Tennessee launches hotline for older adults feeling isolated or in need of services during COVID-19 pandemic

Staff photo by Troy Stolt / Evelyn Hodlom, a resident of Brookdale Assisted Living meets Pesto, a two month old Husky Mix, from a window in her room during a Dog Parade put on by the Chattanooga HES for residents of Brookdale Assisted Living on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 in Hixson, Tenn. Staff photo by Troy Stolt / Evelyn Hodlom, a resident of Brookdale Assisted Living meets Pesto, a two month old Husky Mix, from a window in her room during a Dog Parade put on by the Chattanooga HES for residents of Brookdale Assisted Living on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 in Hixson, Tenn.

By Wyatt Massey January 3, 2021 3 min read

Tennessee state agencies are working to provide support for elderly people who may feel isolated during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The “TN Hope Line” is a partnership among the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability and the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board to launch a free hotline available at 844-600-8262.

It is available Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST and involves volunteers trained in active listening.

Bevelle Puffer, who leads special projects for the office, said the program is built off a similar hotline in North Carolina and looks to fill the need of increasing feelings of isolation among older adults.

“There was just this real need to try and reach out,” she said. “There were not as many activities, not just in nursing homes but in all kinds of congregate housing or public housing, where people gather for meals and stuff. All that had stopped. People just weren’t seeing people at all.”