Generations Connect
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Ground rules

Five rules, and what happens to your details. If any of it doesn’t fit your life, tell your coordinator.

Four men crowd into the frame, grinning, their arms around each other at the Pride march.
Pride, Greenwich Village, 1997

Five rules

The same for mentors and mentees, agreed at orientation.

  • Keep it a friendshipNo loans, no big gifts, no moving in together, nothing signed for each other, and nobody selling the other on a business, a faith or a cause.
  • It’s not a dateIf feelings change, tell your coordinator and we’ll close the match kindly.
  • You’re not a carerFor medicine, bills or legal papers, your coordinator will find the right people.
  • Keep it between youDon’t share the other person’s health, HIV status or story without asking them first.
  • NamesCall each other what you each want to be called. Disagree about everything else all you like.

If something feels off, tell your coordinator. Nobody gets in trouble for asking.

Your details

Only coordinators read your application. We never say publicly who takes part, and nobody’s photo or name goes anywhere without their yes. If you’re not out, tell us: you choose the name you go by, and we’ll only contact you the way you ask.

One exception: if someone is at immediate risk of serious harm, a coordinator will act to keep them safe.

Before a match

Everyone has a fifteen-minute call with a coordinator, gives two references and comes to a two-hour orientation. How a pair begins.

When it ends

Either of you can end a match, any time, for any reason, and nobody is blamed. Your coordinator helps you say goodbye properly, and finds you someone new if you want.

What we sort out

Subway and bus fares, and the coffee when you meet. Large print, a phone match or another language if you need one: tell us, and we’ll arrange it. And it’s free.

Read all the questions

Apply

We’re pairing people now, all over the city. The form takes about ten minutes, and a coordinator writes back within two weeks.

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[email protected] Run and paid for by Rêvasser, a New York clothing brand.