(LONG BEACH, Calif.) – Executive Director and Founder of the I Did Something Good Today Foundation, Kimberly Lewis is helping seniors fight isolation.
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The foundation’s main program is a phone based service, “Our Golden Talk Senior Chatline where (seniors) can call and just chat if they’re lonely, or if they need resources a lot of times they call us and let us know and we just get to work to connect them with that resource,” explains Lewis.
The I Did Something Good Today Foundation took 44,000 phone calls during the pandemic.
Lewis also runs an online radio station called, “Nostalgic Radio” that features classic hits and old radio play dramas.
“We did a lot of studying regarding the power of music and music therapy,” she says, “Some of the medical reports showed a significant change in seniors that had dementia, seniors that were on the onset or had Alzheimer’s.”
Lewis has been volunteering since she was a kid, The inspiration for I Did Something Good Today came at 15 while volunteering for her local police department.
“I became a police explorer for Compton [Cal.} PD… One of the things I was allowed to do was answer the switchboard,” says Lewis, “One thing that stuck out is that seniors would call the police department all the time… (saying) ‘No don’t hang up I just wanted to talk to someone, I’m just lonely…’ and that hurt my heart.”
Years later she created the foundation.
Listen to the full interview to hear more about Kimberly Lewis’ life of service and how I Did Something Good Today supports seniors in our community with volunteers just like you.