Students are forging intergenerational bonds while planning game nights and teaching fitness classes, but 'by 7:30 or 8, things get pretty quiet here'

College students are finding "family away from home" while living with older adults.

When Daija Holliday was headed to Marquette University in Milwaukee from her home in North Carolina, she wanted a safe, affordable place to live where she could build a community. She found all that in a senior living center, surrounded by more than 600 older adults.

Holliday, 25, said living at St. Camillus Life Plan Community, which offers a range of senior housing from independent through memory care and hospice, grew up in her grandparents' house, so living and interacting with older adults felt natural.

"It's my family away from home. I always feel like they have my back," she said.

Holliday pays roughly $500 a month in rent for an independent apartment at the retirement community - roughly one-third of the local market rate for a one-bedroom apartment - and does eight hours of volunteer work per week with the residents while pursuing her degree in counseling psychology at Marquette.

Holliday spends her volunteer time socializing over coffee and the newspaper, helping residents run errands, leading fitness classes on Saturday mornings and organizing game nights.

She said the arrangement suits her well but might not be a fit for other college students.

"By 7:30 or 8, things get pretty quiet here. If you're looking for more activity at night, this is not for you," Holliday said.

Holliday is one of a growing number of younger adults living with seniors in a variety of settings - from apartments in retirement communities to home-sharing - as Americans face challenges with affordable housing as well as a loneliness epidemic, said Sheri Steinig, director of strategic initiatives and communications at the nonprofit Generations United.

Other universities have similar programs. St. Olaf College in Minnesota last year started an initiative that allows students to live in retirement-community townhouses, where they mix with senior residents.

"People get out of their silos and live the way people used to live, which was more intergenerationally," Steinig said. "When people are living together, there's the opportunity for spontaneous interaction, rather than formal events. There's immediacy to connecting when people are in the same space."

The Marquette initiative began in 2022 and was inspired by an intergenerational living program in the Netherlands that was launched in 2012. That program allows university students to live rent-free in small apartments within the Humanitas retirement community in exchange for spending at least 30 hours a month interacting with older residents.

Such programs help tackle loneliness, stereotypes and ageism. As people live longer, social isolation can be a risk for older adults, who may face obstacles such as diminished mobility, limited access to transportation and often, the loss of a loved one or caregiver.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared loneliness a public-health epidemic in 2023, saying loneliness was as dangerous for people's health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and that it is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety and premature death. Younger adults face the risk of loneliness as well and also need community interaction.

"There's vital intergenerational connections to be made. It's an opportunity to connect across generations. A chance to broaden everyone's horizons," said Jennifer Molinsky, director of the Housing an Aging Society Program at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. "Loneliness is an epidemic among both young people and older people. Living together helps bring different energy, skills and opportunities into the space that we wouldn't normally have. It helps counter stereotypes."

Stacy Barnes, the director of the Wisconsin Geriatric Education Center who started Marquette's Students in Residence program, said the program is open to people of all ages and majors at the university, but so far, participants have been taking graduate-level or higher classes. This fall, five students will live at St. Camillus.

"We're interested in students who are looking for more than cheap rent," Barnes said. "We're looking for a level of maturity. Someone who is motivated to live with 600-plus older adults and open to genuine social interactions and sees the potential value in connecting with older adults."

Students get access to the amenities at St. Camillus, which include a gym, swimming pool, movie theater, restaurants and lounges, and a pub. St. Camillus gives each student a monthly credit to use at the restaurants to encourage them to eat with the residents.

When Shojin Samson, 23, came to Marquette from India, he felt St. Camillus would be a safe haven for him that felt like his home community, which also features a mix of generations. Attending Marquette marked his first time traveling overseas and his first experience with American culture.

Samson, who is studying to be a crime analyst, found that it was easy to get acquainted with the older residents.

Living with older adults also helped him fill an absence in his life created by the loss of his grandparents when he was about 6 years old, he said.

"I've always had this void. There's this space I'd like to fill in my life," Samson said. "I'm very delighted and blessed and thrilled to say I've got so many grandparents now."

For the older residents, having the college students around helps them stay more active, social and engaged in community activities, said Jeremy Pust, executive director of independent living at St. Camillus.

"The younger generation provides a sense of youth, comfort and companionship - especially for some residents who don't have family or who have family living far away. It's pretty magical when you see the connections happen," Pust said.

-Jessica Hall