer program assistant in education, said pen pals will exchange five letters over four to six months.
“I think the seniors have a lot to teach the children, and the children likewise have a lot to teach the seniors,” said Mohammed.
“The program really gives children and seniors an opportunity to practice reading, to practice writing through real conversation and through handwritten letters, which I think is an art that’s really lost.”
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Along with building “intergenerational connections” between youth and seniors across the territory, Mohammed said the program is intended to increase literacy skills and reduce loneliness, particularly among seniors.
“The North’s can be so isolating and so lonely. A program like this can really help create connections across the territory and the seniors have so much incredible lived experience to to teach,” said Mohammed.
Interested participants can sign up filling out a google form or by contacting the NWT Literacy Council.
Mohammed said the council is hoping to assign pen pals and begin the letter exchange in September. She said each participant will get a kit with stationery, stamped envelopes, writing prompts, optional activities and instructions.
Letters will be sent to the NWT Literacy Council then forwarded to the pen pal to protect addresses.
