People can become socially isolated for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they have endured this mindset since their childhood – plagued by events that shaped their psyche toward isolation as an adult. Or, perhaps life events as an adult have contributed to a downhill spiral, ending with their withdrawal from people, and social connection. Whether due to illness, trauma, surgery, accident, PTSD, depression, aging, or circumstance, the person living in social isolation increases the risk to their health. But this disorder can afflict anyone, so it's all they share in common, right? – or is it?

LessAlone.org is designed to bring people together – although anonymously – who share one thing in common; they would benefit from human social connection. This doesn't mean being “around” people daily, or “seeing” people on a regular basis, or sharing a story with someone. This doesn't mean texting or messaging through the Internet [or any other form of electronic contact]. This means being in contact daily by phone, promoting human interaction in the form of conversational social contact, forging a bond of trust. This means helping to insure their own safety and mental well-being, and calming their natural anxiety with peace of mind.

The LAO (our acronym for LessAlone.org) website is currently “up-and-running”; it's ready to accept member registration, with all functions in place. A requirement of registration is that the member be at least 18 years of age. Beyond the age limitation, new members agree to be in at least once-daily phone contact with their matched contact companion. Thus by design, electronic communication between LAO members is discouraged; such methods of contact defeat the purpose of the LAO program goals.

The website database is designed for nationwide membership, and built to accommodate thousands [if not millions] of members living in the U.S. The website's automated registration program is designed to turn no one away, regardless of language, origins, citizenship. The site goal is to seek out and locate the person living at risk, accomplish their registration as an LAO member, and then offer that person the chance for more-normalized social contact.

For the socially-isolated person, one factor – where they live – quite possibly no longer matters; that barrier of location has been virtually removed. Social interaction across the country has been changed with the introduction of the cellular phone, and one important benefit has evolved in telephonic communication in recent years – the elimination of the additional expense of making “long-distance” phone calls.

Therefore, in today's world, expensive long-distance calls for many millions in our nation are a thing of the past. Recognizing this, LessAlone.org is able to present its members with a wide variety of member-choices with whom they can be matched. This elimination of the cost of long-distance calls, now accomplished by cell phones, means that a member in a very small community can connect with another member in a distant community, without the worry of this added expense. It often no longer matters where a member lives – one member can help another member through regular daily phone contact [even though they don't live in close proximity to each other].

The contact between members initially may be simply to check on each other – making sure each is okay. However, it is important to the “trust” factor that each member fulfills that daily contact with their member-match. One vital human emotion that can erode to unhealthy levels is trust in other people. Trust is earned, no doubt; and the easiest way to gain trust of another is to be reliable, and demonstrate true caring for that person's well-being. Contact companions may then eventually be able to “open up” more to each other, as time goes on, and thus begin to share in normal social contact. And, once they get to know each other, then naturally if one member cannot contact the other one day, that member would know there is something wrong. 

Also, when a member registers on the LAO website, they can feel comfortable knowing that member-match choices they are presented by our automated system are persons who registered looking for the same thing – an LAO contact companion. Through design of the site, members are virtually anonymous to each other. They are known on a first-name basis only – and once two members agree they'd like to connect as contact companions, they each receive the other's preferred phone number for contact. Thus, two cases are solved at one time. We like to call it “members helping members"!

Through this arrangement, not only is a member receiving a benefit, but also giving a benefit, as well. Even while many people have become isolated from necessary social contact, in their role as a contact companion, they almost unconsciously give that benefit to another member. At a time when the isolated person may feel a lack of usefulness, in the act of helping another, they gain back that feeling of usefulness, a feeling that they are contributing something good they can do for another. 

Try this sometime; I think you'll be surprised. Ask people you know if they know (or have known) of someone who lives far too isolated – someone who would benefit from regular human contact, if just to check in on them daily, or maybe have a conversation with them. If they say "yes", point out to them that the person they know, who lives at-risk, may not have a computer, may not “get online”, or may not have normal access to advertising.

This is the reason why, without the general public's involvement, many of these isolated people will not be located. Without caring people to assist someone they know to register as a member, the person at-risk may, therefore, not avail themselves of LAO's services. Public awareness, and making sure the public is informed as to our services, is vital to our intent – helping socially-isolated people to alleviate their social isolation.

Less Alone Endeavor, as an organization, exists for one [and only one] reason – to provide people living at-risk the necessary human contact that will insure their increased safety, and provide them with natural social contact they might be lacking. And while the new members, once matched, are nearly anonymous to each other in the beginning, they just might end up as great friends!