海角大神

This essay is part of an occasional series provided by our partner organization Encore.org, which created the Generation to Generation (Gen2Gen) campaign, inviting those in midlife and beyond to connect with kids who need champions.

Rey Castuciano didn鈥檛 plan to become his father鈥檚 primary caregiver, but when Mr. Castuciano spent six weeks in a nursing home with him after he had a stroke, it led to an aha! moment that changed Castuciano鈥檚 life for the better.

鈥淚 befriended a lot of the nursing home residents,鈥� Castuciano says. 鈥淚 got to know them and noticed how many talents and how much wisdom they had. But there was also a lot of depression and social isolation.鈥�

During one of his stops in the nursing home鈥檚 cafe, he watched a video about seniors in the United States helping Brazilian students improve their English through Skype sessions.

That鈥檚 when his idea was born. He saw a way to benefit two populations, older Americans and newcomers, at once. And in 2014, he founded Table Wisdom, whose mission is to bring together mature adults and younger people born abroad (i.e., recent immigrants and international students) for weekly mentoring and conversational English via video chat.

Castuciano, who emigrated from the Philippines when he was a teenager, knew how important learning English was to his later success. After graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles and then furthering his education at the University of Southern California鈥檚 Marshall School of Business, he pursued a career in biotech. But when his father was discharged from the nursing home, he decided not to go back to biotech and to instead develop his Table Wisdom idea while also being a caregiver.

鈥淏eing a caregiver wasn鈥檛 something I was prepared to do,鈥� he notes. 鈥淚t was kind of just presented to me, and I had to figure it out. It can be very exhausting and stressful, balancing caregiving with being the founder of a social enterprise. But at the same time, it鈥檚 fulfilling and rewarding work.鈥�

And Castuciano says he鈥檚 consistently gotten subtle messages that he鈥檚 on the right path. He relates a recent conversation with Zhe 鈥淚an鈥� Wang, an international student. 鈥淗e told me his anxiety to move to a new country decreased after being paired with Cindy [Vantine], the mentor he began having video chats with before arriving to study at Washington University鈥檚 Brown School of social work. They鈥檝e continued their mentoring relationship and now periodically meet for food or touring the city with Ian鈥檚 friends.鈥� Castuciano adds, 鈥淭hat kind of success story feels really good, to know we鈥檙e making a difference in both of their lives.鈥�

To date, Table Wisdom has made more than 90 matches. The international students currently come from Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis University, and the University of Missouri-St. Louis, but a California school is interested in placing students beginning this fall. The mature adults come from a mixture of independent living sites, LinkedIn, and VolunteerMatch. To match people, common interests and personality type are taken into consideration.

Most connect by whatever video software they prefer (for example, FaceTime or WeChat). For the older adults who struggle with technology or don鈥檛 have a reliable internet connection, conversations can take place by phone.

These days, Castuciano is planning to help his parents reunite with family members in southern California, since his father is now doing well. He says, 鈥淭aking care of older people is embedded in our culture.鈥�

鈥� For more, visit table-wisdom.org. Table Wisdom was a finalist in the 2017 Encore Prize, celebrating innovators who tap the talent of adults age 50 or older to help young people thrive. To learn more and apply for the prize, visit聽iamgen2gen.org/encoreprize.