Episode 81: Aditi: Connecting Seniors and Youth to End Social Isolation and to Build Community and Friendship

Aditi Merchant is a college student in Austin, Texas and she’s the co-founder and C.O.O. of Big & Mini. Big & Mini is a social platform that connects seniors and youth to bring an end to social isolation and to build community and friendship. The platform works to reduce senior and youth isolation, while also providing mentorship and multi-generational friendship.

When the Covid-19 pandemic erupted, Aditi and her friends – who had been sent home from college – began thinking about all of the people who were isolated and didn’t have anyone to talk to during throughout the pandemic – and specifically the elderly, who are oftentimes completely forgotten about. So, they decided to pool their resources, knowledge, and talents – and launch a platform dedicated to connecting older members of society with younger ones – building community, friendships, and support systems for everyone involved. The people that Big & Mini have connected strive to check in with each other once-a-week and many of them regularly text, write letters, FaceTime, and more – communicating much more than once a week. 

What Aditi and her friends had originally thought might be a project that a handful of people would want to participate in, has exploded – and in a few short months, they have over 100 members and have created cross-generational friendships – that in many cases, will continue for months and years to come. 

Aditi joins the 1 Girl Revolution podcast to share her own life story, to talk about Big & Mini and how the organization was created, and to share more about the incredible, innovative work they’re doing to bring an end to isolation in our world, connecting seniors and youth, and building cross-generational friendships that will last for months and years to come.

You don’t want to miss this inspiring episode of the 1 Girl Revolution podcast.

For more information on Aditi and Big & Mini, please visit the Big & Mini website.

Follow Big & Mini on Facebook and Instagram. And donate here to support their great work!