LITA Programs      

LITA of Marin has four programs: One-to-One Friends for the Elderly, Pet Connection, LITA Youth Partners and LITA Families. LITA volunteers are as diverse as the residents they visit. They are artists and lawyers, therapists and students, executives and nurses, letter carriers and flight attendants. Several families visit with their children. Many volunteers work full-time and some are retirees. LITA volunteers speak Spanish, English, German, Hebrew, Chinese and many other languages.

One-to-One Friends for the Elderly

One-to-One Friends for the Elderly is the core program at LITA. Volunteers are of all ages and from diverse backgrounds. For an older person living in a nursing home or long-term care facility, a volunteer friend's weekly visit means an important connection with the outside world. Sixty percent of people living facilities have no family or their families live too far away to visit. The stories of LITA friendships are powerful testaments that LITA volunteers change lives every day.

Please visit the LITA Friendship web page where many wonderful stories are shared about friendships.

Pet Connection

The Pet Connection program is basically an extension of the core One-to-One Friends program. LITA volunteers include their pets as part of their weekly visits. Many residents once had their own pets and they enjoy the weekly visits with a special animal. Recent medical studies confirm that animal visits improve social interaction, communication and self-esteem, as well as lower blood pressure. The pets create a bond between the volunteer and resident, especially for those residents who have been isolated for some time. The success of the Pet Connection program, as with all of LITA's programs, is proven over and over with each smile, hug, or expression of gratitude.

LITA Youth Partners

LITA Youth Partners is an intergenerational program where 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th grade school classes are matched with facilities for monthly visits with residents throughout the school year. Teachers and activity directors work with the students to plan projects for each visit. Sometimes, the students just sit and talk with their new friends. Many students choose to interview resident friends and write a short life history for them. LITA Youth Partners prepares young people to see elders as positive role models. The values gained by these experiences are carried into the future by the next generation.

LITA Families

LITA matches families with small board and care assisted living facilities for weekly visits. One family, a mother, two girls, ages fourteen and sixteen, and their two dogs, Oreo and Freckles visit five residents of a board and care. One eighty-year-old resident, a retired physicist professor, plans to help one of the girls with her math. Two other families are matched to visit a board and care together - two Moms, four children and a dog named Sophie.

New scientific research in the United States and abroad is looking at a possible link between depression and the onset of dementia. No one should spend the last phase of his or her life alone and depressed. In 2001, LITA was honored with an award for Compassion in Action in our community. LITA was praised for "it's extraordinary achievements, born out of deep compassion, that alleviated suffering and significantly improved the lives of people living in long-term care facilities".

If you would like to learn more about involving your class or youth group, please email us -