About

Our Journey

We are Anjali Reddy, a junior at UPenn, and Tia Reddy, a high school senior from Massachusetts. Loneliness, a simmering issue in the population before the pandemic, was brought to the forefront by the COVID-19 pandemic. SMILES & Breathe was originally started in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to combat societal loneliness caused by the pandemic’s social isolation. SMILES & Breathe has since evolved to help people through resources to create their own path to their sense of belonging, to foster their micro-community, and to help each other. We delved into research ranging from the astronaut’s practice of solitude during space isolation to the ways to find one’s community based. We collaborated with the MIT’s AgeLab. We are stronger and at our best when we work with each other and believe that the many little good things done by one or many of us will make for a positive change.

We collaborated with the MIT AgeLab through the Omega Chat Hours, the Summit, blog/s and research. Through this collaboration, we developed and published the Intergenerational Page and piloted the intergenerational skill-sharing program at the AgeLab’s Omega Chat-Hour on January 28, 2023. We have since collaborated and advised organizations on intergenerational programming. Through this experience, we have learned so much from the many kind people whose lives have touched ours—mentors, family, friends, teachers, 85+ Lifestyle leaders at the AgeLab, and sometimes strangers. We hope to build further and pass on what we have learned.

Thanks to the users generous feedbacks, we make periodic updates. The website has hyperlinks to various resources. We hope to continue to make changes and welcome any feedback from you, the visitors and users.

Please feel free to pass on the information so those in need can use them. As always, if you have any feedback or ideas, we are happy to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Anjali & Tia