Wrightwood youth connect in new ways with elderly neighbors

Three boys give a goodbye hug to their neighbor.

By Grace TooheyStaff Writer

Jan. 1, 2024 5:42 AM PT

The four boys come bounding into Eva Jablonsky’s otherwise quiet living room.

Missy, her mini poodle, marks their arrival with a chorus of barks, but her yips are soon drowned out by the cacophony of children.

Almost instantly, a new energy envelops the 88-year-old’s home — one that only three 7-year-olds and a 9-year-old can create. They sing an off-the-cuff version of Pete the Cat’s shoe song, talk over each other about who the best soccer player is (Lionel Messi is the GOAT, or “greatest of all time,” they decide), and jockey for the best spot on Jablonsky’s worn couch.

“They are just the most darling kids,” Jablonsky said, smiling as the four boys — their sister is home sick this winter afternoon — comfortably greet her by her first name.

Hard of hearing, Jablonsky often misses some of the boys’ chatter, but she’s happy to sit and enjoy their antics, absorbing the carefree joy they seem to radiate.

“I love it, I love it,” said Jablonsky, a retired Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who now rarely leaves home because of her unsteady feet. “I’m a people person and I miss having people in and out of my house.”

That’s precisely the goal of a new program at Wrightwood Elementary School that aims to connect students with their elderly neighbors — not only to provide much-needed company during the nation’s ongoing loneliness epidemic, but to give seniors another support system and perhaps even a lifeline as the San Bernardino County mountain town faces increasingly extreme weather.

On top of all that, there are also proven health benefits for seniors who play with young kids.

The arrangement has formally cemented the relationship between Jablonsky and Michelle Zamora’s family of seven — her second-grade quadruplets, fourth-grade son and husband.

A sign outside Wrightwood Elementary School

The Golden Raccoon program, a play on the school’s mammalian mascot, “was really born out of last winter,” said Principal John Garner. “For at least a week, there were a lot of us that were homebound ... I was struggling digging out all that snow, and I can’t imagine being 80 or 90 years old.”

It was last winter that a historic blizzard blasted Southern California’s mountains and buried numerous communities, including Wrightwood, under feet of snow.

Many people lost power for days and plows took even longer to clear many roadways. While Wrightwood fared comparatively better than other mountain towns, the storms wreaked havoc across the San Bernardino peaks, damaging homes and trapping residents — some of whom were later found dead.

A row of houses nestled under pine trees.

“It made me think about how we might, as a school, be able to build a system or a network where these senior citizens are checked on,” Garner said.

And so the Golden Raccoon program was born, with 35 local families “adopting” a senior neighbor in 2023. The hope is even more will join in the coming months.

“When times are calm, you might bring them dinner or invite them over for dinner or go play a game with them,” Garner said. “But then when there’s a crisis, whether that’s a big snowstorm or we’ve had power outages … make sure you check on your Golden Raccoon.”

The concept isn’t new. Students across the state have participated in similar programs and even worldwide charities have encouraged such intergenerational relationships.

But it’s particularly pertinent in Wrightwood. About 30% of the 4,400 people who call the 6-square-mile community home are 65 or older, a rate twice as high as the statewide figure and significantly above San Bernardino County’s other mountain communities, according to the latest census data.

The requirements for the Golden Raccoon program are flexible, Garner said, with the option for families to reach out to a neighbor, friend or even relative. For the Zamoras, it was an easy choice, as they have been close to Jablonsky since the family moved in next door in 2017.

“She was our Golden Raccoon before they named them the Golden Raccoons, but we’re hoping more people get the message to check on [their neighbors], especially up here,” Zamora said.

Just in the last few years, she said they’ve dealt with floods, fires and snowstorms — challenging enough for anyone living on their own, but especially so for someone who might have mobility issues or not be competent with technology. They make sure to always shovel Jablonsky’s driveway when it snows, Zamora said, and provide her with relevant information when power or cell service fails.

In warmer months, Jablonsky often sits out on her front deck to watch the family’s five children ride bikes or play sports. But it’s harder to stay connected when temperatures fall, the retired detective said.

So visits have become a highlight, whether it’s getting help from her personal “tech support,” 9-year-old Jax, or exchanging holiday gifts with the family.

Five children in Halloween costumes visit a woman with a dog on her lap.

“These are my adopted grandkids,” Jablonsky said, pulling Jax up onto her lap while three of the four quadruplets piled around her feet. She tells them how she had a small farm in Rowland Heights, complete with goats and chickens, before she moved to Wrightwood.

The kids are fascinated by that idea.

“That would be so fun meeting chickens,” said 7-year-old Mason, who wore a matching yellow sweater with his fellow quadruplets.

“If I had a farm, I would have 100 dogs!” Jax added. “And then I would have cats to eat the mice.”

Evan and Drew, the other younger brothers, chime in: “What if the mice are faster than the cats?”

Then: “Mason’s a mouse!”

The boys giggle. Jablonsky and their mom can’t help but join in.

Other Wrightwood families are forging new relationships with elderly neighbors they had somehow never met, even in the small town. The program connected Chris Hirschman and his four kids — three of whom are students at Wrightwood Elementary — to a woman who recently lost her husband to cancer. They’ve tried to provide some new bright spots in her life, Hirschman said.

A figure of a raccoon peers out of a tree stump under the word Welcome near a gate.

“We’re getting to know her,” he said. His kids have enjoyed playing with her dogs and this holiday season gifted her homemade Christmas cookies and an ornament. When the family realized their Golden Raccoon didn’t have a tree, the Hirschmans quickly remedied that, delivering a fresh conifer.

“It’s the community helping itself,” Hirschman said. “We have a lot of people that could use some help, sometimes just a hello, just a visit.”

His 8-year-old daughter Dorothy has particularly taken to their Golden Raccoon, and hoped to spend some of New Year’s Eve with her, maybe watch a movie.

“I think she would really like that,” Dorothy said.

Garner and the families involved are hopeful the program will continue to expand, and are working to find ways that seniors could request a pairing, as well as include Golden Raccoons in school events, like talent shows, assemblies and story time.

Six people sit together in a living room.

“What we’re trying to instill in the kids is they have the power to make the world a better place,” Garner said.

It seems to be resonating.

Before the Zamora children leave Jablonsky’s house, they each give her a big hug, draping their little bodies over her armchair.

“She’s a part of our family now, huh?” Michelle Zamora said. Her kids have their own grandparents, and Jablonsky her own grandkids, but there’s something special about living so close and getting to share so much of day-to-day life.

“Love you,” the boys tell Jablonsky as they pile on.

“I love you too,” she replied. “‘Bye, kids.”

“I’ll miss you,” Mason sing-songs on his way out.

Jablonsky smiles. She’ll probably miss them more, but she knows they’ll be back — just never soon enough.